Village of the Damned (Collector’s Edition): Blu-Ray Review
Arriving on Collector’s Edition Blu-ray this week is John Carpenter’s 1995 “Village of the Damned” remake, which stars Christopher Reeve, Kirstie Alley, and Mark Hamill. Although I wouldn’t put this on my list of best Carpenter films, it does have enough going for it to make it worth watching.
Shortly after everyone in the small village of Midwich mysteriously blacks-out, a group of women suddenly find themselves pregnant. This includes women who weren’t even sexually active. Dr. Alan Chaffee (Reeve), whose wife is one of the women with child believes that whatever caused the black-out, also caused the pregnancies. Government scientist Dr. Susan Verner (Alley) offers the families of the pregnant women financial support in exchange for letting them run tests on the soon-to-be-born.
After the children are born, the families discover that they are not normal and that they have the ability to not only read thoughts but control minds. Cut to several years later, several parents now fear their own children and with good reason. The group of white-haired alien’s, led by Mara (Lindsey Haun) keep within their group. One of them however, David (Thomas Dekker) is the only one who seems to have any sense of humanity. Of course the children eventually get out of control and it’s up to Dr. Alan and school teacher Jill McGowan (Linda Kozlowski) to stop them.
The Collector’s Edition of ‘Village of the Damned” is filled with tons of new bonus features and definitely worth adding to the collection of any Carpenter fan like myself. The HD transfer is also absolutely beautiful.
Bonus Features
- NEW It Takes A Village: The Making Of Village Of The Damned Featuring Interviews With Director John Carpenter, Producer Sandy King, Actors Michael Paré, Peter Jason, Karen Kahn, Meredith Salenger, Thomas Dekker, Cody Dorkin, Lindsey Haun, Danielle Wiener-Keaton And Make-up Effects Artist Greg Nicotero
- NEW Horror’s Hallowed Grounds – Revisiting The Locations Of The Film
- NEW The Go To Guy: Peter Jason On John Carpenter
- Vintage Interviews Featuring John Carpenter, Christopher Reeve, Kirstie Alley, Linda Kozlowski, Mark Hamill And Wolf Rilla (Director Of The Original VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED)
- Vintage Behind-The-Scenes Footage
- Theatrical Trailer
- Behind-The-Scenes Still Gallery
By: Marc Ferman