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John Wyndham’s novel “The Midwich Cuckoos”, first published in England in 1957, had a very disturbing premise. It seems that the town of Midwich has been mysteriously surrounded by a field of unconsciousness. Anyone who attempted to approach the village would be knocked unconscious. It was only through aerial photographs that the military learned that there was an unidentified silver craft in the middle of the city. As soon as the machine leaves, everyone in town wakes up. All the women in town are pregnant.
Nine months later, on the same day, 61 children were born in Midwich. They all look the same, with white hair and silver skin. They grow quickly, and at nine years old, they look like teenagers. They appear to share a consciousness and perhaps communicate telepathically. They also have the ability to control the minds of adults in Midwich. The book also notes that similar births have taken place in small villages around the world. This is clearly an alien invasion story.
“The Cuckoos of Midwich” was first adapted for the big screen in 1960 by British director Wolf Rilla under the title “The Village of the Damned”. The film narrows the scope of the novel a bit, turning it into a more intimate “Twilight Zone”-type fable. The children still have a group mentality and all have white hair, but otherwise they look human. When they activate their mind control powers, their eyeballs light up like headlights. George Sanders played the main role.
In 1995, John Carpenter decided to remake “Village of the Damned” in an American environment. Midwich was transplanted to the sleepy climes of Northern California and the character of Sanders was played by Christopher Reeve. Unfortunately, Carpenter’s version is often considered one of the director’s worst.
Few people liked The Village of the Damned by John Carpenter
Because the premise of “Village of the Damned” is so strange, Carpenter’s film is not a total failure. As in the book and the movie that preceded it, the kids are really scary. In Carpenter’s version, they wear matching gray and white clothes and their platinum blonde wigs make them look more alien than you might think. The eyeball lighting visual effects are simple but effective, and actress Lindsey Haun, who plays the main child Mara, gives a superb horror film performance. She and the other children are, as in all previous versions, emotionless. They move as a unit, scaring everyone. When a baby looks at its mother and mentally controls her into dipping her arm into a pot of boiling water, it’s strangely terrifying.
Reeve plays Dr. Allen Chaffee, the town doctor who aims to learn more about the alien children to whom the women of his town have given birth. He sets himself up as a teacher, trying to appeal to all the humanity they may have. Much of the exposition in “Village” is devoted to a government epidemiologist played by Kirstie Alleyand she understands early on that the children are all descendants of space aliens. She even kidnaps one of the infants (belonging to Meredith Salenger) and conducts experiments on its corpse to bring out its alien qualities. Allen believes that alien children must have some humanity. He will also be the one to figure out how to stop children from reading and controlling his mind; he just needs to focus on something they can’t read. Like a brick wall.
The rest of the adults aren’t as smart. The children force a man (Buck Flower) to impale himself on a mop.
The Village of the Damned was a bomb
Linda Kozlowsky and Michael Pare also appear in “Village of the Damned” and Mark Hamill plays the town priest. The film was made shortly before Reeve was paralyzed in a horse riding accident, and it is a testament to Reeve’s commitment to his craft; he doesn’t do half his role. Indeed, even Carpenter brings his usual sense of craftsmanship to the film, creating ineffable tension through his natural, homespun style. It’s not a great film, however, as it operated on a more modest budget. It was Carpenter’s second film released in 1995, following his astonishing “In the Mouth of Madness” the previous February.
These days, “Damned” is most certainly considered a lesser Carpenter. It was poorly reviewed (it has a 28% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 40 reviews), and it collapsed at the box office. Made for a modest $22 million, “Damned” only grossed $9.4 million. It also hasn’t come under serious new challenge, with even Carpenter fans pointing out how boring it is. This is a film for Carpenter completists more than horror fans. Carpenter admitted in an interview (sadly unavailable) with the Orange County Registrar that he only remade “Village of the Damned” for two reasons. First, he remembers watching the 1960 film and having a crush on one of the main alien actresses, leaving him with fond memories. Second, he thought he could film it in Northern California, in the same neighborhoods where he lived, which would make his job a lot easier. Carpenter is a master of horror, but he won’t work very hard if he doesn’t have to.
Look at the original instead. Or read the book.
