Village of the Damned (1995): Collector’s Edition (4K UHD Review)

Reviewed by: Tim Salmons
Review Date: Feb 11, 2025
Format: 4K Ultra HD

Director

John Carpenter

Release Date(s)

1995 (September 24, 2024)

Studio(s)

Alphaville Films/Universal Pictures (Shout! Studios/Scream Factory)

Film/Program Grade: C-
Video Grade: A
Audio Grade: A-
Extras Grade: A

Review

John Carpenter’s remake of Village of the Damned was released by Universal Pictures in the spring of 1995, flopping almost immediately with negative reactions from critics and audiences. The plot revolves around a small town run by a group of mysterious telepathic children, with all of the adults directly under their thumb. The adults soon realize that they must find a way of stopping the children before they’re all killed for disobeying them. Despite the film’s initial theatrical reception, and Carpenter’s involvement, it managed to gain a minor cult audience over time, though most still acknowledge that it’s generally not top tier John Carpenter material.

There were plenty of reasons why Village of the Damned didn’t do so well upon release. Much of the blame was laid at the Oklahoma City bombings that occurred that year, as far as the box office take was concerned. It also seemed to have little of the signature John Carpenter spark or personality to it. He later said that it was more of a “contractual assignment,” and producer Sandy King admitted that they were both more interested in doing a remake of Creature from the Black Lagoon instead, which was also up for grabs at the time. The studio, however, insisted that they take on Village, and being forced into making a film doesn’t always yield the best results. It didn’t help that the studio ostensibly tampered with it before its initial release anyway.

That being said, Village of the Damned isn’t terrible, but it’s fairly mediocre. There are some nice performances and some decent ideas in play, but it winds up feeling very run of the mill. Making comparisons to John Carpenter’s previous films is unfair, but when you look at the original version of The Thing from Another World and compare it to the 1982 remake, it’s clear how vastly different and authoritatively-driven it is. That’s not the case with Village of the Damned, which feels more like an updated studio clone of the original, with seemingly little to no voice behind it. Carpenter did attempt to do something different with the story by showing the film’s events through the mother’s point of view instead of the father’s, which gives it a slightly fresh slant, at any rate. He later said that though he wasn’t all that excited about making the film, he was still proud of what they ended up with.

There are also seemed to be a rash of small towns-going-berserk type films during the timeframe that Village of the Damned was released, many of them being Stephen King adaptations for television, which only adds to the mundanity. The most positive aspect of the film is Christopher Reeve’s performance, which is fairly solid, but the end product is uninspired. Like a lot of his output during the 1990s and beyond, Village of the Damned just isn’t one Carpenter’s better efforts.

Village of the Damned was shot by cinematographer Gary B. Kibbe on 35mm film using Panavision Panaflex Gold II and Panavision E-Series anamorphic lenses, finished photochemically, and presented in the aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Scream Factory debuts the film on Ultra HD with a new 4K scan of the original camera negative, which has been graded for High Dynamic Range in HDR10 and Dolby Vision, and presented on a triple-layered BD-100 disc. It offers an excellent upgrade over the aging master used for Scream Factory’s 2016 Blu-ray release, which had some issues. This presentation is solid with a refined and well-attenuated grain structure and much higher levels of detail, especially in the shadows. The bitrate sits mostly between 70 and 90Mbps, occasionally dropping out unnecessarily in a few shots. The new HDR grades boost detail and enrich the color palette with more accuracy. Blacks are deep with perfect contrast, and the overall picture is stable and clean with no obvious digital artifacts to be found.

Audio is included in English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio (the same as Scream Factory’s 2016 Blu-ray release) with optional subtitles in English SDH. The film was released with DTS and Dolby SR soundtracks, depending on where you saw it, and the tracks presented here do a fine job of re-creating the theater experience. The 5.1 is mostly a stereo-driven presentation, but there’s definitely some nice ambient moments and support for the score. The 2.0 track is a little more aggressive. Dialogue is rendered nicely on both tracks, as are sound effects and occasional low end activity. In fact, these tracks are actually better than I remember.

The Scream Factory 2-Disc 4K Ultra HD Collector’s Edition of Village of the Damaged sits in a black Amaray case alongside a 1080p Blu-ray containing the same new transfer, with an insert and a slipcover featuring the original theatrical artwork. The following extras are included on both discs:

DISC ONE: UHD

Audio Commentary with Jackson Stewart and Francis Galluppi

DISC TWO: BD

Audio Commentary with Jackson Stewart and Francis Galluppi
Beware the Stare: Writing Village of the Damned (HD – 22:04)
March of the Children: Composing Village of the Damned (HD – 15:01)
It Takes a Village: The Making of John Carpenter’s Village of the Damned (HD – 49:17)
Horror’s Hallowed Grounds (HD – 20:52)
The Go to Guy: Peter Jason on John Carpenter (HD – 45:13)
Vintage Interviews and Behind-the-Scenes Footage (Upscaled SD – 24:41)
Image Gallery (HD – 22 in all – 1:57)
Theatrical Trailer (Upscaled SD – 2:00)

What this release and the previous Blu-ray get right better than anything else is their supplemental material. For my money, the extras are far more entertaining than the film itself, and Scream Factory has added a few more. First is a new audio commentary with writers and directors Jackson Stewart (Beyond the Gates) and Francis Galluppi (The Last Stop in Yuma County), both fans of John Carpenter and the film itself, providing much more background about it. They cover a lot of detail that’s not included on the other extras, which is valuable. Beware the Stare features a new interview with screenwriter David Himmelstein about his experiences on the film. March of the Children features a new interview with film music historian Daniel Schweiger about the film’s score. It Takes a Village is an excellent documentary that gets brutally honest about the problems during and after filming. Participants include John Carpenter, producer Sandy King, special make-up effects artist Greg Nicotero, and actors Meredith Salenger, Peter Jason, Michael Paré, Karen Kahn, Thomas Dekker, Lindsey Haun, Cody Dorkin, and Danielle Keaton. The very entertaining Horror’s Hallowed Grounds features Sean Clark visiting some of the filming locations, with local sheriff Skip Richardson, who has a cameo in the film, popping up, as well. The Go to Guy features an extended interview with Peter Jason about his career and working with John Carpenter. Next are a set of vintage interview snippets and behind the scenes footage, featuring John Carpenter, Christopher Reeve, Kirstie Alley, Linda Kozlowski, Mark Hamill, and director of the original film, Wolf Rilla. Last is an Image Gallery containing 22 stills of black-and-white and color production photos, press materials, and posters, as well as the film’s theatrical trailer.

Had John Carpenter been given more control and final cut on Village of the Damned, one wonders if some the film’s issues would have been a little more ironed out. Regardless, mediocre John Carpenter is better than no John Carpenter, and Scream Factory’s 4K upgrade of the film, along with the excellent bonus materials, make it worth a revisit.

- Tim Salmons

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