A small town's women give birth to unfriendly alien children posing as humans.A small town's women give birth to unfriendly alien children posing as humans.A small town's women give birth to unfriendly alien children posing as humans.
- Awards
- 3 nominations
- Director
- Writers
- John Wyndham
- Stirling Silliphant(1960 screenplay)
- Wolf Rilla(1960 screenplay)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe film was shot in western Marin County, California. Director John Carpenter had a house in Inverness for several years, so the location was essentially his second home at that time (as the director puts it, "his own backyard"). However, the locals were not happy to see the film crew in the area so they made the shoot very difficult by harassment and vandalism. Carpenter tells that while they were filming, for example, a sound take, a neighbor would start mowing his lawn or start up a chainsaw until he was paid to stop. Some of the people even tried to break into the equipment trucks. The whole experience essentially soured Carpenter on living in the area, where several scenes of his earlier film "The Fog (1980)" were also filmed.
- GoofsBaby Mara, has dark brown eyes, older Mara has light blue eyes.
- Quotes
Dr. Alan Chaffee: [walks into the barn where the children are] Another man is dead. Why do you hate us so much, Mara?
Mara Chaffee: It isn't a matter of hate. It is a biological obligation.
[short pause]
Mara Chaffee: You are thinking of what happened to the others. Then our actions shouldn't surprise you. We have to survive no matter what the cost; we are the only ones left now.
Dr. Alan Chaffee: I don't see why we can't reach an understanding. Why can't we just live together?
Mara Chaffee: If we coexist, we shall dominate you. That is inevitable. Eventually you will try to eliminate us. We are all creatures of the life force. Now it was set us at one another to see who will survive.
Dr. Alan Chaffee: That's a cruel sport.
Mara Chaffee: Life is cruelty. We all feed on each other, exploit each other in some way to survive.
Dr. Alan Chaffee: [shakes his head] I don't agree with you.
[walks over to where Mara is sitting]
Dr. Alan Chaffee: I think that adaptation is the key to survival. Cooperation and symbiosis...
[kneels by Mara's desk]
Dr. Alan Chaffee: and compassion.
Mara Chaffee: Why do you think your own survival depends upon emotion from us? Shoul we pity you? Empathize with your plight?
Dr. Alan Chaffee: [bangs his fist on Mara's desk]
[shouting]
Dr. Alan Chaffee: You should feel! You should feel something!
[stands up]
Dr. Alan Chaffee: Without feelings, you're nothing. You're just second-rate mimics of a higher organism. That's right, higher organisms. We're your superiors in our capacity to love. Without compassion you're a doomed species.
Mara Chaffee: Emotion is irrelevant. It is not our nature.
Dr. Alan Chaffee: [looks back at David] Well, I'm not so sure you're right about that, Mara.
Carpenter is really a master of suspense and some scenes work remarkably well, however this is not one of his best films. Not much happens here and the film drags a bit, plus the inclusion of a government intervention and a possible world wide epidemic of these children does little to further the film. Still, Carpenter manages to create a decent amount of suspense and uneasiness by playing on the film's simple premise; that little children are the evildoers here. The soulless stares and glowing eyes are enough to creep you out. The social statement about people (and children) becoming indifferent to violence is a valid input, since the film couldn't really go for the same underlying meaning as the original, which was made during the cold war; the children personifying the threat from the east penetrating the west.
An average John Carpenter film is still a lot more interesting than most other horror films out there. Village of the Damned is not one of his best but it's a good film nonetheless.
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- John Carpenter's Village of the Damned
- Filming locations
- 11 Church St, Tomales, California, USA(church and cemetery)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $22,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $9,418,365
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $3,222,450
- Apr 30, 1995
- Gross worldwide
- $9,418,365
- Runtime1 hour 38 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1