El pueblo de los malditos

John Carpenter, a respected director among the horror genre enthusiasts, gives us a remake of the classic 60's sci-fi /horror movie. Many people consider it the weakest Carpenter movie, but now, almost 10 years later, it's easy to notice why this movie was considered a failure in it's time, and certainly it's easier to appreciate it for what it is: an old school horror movie.

A year before Scream gave new life to the genre, this movie told the story of a small village lost in the rural areas of the U.S. where something strange happened one afternoon when the entire town fell unconscious. By strange circumstances 10 women got pregnant that day, but only 9 children survived. The remaining children look all the same and behave in strange ways, creating horror in town. All this while a government team studies them.

Christopher Reeve stars as the father of the leader of the children, Mara. Co-star Kirstie Alley as the government scientific in charge of the study. To be fair, the acting of the children was superb, while the acting of the adult characters was somewhat weak. Reeve steals the show, and Alley just seems out of place.

As I wrote before, the whole movie has that early 80's feeling, and I would dare to say that it feels as something made for TV. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it's probably the main reason this movie is not very popular. This old school style maybe was not very attractive for 95's audience, Carpenter would go in a better direction once reunited with Kurt Russell in 96's Escape From L.A.

I have not seen the original movie yet, so I came to it without any expectation, I can't say I ended pleased, but I found it entertaining, although quite slow at times.

It's worth to notice that it has beautiful cinematography, and even when it may be a flawed effort, it's worth a rent. It's one of those movies that takes it's time to grow on you.

7/10

I saw "Village of the Damned" in the theater (Fresh Meadows, NY) and several times since. It's an okay movie. I'm a big fan of most of the films of John Carpenter. This is not one of his best movies but it's not one of his worst either. It's a watchable movie. It has more than a couple worthwhile moments. It often feels like a weak Stephen King movie. The cast of B-listers do a nice job. John Carpenter makes this one worth a watch. In lesser hands it probably wouldn't be worth the trouble.

One day, in the village of Midwhich, the whole population and animals faint at the same time, causing many accidents and attracting authorities to the mysterious behavior including Dr. Susan Verner (Kirstie Alley). Out of the blue, people and animals awake, and soon the local Dr. Alan Chaffee (Christopher Reeve) realizes that all the women are pregnant, including a teenage virgin and Mrs. X, whose husband has been traveling for one year. The towners have a meeting to decide what to do with the babies, but Dr. K seduces them with the promise of a large allowance from the government to keep the babies for further research. When the babies grow-up, their parents realize that they have dark powers and soon they realize that Midwhich is in danger with the insidious children. What can be done to stop them?

John Carpentsr's "The Village of the Damned" is an interesting remake of the 1960 masterpiece. The storyline is basically the same but with state-of-art special effects. The creepy and dark conclusion fits well to the plot. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Cidade dos Amaldiçoados" ("The Village of the Damned")

Note: On 03 March 2025, I saw this film again.

John Carpenter's ambitious remake of the 1960s horror thriller/chiller about demonic children with extra-sensory perception powers who raise Hell in their home town. As with "The Thing", this remake of a horror classic is very creepy and atmospheric. Nothing less is to be expected of John Carpenter.

The late Christopher Reeve (1952-2004) gives a solid performance as the local doctor and all around nice guy protagonist Dr. Alan Chaffee, who unfortunately is the father of the ringleader of the evil hell-spawn children. Sadly, this was his last theatrical film before he was paralyzed below the neck in the notorious horse riding accident. Not to be overly sentimental with my praise, but he really was an underrated actor.

Interestingly, in addition to featuring Superman/Reeve, Mark Hamill, AKA: Voice of the Joker and also everyone's favorite Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker, also appears as an ill-fated priest along with former Vulcan vixen Kirstie Alley as an FBI agent keeping an eye on the evil little bastards.

Carpenter seems incapable of actually making something not worth watching... I have certainly yet to see something of his that qualifies. Even the ones of his films that I didn't expect to love, I've always at least liked. This isn't his very best, no, but it certainly delivers. It pulls you in and doesn't let go until the credits start rolling. I haven't seen the original, of which this is a remake, nor have I read the novel. Thus, I can make no comparisons, although I certainly have no problem with the prospect of pursuing them. The mood is expertly built up. Most of the acting performances are great, including those of the children. The majority of the effects are excellent, and they're never downright bad. Cinematography and editing are marvelous. The plot is well-told and develops nicely, with surprises along the way(I can, of course, not verify if they are expected by those already familiar with the story from earlier sources). This is terrifying, and there are no cheap "jump scares" that don't pay off. The dialog is well-written and quotable. All of the music is the relatively simple(if it ain't broke don't fix it), well-composed pieces that John usually gives us. I recommend this to any fans of him, and to a lesser extent, anyone else who helped create this. 7/10