Village of the Damned
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Movie Reviews of Village of the Damned
Movie Review: If I was a cuckoo, I'd push this one out of the nest...
Summary: 1 Stars
This has got to be one of the worst movies of all time. The cast looked sad and bewildered throughout the entire movie, and I don't think that it was caused by their fear of the other-worldly children. No. They were terrified of what this turkey would do to their already-flagging careers. Christopher Reeves looked almost embarrassed saying the same lines over and over again for the whole 99 minutes. When the children forced Kirsty Alley to gut herself with a scalpel I'm sure that I could see a relieved smile break out on her face just before she passed on. Mark Hamil's performance was convincing despite the majority of his lines being a string of hackneyed 'these-children-should-be-damned-to-hell' tirades.Repetition was what the movie suffered most. The original book, the Midwich Cuckoos was an inspirational story for its time, but much of the ground has already been covered to death in contemporary TV science fiction. The movie simply failed to capitalise on adult moral and social issues caused by the unwelcome visitors, or in fact the plight of the visitors themselves. For example it could have tackled the emotional issues felt by the parents by their offspring shunning then subjugating them. Instead it fell back on special effects and elaborate murders scenes. Therefore, the whole experience felt empty and dragged on unnecessarily. The whole thing could have been condensed into a snappy 30 minute Outer Limits episode and had much more impact.
I read the book as a child and really wanted the movie to be good, but it simply was not. Spend your hard-earned elsewhere and let John Carpenter forget his folly.
Movie Review: 0 STARS: Why Carpenter, why??
Summary: 1 Stars
"Village of the Damned" is so stupid that it just makes you laugh. I can't believe John Carpenter directed this rubbish...I guess he needed the money. Carpenter is one of the greatest horror movie directors of all-time and his place is secure in the Horror Movie Hall Of Fame so to speak, but to try and make this pure hogwash into a horror movie was a complete disaster! The whole children theme of this movie fails as a substance from which horror can be derived in this movie, and not too surprisingly, the movie is funny for all the wrong reasons. This kind of story coupled with these hilarious looking children just doesn't work to create any horror...it's not that children can't be scary...they can be as evidenced by "The Omen". But, "The Omen" dealt with the Antichrist, a truely horrorfying subject matter in which the very essence of true and unadulterated evil manifests itself and a terrific horror movie masterpiece is the result. Indeed, you have to have a good and scary storyline that can be used as fundamental groundwork from which horror can be sustained and "The Village of the Damned" just doesn't get it done. I don't have a problem if this movie is considered strictly Sci-Fi as I imagine it would appeal to some people, but as far as meeting the criteria as a horror movie, this movie fails miserably and comes off as a total zero and a complete joke from a sophisticated horror movie fan's perspective. Oh and just love the white hair and stupid looking eyes...that's real cute. I'm so scared. LOL. :)Movie Review: This is an awful movie.
Summary: 1 Stars
I'm still a little dumbfounded as to how John Carpenter has so many fans. He's made more bad movies than good ones and the past ten years haven't been his best. Ghosts of Mars could be a comeback, but with Ice Cube in the lead role of that film I wouldn't get my hopes up. With Village of the Damned, Carpenter wastes a mildly interesting premise, favoring explicit violence over subtle chills. The film just gets progressively worse, up to the overdone finale that features endless carnage (a la The Haunting), but no scares.
The performances don't help much. Christopher Reeve tries his best but he's overcome by a script that doesn't let him do much. Kirstie Alley's appearance is really quite pointless. Everybody else isn't in the film enough. It's a movie like this that makes me wonder if Carpenter really has that much talent.
Movie Review: A travesty of the John Wyndham book.
Summary: 1 Stars
I wouldn't normally waste time on something this bad, and I'll waste as little as possible here. This movie is a remake of the superb 1960's movie, and both are based on John Wyndham's 'The Midwich Cuckoos'. Please, please do yourself a favour and read the book. If you've already seen or get to see Carpenter's movie, you'll suddenly be able to understand many points that he has left obscure or obliterated through cheap tricks and fumbling attempts to 'update' the story. And you'll appreciate Wyndham's exceptional intelligence, imagination, and uncanny ability to capture a community's time and place and its reaction to the incomprehensible.Movie Review: Damned Disappointment
Summary: 1 Stars
You'd think an interesting plot and John Carpenter
would result in a great film experience.
Think again.
The acting was bad and there was no atmosphere,
tension or scares.
There were a couple of moments when I thought
the film was primarily created as propaganda
for birth/population control
and as a not-too-subtle attack on Christianity.
I still like the plot.
This is a remake, so perhaps the original
is superior, which is often the case.