Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 29, 1995                   TAG: 9505020051
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: B-12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CALL IT `VILLAGE OF THE DULL'

Until its unfortunate conclusion, "Village of the Damned" is a flat horror film completely lacking suspense or surprises. Veteran filmmaker John Carpenter must have burned up his best creative energies on "In the Mouth of Madness," released a few months ago. This remake of the 1960 original looks like it was phoned in.

The plot - long familiar to sci-fi fans - involves the isolated village of Midwich, located in this case on the scenic California coast. An unexplained force causes all of the inhabitants to pass out for several hours.

When they awaken, several of the women - including Linda Kozlowski, Meredith Salenger and Karen Kahn - are pregnant. Neither the local doctor (Christopher Reeve) nor the government scientist (Kirstie Alley) who happens to drop by know what to make of the phenomenon. Years later, the babies grow to be little kids with silvery wigs and psychic powers.

In this telling of the story, written by David Himmelstein from John Wyndam's novel and the 1960 script, the characters have no personalities, the dialogue is sloppy and stilted, and the plot comes to a slapdash conclusion. The pedestrian special effects appear to have been tailored for the small screen. In that regard, this one doesn't measure up to such recent releases as Carpenter's own "...Madness" or "Stargate."

While this version may be faithful to the original, that's not necessarily a virtue. If the story were to be remade, why not tell it from a woman's point of view? That could have added a new and deeper perspective.

But Carpenter is famous for working fast and bringing his projects in for relatively modest budgets. That certainly appears to have been the case with this one. It was also the victim of bad timing.

Under normal circumstances, the cliched ending would be negligible. These are not normal circumstances, though, and it should be noted that "Village of the Damned" ends with a bomb blowing up a building and several characters.

That is not entertainment.

Village of the Damned *

A Universal release playing at the Salem Valley 8 and Valley View Mall. 100 min. Rated R for violence, strong language.