I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Easily John Carpenter's weakest film, and arguably his only truly weak film. He can't seem to decide what tone to strike, blending, for instance, moments of intentional camp (as when villagers literally march down the streets with torches and pitchforks like a 1930s Universal horror film), bland moments of social or ideological commentary (as when the women are given the option to have abortions), a long and violent gun-oriented action sequence which would seem more at home in a gangster movie. Additionally, the makeup used with the kids is ridiculous, and substantially detracts from any creepiness they might exude. Furthermore, the editing is unimaginative and the score probably Carpenter's least interesting of all. As much as I hate to say it, being a true Carpenter fan, this movie is not on par with his other work, nor even in comparison to other low-budget horror films of the euro. I honestly can't think of a single redeeming quality that makes it worth recommending except to Carpenter completists.

A mysterious shadow passes over the small coastal town of Midwich, California which makes everybody unconscious when they are inside the perimeter. Dr. Alan Chaffee (Christopher Reeve) was out of town during the incident. Dr. Susan Verner (Kirstie Alley) is with the feds National Science Foundation. Frank (Michael Paré) is killed during the incident leaving his school principal wife Jill McGowan (Linda Kozlowski) a widow. Mark Hamill plays Reverend George. Then they discover that every woman got pregnant and just as surprisingly, every one of them wants to keep their babies. Single girl Melanie Roberts (Meredith Salenger) has a still born. The children grow up smart superior beings with telepathic powers. Mara Chaffee (Lindsey Haun) is the leader of the children. David McGowan (Thomas Dekker) is the runt who lost his mate when Melanie Roberts lost her child.This is a movie that could use a '5 years later' insert. Once nobody is willing to abort their babies, the movie can jump ahead. There is nothing absolutely necessary other than the alien baby and that may have been better as a reveal much later in the movie. The movie needs to jump to the creepy kids because that's the best part. Lindsey Haun is terrific as the cold-hearted leader and Thomas Dekker is adorable. They are the only cool thing about the movie.

John Carpenter seems to like putting his name with his movies as the official title of this movie is "John Carpenter's Village of the Damned." This movie is not his original though, rather it is based upon a movie made in 1960 and a book by John Wyndym, who also wrote Day of the Triffids. My friend described this movie as a "B-grade horror movie" and I am sort of inclined to agree with him except that there is a little more to it than simply nasty monsters.One Saturday afternoon, the entire village of Midwich falls asleep. The doctor (Christopher Reeve) is out of town and when he returns he finds that the FBI, state police, and army stand at the road leading in. They are all mystified as to why everybody fell asleep. Later they all wake up (and a graphic scene of a man having been cooked when he fell asleep on a barbecue is shown) and soon it is discovered that all of the women in the town are pregnant. Nine months later about nine children are born, four females and five males. One of the babies is still-born and quickly taken away by the FBI scientist (Kirsty Alley). These children grow up to become very intelligent and possessive of psionic abilities, and they begin to take control of the town.The nature of the children need be examined before the entirety of the film is looked at. These children are albino and travel in male/female pairs, all except one whose female partner died in childbirth. These children have no emotion and consider themselves to be the superior to the human race. Where they come from it not clearly explained, but that is the nature of horror movies, there is no need for explanation.The single child, David, is one of the keys to the movie. As he does not have a partner, he begins to evolve differently to the children. He begins to understand pain due to the emptiness that the absence of his partner causes. He is torn between looking for a place within the children and without. His desire to belong and his loyalty to the other children cause a conflict within. The leader of the children is a female, and this is possibly a symbol of the nature of the children. They are opposed to everything that humanity stands for. They view humanity as an enemy and thus a female, generally considered the submissive sex, rises to become the leader of the children to challenge this aspect of humanity.There are two basic fears within this movie: the fear that there exists a race that is supremely more powerful than humanity, and the parental fear that their children will rise to take their place. One of the major themes is that the children are superior to humanity. They exist to replace humanity and to destroy them. This is a basic fear as humans generally want to be the dominant. The problem is that we are not. Our fear of an extra-powerful entity is justified with the existence of God. People deal with this by making God their ally in everything they do. God is somebody, to most people, that lives with humans and demands nothing. This is not true for God demands obedience and we refuse to give it. Because we refuse to acknowledge him he will destroy us, and because of this we should respect who he is.The second fear, that of parents towards the children, is also a justified one. At one stage a parent will have many expectations of the child, but as the child grows and begins to become independent, this changes. There is generally a struggle between the child and the parent with the child wanting to go his or her own way while the parent wanting his/her will for the child. This movie manifests the ultimate fear that the child is superior to the parent and also uncontrollable. It is not the parent who controls the child but the child who controls the parent. Not only are the children in control of their parents but they also have the power of life and death over the parents, as is revealed quite quickly in the movie.I enjoyed Village of the Damned. It was not a movie that stands above other movies, but it is one in which there is some thought. The horror in this movie is more subtle than a lot of other movies, the horror being more social than spiritual.

OK, I saw this in theater when it was release in 1995. I recently saw it again in its original format. I can't see where the rating R is at in this movie. There is hardly any bad language. There is barely any blood. There is a little action. There is nothing to claim it to be rated R. I can name another movie done the same "Dead Silence". I can the ones making the ratings making stupid mistakes, but that stupid is really stupid.Almost about as dumb as having rated PG-13 horror movies, and saying they are horror. I can sit through every single PG-13 wanna be called horror movies, and pretty much fall asleep through them. That is how sad those Directors are. They want to go towards wider range of people. When then call them thrillers, because that is really what they are. Thrillers are for chillers, and horror is for gore. I am sick of good Ole horror movies that have the gore to go with the horror are getting terrible ratings while the lame PG-13 chillers are getting better ratings.I will say it until I die, that those PG-13 so called horror that are really chiller thrillers should never be called horror. Just the claim is dumber than snot. As for the gore, it isn't real blood or guts. Its all fake. So if you can't handle it something is wrong with that person, not the movie. There needs to be more Directors that can make horror a horror movie that is the right rating for the movie, and not the boring wanna be crap.