Village Of The Damned (1995) ***

John Carpenter's 1995 remake of Village Of The Damned is a solid effort, but it doesn't add much to the original 1960 film's (review) premise (unlike his "remake" of The Thing (1982) (review), which tops the original in many ways). In Carpenter's version of VOTD the children don't feel as scary as they did in the 1960 film (much creepier in black and white). The violence and explosions are upped, but it doesn't necessarily make the stakes feel any higher. Additionally, there are some dodgy CG effects and I prefer the ending of the original film. I still consider this one of JC's weakest efforts, but I enjoyed it a bit more than I have on previous viewings.

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