Varietal: Bold, Spicy Red
Vintner: Wolf Rilla
Vintage: 1960
Vineyard: MGM

by Brian.


Before I start, I feel I should mention that I plan on discussing the original version of Village of the Damned, not the 1995 remake with Superman and Rebecca Howe. That being said, the reason why I'm choosing to enlighten the chosen few who read this about Village of the Damned rather than, say, Castaway, is simply because Village of the Damned is better.

The single most interesting facet of this film is how it's structured. Film school tells us to start in the middle of the action, leaving the audience to figure out what's happened as we go along. The strength of this film however is that it starts at the beginning. We see the mysterious case of the Midwich Children from the beginning, with an entire town falling asleep, to the fiery end. The first act is almost a detective story, discovering the symptoms of an odd aura set around the small village of Midwich until ultimately, the fog of unconsciousness lifts and the town returns to normal. By spending the screen time to show such a strange event the audience is drawn to the entire town through curiosity of what's happened, especially to George Sanders, who falls asleep in the first scene.

It's interesting to note however, that the first half hour or so is spent following around someone who isn't the star of the film. We, the audience, start to wonder why we're following Michael Gwynn and not George Sanders. Why he collapsed in that first shot, why everyone collapsed for that matter. The filmmakers trick the audience into intrigue precisely by not showing Sanders. By the time the army conducts all these tests and everyone inexplicably wakes up, we're in it for the long haul.

From there we see a lot of questionable happenings and behavior that suggest supernatural occurrence. The single associative object of this film is the Midwich Children; the kids with the weird eyes that everyone who hasn't seen the film but wants to come off looking like they have mention as they shift the conversation elsewhere. The Children however, are boring. The idea behind them, that aliens really do want to come down, rape our women, read our minds, then take over, is what appeals to me. It impresses me that a film could be so bold in its message, unashamedly and undeniably, just like the end of Rosemary's Baby or Invasion of the Body Snatchers. These films aren't afraid to say something, even if the notion is preposterous.

Films like these are definitely Chianti Classicos. Strong and upfront with their flavor, sure of who they are and not afraid to tell you (just look at their titles). Yet a film like Village of the Damned is smooth on the palate. You don't need to watch it three times just to understand it, or take a class to recognize the significance of it. Yes it's bold and yes it's got a little sting, but nothing that requires beef.

All in all, this kind of film doesn't get made any more. Science fiction and horror are now boring. Gone are the days of balls-out filmmaking, having been drowned out by quasi-futuristic technology and mask-wearing fiends that now saturate these genres. If you're in a mood to see an interesting story that doesn't get told interestingly anymore, take a trip to Village of the Damned.


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