The Village of the Damned (1995) - Much lampooned and most enjoyable

I've only just watched 1995's 'The Village of the Damned' and yet I have this real feeling of de ja vu.  For some reason, despite my love of horror and the film's strong cast and crew, I never got round to seeing it in the nineties and yet I feel like I must have seen it somewhere.  Then it hit me... I haven't just seen it somewhere, I think it's more like I've seen it everywhere!

A small American town faints - yes, literally - everyone just drop where they're standing, only to wake a few hours later with many of the child-bearing age women now pregnant.  Skip forward a few years and there's a crop of creepy platinum-blond-haired children running around - and practically running the town at the same time!

It seems like this 'concept' has been made fun of, or at least references, in so many pop culture classics since its release that I kind of knew what would happen by now without needing to watch the actual source material.  However, it's so good... I'm glad I did.

The two leads know their stuff - Christopher Reeve and Kirsty Alley.  Both seasoned pros in their respective fields, but the one thing they have in common seems to be an ability to know that this film, although pretty horrific in places, can't be taken overly seriously.  Therefore they seem to know the right time to play things straight, but not TOO straight.  You also have Mark Hamill thrown into the cast list as the local priest.  He's not in it much and, when he's christening the children after their multiple births, I think the producers missed a trick in not having him saying 'May the Force be with you,' instead of the traditional blessing!

The cast all play their parts well, but - possibly - what elevates this film over many of its genre is the fact that (horror legend) John Carpenter directed it.  I read on the internet (so hardly fact!) that he only agreed to do this because he was contractually obliged to do so.  I don't know how true that it, but he certainly seems to be able to get a good performance out of his cast, even when he's not really trying.  Plus you have 'typical' John Carpenter-esque music which really does add to the overall foreboding feel.

There's not too much in the way of gore, but it is rather creepy.  Films (especially in the horror genre) that rely on children as primary actors can be a bit hit and miss.  Sometimes the kids just aren't believable, due to their lack of years in front of the camera (hardly their fault at a young age, but it can be a turn off for viewers).  However, here they all fit the bill perfectly and will make you damn glad that your little monster in real life isn't half as bad as these literal monsters.

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that