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The Appropriate Tune - "Bette Davis Eyes", by Kim Carnes
Way back in the year of 2018 I actually covered the remake of this film, directed by genre film maester John Carpenter. It was…okay, as far as I remember. Cool to see Christopher Reeve in a non-Superman role, and even though Carpenter wasn’t considered at the top of his game by ‘94, he still had some gas in the tank. Thing is, I had never watched the original film before then, I had watched it simply because of Carpenter’s name. So I probably rectify that, especially I had no other films set up for today.
Based on the novel ‘The Midwich Cuckoos’ by John Wyndham (who was the pen behind The Day of the Triffids as well), Village of the Damned stars George Sanders as Gordon Zellaby, a citizen of the town of Midwich in the United Kingdom. One day, everything in the town suddenly falls unconscious. Man, woman, animal, everything which steps foot into the territory of the town. The military cordons off the area, runs tests, but they can find out nothing. Then, as suddenly as it happened, everyone wakes up. Just like that, no worse for wear.
Several months later, Midwich sees an influx of childbirths, all beginning from that strange day. What happened that day? And what, if anything, is up with these strange, strange children. Probably nothing, right?
It’s a classic kind of science fiction. Strange thing happens, and humans have to deal with it. Except there’s no monster to stop, as we see in The Blob or similar creature features. No agency on the part of human to explain or affect these children or their goals. They just have to wait and let things play out, and maybe learn something about themselves in the process.
You ever watch any of the classic sci-fi anthology shows? Twilight Zone, Night Gallery, Outer Limits? If you’re familiar with those shows, then this is going to be right up your alley. Thumbs up.
STATUS: RECOMMENDED
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