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Metascore
14 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80The New York TimesJanet MaslinThe New York TimesJanet MaslinMr. Carpenter gives this formerly black and white story a handsome color retelling and a lot of new punch. And he avidly exploits the fears that are at its heart. Now add a new one. With its baleful little villains, Village of the Damned is even creepier to watch as a parent than it was to see as a child.
- 80Los Angeles TimesKevin ThomasLos Angeles TimesKevin ThomasVillage of the Damned is a good-looking, well-wrought film with some knockout special effects, some dark humor and crisp portrayals.
- 50San Francisco ChroniclePeter StackSan Francisco ChroniclePeter StackCuriously mellow for a John Carpenter thriller, Village of the Damned, a full-color, cornball special-effects remake of the 1960 sci-fi favorite, is a trip to a village of the darned tedious.
- 42The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyThe A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyVillage Of The Damned is probably the worst movie John Carpenter ever directed: hokey, miscast, devoid of tension and atmosphere.
- 42Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanWhen the children in Carpenter’s Village flash their glowing eyes, hypnotizing the hapless grown-ups into committing a series of increasingly lurid suicides, the kids don’t seem much more bizarre — or frightening — than your average 10-year-old Nintendo freak.
- 40TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineVILLAGE OF THE DAMNED projects the most basic of human terrors: the fear of group power overtaking individual will is expressed in the children as well as in the government and medical establishment which intervene in the realm of the body by manipulating reproductive decisions.
- 38Boston GlobeJay CarrBoston GlobeJay CarrVillage of the Damned has everything you want in a horror movie but the horror. [28 Apr 1995, p.90]
- Has John Carpenter lost his mind or just his talent? On the heels of In the Mouth of Madness comes the director's rehash of the 1960 classic, Village of the Damned. Unfortunately, Carpenter simply makes a hash of it.
- 20EmpireIan NathanEmpireIan NathanPointless re-make. One of (the once great) Carpenter's worst.
- 20Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovAustin ChronicleMarc SavlovCarpenter's updating of the classic 1960 chiller is mediocre at best, and at times plummets into unintentional humor. It's arguably the weakest horror film he's ever made.