Village Of The Damned (1995) (Collector’s Edition) [Blu-Ray]

Director: John Carpenter

Cast: Christopher Reeve, Kirstie Alley, Linda Kozlowski

Release Date: Available On Collector’s Edition Blu-ray April 12, 2016

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Disc Rating: 8.5/10

Synopsis:

From the master of suspense, John Carpenter, comes a chilling new version of the sci-fi classic. Something is terribly wrong in the tiny village of Midwich. After an unseen force invades a quiet coastal town, ten women mysteriously find themselves pregnant. Local physician Dr. Alan Chaffee (Christopher Reeve) and government scientist Dr. Susan Verner (Kirstie Alley) join forces when the women simultaneously give birth… and the reign of supernatural terror begins. In what The New York Times calls “one scarifying trip,” the people of Midwich must try to find a way to stop the unstoppable in the Village of the Damned.

From legendary filmmaker John Carpenter comes the 1995 remake of ‘Village Of The Damned’ which tells the story of the small town of Midwich where after a strange occurrence that caused the entire populace within a certain range to drop unconscious, the townsfolk discover a disturbing number of pregnancies in the women affected, all seeming to have been conceived on that dreaded day, many without any other logical explanation. After the offer of financial compensation courtesy of the government for keeping these unexplained pregnancies, the entirety of the pregnant mothers indeed do, only to create a strange and terrifying collection of single-minded children who seem to be anything but ordinary human kids and if left unchecked could mean the end of Midwich and its inhabitants for good.

While certainly not the most monumental directorial effort from the incredibly talented John Carpenter, ‘Village Of The Damned’ is still an entertaining, creepy and often humorous (albeit often unintentionally) movie that I personally couldn’t help but enjoy quite a bit, the review copy of this gorgeous Collector’s Edition Blu-ray provided by Scream Factory in fact marking my first viewing of the film and one thing is certain, I can’t imagine a better way to experience it for the first time other than possibly with a rare film screening. The film is directed by John Carpenter and stars a number of well known individuals including Christopher Reeve, Kirstie Alley, Linda Kozlowski, Mark Hamill and a number more, all of which deliver mostly capable performances in each of their respective roles.

Fans of John Carpenter as well as his take on ‘Village Of The Damned’ will likely want to make sure to pick up a copy of Scream Factory’s Collector’s Edition Blu-ray release to add to their collections. The release delivers fantastic high definition video and audio presentations in addition to a number of worthwhile extras including some archival bonus content along with some created specifically for this release including as a new 50 minute look at the making of the film and more (more detailed information regarding the bonus content can be found in the special features section of the technical specification coverage below), sure to make this one a definite must own for many fans of the film, or simply of Carpenter’s work in general.

Overall, the folks over at Scream Factory have come through with yet another solid Collector’s Edition Blu-ray, and fans of John Carpenter and his 1995 directorial effort ‘Village Of The Damned’ will likely want to grab a copy of this release which provides impressive video and audio presentations along with some solid extras. Those such as me who may not have previously had the pleasure of John Carpenter’s ‘Village Of The Damned’ may want to at least give it a shot at some point as I found it to be a fairly fun film and well worth a watch to say the least, especially if you’re able to rent a copy as many may be understandably hesitant to make a blind purchase.

VIDEO:

Scream Factory’s Collector’s Edition Blu-ray release of John Carpenter’s ‘Village of The Damned’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the film’s original 2.35:1 Cinemascope Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks fantastic as a whole, providing a consistently sharp, detailed and gorgeous presentation with no notable faults to be found within, holding up impressively even during the darkly lit sequences and never resulting in anything occurring on screen to become negatively affected or rendered indiscernible. Overall, this is a wonderful high definition video presentation that should easily thrill fans of the film.

AUDIO:

The Collector’s Edition Blu-ray release features a lossless 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. This lossless multichannel soundtrack sounds great and delivers a crisp, clean and discrete audio presentation throughout that utilizes all five available channels quite regularly in order to surround the viewer with the score in addition to some explosive debris and other immersive surround activity, while never causing any dialogue which may be occurring simultaneously to become distorted, let alone rendered inaudible. Overall, this is a fantastic 5.1 channel DTS-HD MA soundtrack that delivers in every possible way.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Scream Factory’s Collector’s Edition Blu-ray release of John Carpenter’s ‘Village of The Damned’ includes some wonderful extras both old and a number that are brand new, created specifically for this release. Included is a new look at the making of the film including interviews with Director John Carpenter among others in ‘It Takes a Village: The Making of John Carpenter’s Village of the Damned’ (running approximately 49 minutes in length). We are also treated to a revisiting of the filming locations in ‘Horror’s Hallowed Grounds’ (running approximately 21 minutes), along with ‘The Go To Guy: Peter Jason On John Carpenter’ (approximately 45 minutes), ‘Vintage Interviews’ including Director John Carpenter, Actors Christopher Reeve, Kirstie Alley and more (25 minutes altogether), plus a ‘Behind-the-Scenes Photo Gallery’ and the ‘Theatrical Trailer’ for the film (2 minutes).

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They additionally will suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

Disc Rating: 8.5/10

John Carpenter’s ‘Village Of The Damned’ will be available to own on Collector’s Edition Blu-Ray April 12, 2016 from Scream Factory.

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