From rec.arts.sf.reviews Thu May 4 11:42:19 1995 Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Path: news.ifm.liu.se!liuida!sunic!sunic.sunet.se!news.luth.se!eru.mt.luth.se!news.kth.se!nac.no!Norway.EU.net!EU.net!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!uchinews!gw2.att.com!nntpa!not-for-mail From: leeper@mtgbcs.att.com (Mark R. Leeper) Subject: REVIEW: VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED (1995) Message-ID: Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Summary: r.a.m.r. #03581 Originator: ecl@mtgp003 Keywords: author=Leeper Sender: ecl@mtgpfs2.att.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Nntp-Posting-Host: mtgp003.mt.att.com Reply-To: leeper@mtgbcs.att.com Organization: AT&T, Middletown NJ Date: Mon, 1 May 1995 18:56:27 GMT Approved: ecl@mtgpfs2.att.com Lines: 86 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:2948 rec.arts.sf.reviews:760 VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED (1995) A film review by Mark R. Leeper Copyright 1995 Mark R. Leeper Capsule: The second adaptation of John Wyndham's MIDWICH CUCKOOS is surprisingly restrained for a John Carpenter film. Fans of Carpenter's usual flashy special effects and gore may be disappointed to find them toned down, but the real enthusiasts of science fiction will welcome a return to a more traditional approaches. Rating: high +1 (-4 to +4) [Spoiler warning: For those unfamiliar with the story, VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED has many small mysteries for the viewer starting with the very first scene. It is impossible to say anything about the content of the film without giving away some of the mysteries. This review will have only minor spoilers outside of one paragraph. That paragraph will have a separate spoiler warning.] One of the best British science fiction authors of the 50s and 60s was John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris who wrote under several names, but the best-known were John Beynon Harris and John Wyndham. His most popular two novels, both written as John Wyndham, were THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS and THE MIDWICH CUCKOOS. The former has been filmed twice under its own name; the latter has just been filmed for a second time, both times under the title VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED, though the second film version perhaps owes more to the first film than to the novel. Incidentally, the novel THE MIDWICH CUCKOOS itself appears to owe a great deal to Richard Matheson's short story "Trespass" (a.k.a. "Mother by Protest"), Theodore Sturgeon's "More than Human," and Jerome Bixby's "It's a Good Life." The director this time is John Carpenter. When Carpenter remade THE THING he threw a lot of special effects at the project and made a film respectful neither of the spirit of the original film, nor of the classic science fiction story on which it was based. (Ironically, the original story could be more satisfyingly adapted today with morphing effects than with the model effects he used.) His version of VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED is much less sensationalist in style, probably lower in budget, and at the same time a better representation of its story. The story is not one of screaming horror and dismembered bodies, but one with more a subtle and a cerebral sort of chill. [Spoiler warning: do not read unless you already know the plot.] The story takes place in the village of Midwich but no longer Midwich, England. Now it is Midwich, California, as unlikely as that name sounds. It is a nice, isolated coastal town. In the middle of the day a mysterious sleep falls upon everybody in town. Simultaneously, everybody in town simply collapses where he is. Six hours later the sleep ends as mysteriously as it began. But things are not quite back to normal. Ten women come to realize they are pregnant. With one stillbirth, they give birth to what appears to be nine silver-haired children, but it is actually one single organism with a single mind and incredible mental powers. Carpenter has put in a few touches to please an action-film audience. There are a couple of particularly nasty deaths, there are two fiery truck crashes, and toward the end there is a half-hearted action scene with guns blazing. But most of the violence is compulsion by mental suggestion and mental suggestion is what Carpenter uses to make it seem effective to the viewer. Carpenter clearly respects Wolf Rilla's 1960 version. He credits the screenplay and lifts whole scenes from the earlier film's script. Visually he imitates the style of the earlier adaptation. Realizing how silly the superchildren would look in modern clothing styles, he dresses them in the same sort of clothing as the earlier film and gives them a similar silver-haired look and similar facial cast. And speaking of familiar casts, we have Christopher Reeve as the lead, an amalgam of two characters in the original, but primarily the George Sanders character. Many may disagree but Sanders played the role too smugly and confidently. Reeve conveys a wider range of emotions. Personifying the line "I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help you" is Kirstie Alley. There are interesting ironies in her character, but she adds little to them. As the town priest Mark Hamill underpowers the role and carries too much baggage from previous roles. The Children, like Reeve, may actually do a better job here than in the original. For the most part, VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED looks like a science fiction film that could have been made in the 60s or 70s that is not half bad. I give it a high +1 on the -4 to +4 scale. Mark R. Leeper mark.leeper@att.com From rec.arts.sf.reviews Thu May 4 11:42:19 1995 Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Path: news.ifm.liu.se!liuida!sunic!sunic.sunet.se!news.luth.se!eru.mt.luth.se!news.kth.se!nac.no!Norway.EU.net!EU.net!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!uchinews!gw2.att.com!nntpa!not-for-mail From: JBERARDINELL@delphi.com (berardinelli,james) Subject: REVIEW: VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED (1995) Message-ID: Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Summary: r.a.m.r. #03582 Originator: ecl@mtgp003 Keywords: author=Berardinelli Sender: ecl@mtgpfs2.att.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Nntp-Posting-Host: mtgp003.mt.att.com ~Reply-To: JBERARDINELL@delphi.com (berardinelli,james) Organization: - Date: Mon, 1 May 1995 18:59:40 GMT Approved: ecl@mtgpfs2.att.com Lines: 91 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:2949 rec.arts.sf.reviews:761 VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED (1995) A film review by James Berardinelli Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli RATING (0 TO 10): 6.3 U.S. Availability: general release 4/28/95 Running Length: 1:37 MPAA Classification: R (Violence, profanity) Starring: Christopher Reeve, Kirstie Alley, Linda Kozlowski, Mark Hamill, Michael Pare, Lindsey Haun Director: John Carpenter Producers: Michael Preger and Sandy King Screenplay: David Himmelstein based on THE MIDWICH CUCKOOS by John Wyndham and the 1960 screenplay by Stirling Silliphant, Wolf Rilla, and George Barclay Cinematography: Gary B. Kibbe Music: John Carpenter and Dave Davies Released by Universal Pictures Despite being an inferior remake, VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED is the most frightening motion picture that John Carpenter has brought to the screen in at least a decade. Following this year's disappointing IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS, Carpenter has turned to a creepy 1960 English film for inspiration. Adding more than a dose of modernization, a new setting (the British village has become an American town), and a dash of his trademark shock tactics, the director has turned out an enjoyable, if obviously-flawed, amalgamation of horror and science fiction. VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED opens in the rural community of Midwich, population 2000. After giving perfunctory introductions to the central characters, Carpenter starts the action in a disconcerting fashion. With a noise that sets theater speakers throbbing, a "whispering cloud" moves across the sky, knocking everyone in Midwich unconscious. During this event, at least two men are killed and ten women are mysteriously impregnated. Government officials, led by Dr. Susan Verner (Kirstie Alley) arrive just in time for the town's revival. Lending his aid to Verner's people is Midwich's resident M.D., Alan Chaffee (Christopher Reeve), who was away when the cloud moved in. After the pregnancies have been diagnosed, Dr. Verner makes it clear that the government will pay stipends to every woman who carries her child to term. Following the requisite nine months, the blessed events occur virtually simultaneously, giving Midwich a group of tiny new residents. But as the children grow, it becomes clear that there's something inhuman about them. With their platinum-blond hair and blank expressions, not only do they look unlike the men and women raising them, but they lack emotion and possess the ability to read and control minds. For a movie that opens with so much promise, VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED is actually something of a disappointment. The second half isn't as well-paced or intelligently scripted as what precedes it, although the taut climax will hold an interested viewer on seat's edge. As the director has shown many times before (most notably in HALLOWEEN), he can take an overused scene or device and infuse it with unexpected energy. This skill--and little else--keeps VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED entertaining throughout, but the movie is by no means an unqualified success. Society says that the young are innocent and vulnerable, and therefore must be protected and supported. VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED plays on a parental nightmare: the loss of control over an amoral--or even evil--child. How can any father or mother overcome the nurturing instinct and act against an offspring, regardless of what crimes that child has committed? It's an unsettling consideration. Alas, Carpenter's exploration is somewhat perfunctory. Ultimately, the film is more interested in surface shocks than this sort of deeper psychological horror, but vestiges of the theme still manage to lend a chilling tone to what's on screen. The cast is interesting, if not top notch. Christopher Reeve is adequate in a role that doesn't require a stretch of his limited dramatic range. Kirstie Alley displays little presence or charisma as the cold-hearted, secretive epidemiologist. And, if Crocodile Dundee's main squeeze (Kozlowski) is difficult to recognize as one of the expectant mothers, what better camouflage could there be for Luke Skywalker than as the local minister? What differentiates VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED from Carpenter's best work is the lack of character definition. There's no one in Midwich worth caring about. The high number of deaths--some of which are unexpected--leads to a certain unpredictability, but none of the murders has an impact beyond elevating the body count. The result is a movie that's as superficial as it is fun. And, while the director shows he's still very much on top of his craft, a tighter script, with fewer subplots vying for screen time, might have made for a memorable updating of the classic. Instead, all we have is a passable remake. - James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com) From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon May 8 14:31:47 1995 Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Path: news.ifm.liu.se!liuida!sunic!sunic.sunet.se!uunet!EU.net!news.sprintlink.net!hookup!lll-winken.llnl.gov!fnnews.fnal.gov!gw1.att.com!nntpa!not-for-mail From: ben.hoffman@bcsbbs.com (Ben Hoffman) Subject: REVIEW: VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED (1995) Message-ID: Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Summary: r.a.m.r. #03594 Originator: ecl@mtgp003 Keywords: author=B.Hoffman Sender: ecl@mtgpfs2.att.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Nntp-Posting-Host: mtgp003.mt.att.com Reply-To: ben.hoffman@bcsbbs.com (Ben Hoffman) Organization: The BCS BBS - Los Angeles, CA - 213-962-2902 Date: Thu, 4 May 1995 13:33:52 GMT Approved: ecl@mtgpfs2.att.com Lines: 50 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:2961 rec.arts.sf.reviews:765 VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED (1995) A film review by Ben Hoffman Copyright 1995 Ben Hoffman There have been several movie versions of John Wyndham's stories, none of which I have seen. Director John Carpenter thought the film's story would be improved if it were made more current. I don't much like the genre of spooky films but I must say this one has a somewhat better twist than most of that type. There's a little town of Midwich where nothing exciting ever happens. Every now and then a cloud, accompanied by ominous sounds, passes over the town, and strange thing begin to happens. Dr. Chaffee (Christopher Reeve) finds he is being besieged by an inordinate number of women who have become pregnant. He then becomes aware that the conceptions took place on the same day, the day of a school outing ... and that the cloud had passed over the town. Suspicious that something odd is going on, Dr. Chaffee calls on the Federal Government to send someone to investigate this new phenomenon. The epidemiologist they send is Dr Susan Verner (Kristie Alley) who, by the way, is a chain smoker. Has no one told her about the dangers of smoking? Of the ten children who are born, nine survive, apparently healthy. They all look very much alike with piercing eyes and whitish blond hair which gives rise to the reasonable assumption that they were all sired by the same "father." As the boys and girls grow, they begin to display weird, un-childlike behavior. If they focus their eyes on you (in a strange color), you will be involved in a fatal accident very shortly. Everyone soon realizes that these kids are not to be antagonized or thwarted. That's pretty much the basis for the film. What the children do, what Dr. Chaffee and Dr. Vermeer do to try to stop what is happening is what makes up the film. Incidentally, there have, according to Dr. Vermeer, been similar incidents recently in other parts of the world. OoooooHHHHHooooo!. Others in the cast include Linda Koslowski, Michael Pare, Mark Hamill and Karen Kahn, among others. 2 bytes 4 Bytes = Superb 3 Bytes = Too good to be missed. 2 Bytes = So so. 1 Byte = Save your money. Ben Hoffman From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon May 15 10:54:51 1995 Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Path: news.ifm.liu.se!liuida!sunic!sunic.sunet.se!news.luth.se!eru.mt.luth.se!news.kth.se!nac.no!Norway.EU.net!EU.net!howland.reston.ans.net!nntp.crl.com!pacbell.com!gw2.att.com!nntpa!not-for-mail From: rafferty@otc.fsu.edu (Stephen Rafferty) Subject: REVIEW: VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED (1995) Message-ID: Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Summary: r.a.m.r. #03615 Originator: ecl@mtgp003 Keywords: author=Rafferty Sender: ecl@mtgpfs2.att.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Nntp-Posting-Host: mtgp003.mt.att.com Reply-To: rafferty@otc.fsu.edu (Stephen Rafferty) Organization: OTC/FSU Date: Wed, 10 May 1995 15:29:57 GMT Approved: ecl@mtgpfs2.att.com Lines: 49 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:2986 rec.arts.sf.reviews:768 VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED (1995) A film review by Stephen Rafferty Copyright 1995 Stephen Rafferty *- Bad, a dog. **- Poor, not much worth seeing ***- Good, had it's good moments ****- Great, well worth seeing *****- First rate, probably one of the years best. ================================================================================ VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED ** Directed by John Carpenter Starring: Christover Reeve, Kirstie Alley. Based on the 1960 screenplay of the original of this sci-fi horror, which is based on John Wyndham's book THE MIDWICH CUCKOOS, this is a disappointing film for Carpenter. Although possessing a fleetish B-movie feel, which works partly, Carpenter does not create the mood of a town in havoc which we so expect from him. Carpenter (HALLOWEEN, THE THING) has been most successful when he sticks to the aura of horror as opposed to the physicality of it. Unfortunately he failed for the most part here. Reeve (SUPERMAN) plays the village Doctor in a small town which is suddenly hit by an unexplainable blackout. Following this blackout, all the women of child-bearing age become pregnant (including a virgin) and give birth to strange children who possess the same characteristics, one of which is the ability to make humans self-destruct. As you would expect, the children go on a mad killing rampage, and Reeve tries to stop them. One of the most disjointed parts of the film is government Doctor Alley (LOOK WHO'S TALKING XXXVII) who one can never determine whether she is just an evil representative of Big Brother, being controlled by the children, or just plain mischievous and dull! Of course, we are set up with an ending battle between good and evil, and guess who wins! There is some nifty photography and the SFX in the children's eyes is well done, but not enough to take this film into the enjoyable arena. Carpenter needs to get his act together and start looking at his older films, especially HALLOWEEN and THE THING to re-learn how to direct suspenseful horror. Stephen Rafferty Florida State University From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon May 15 10:55:32 1995 Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Path: news.ifm.liu.se!liuida!sunic!sunic.sunet.se!news.luth.se!eru.mt.luth.se!news.kth.se!nac.no!Norway.EU.net!EU.net!howland.reston.ans.net!nntp.crl.com!pacbell.com!gw2.att.com!nntpa!not-for-mail From: ram@mbisgi.umd.edu (Ram Samudrala) Subject: REVIEW: VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED (1995) Message-ID: Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Summary: r.a.m.r. #03616 Originator: ecl@mtgp003 Keywords: author=Samudrala Sender: ecl@mtgpfs2.att.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Nntp-Posting-Host: mtgp003.mt.att.com Reply-To: ram@mbisgi.umd.edu (Ram Samudrala) Organization: The Centre for Advanced Research in Biotechnology Date: Wed, 10 May 1995 15:33:11 GMT Approved: ecl@mtgpfs2.att.com Lines: 45 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:2987 rec.arts.sf.reviews:769 VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED (1995) A film review by Ram Samudrala Copyright 1995 Ram Samudrala Imagine a scenario where our next evolutionary successors are emotionless, telepathic, and highly intelligent. VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED presents such a scenario and details the struggle of this "superior" race against the humans. John Carpenter has taken the original 1960's screenplay and gorified it in this version, but the ideas in the movie are still captivating. A higher lifeform impregnates the females of the Damned Village one night, resulting in the births of nine platinum-blond children and one stillborn, all of which are siblings. What's more, they are telepathically linked and have the power to control people's minds. According to the movie, they are emotionless, but they do seem to get angry for trivial reasons, they seem to have a great drive for survival, and they are intelligent. The basic flaw in this story seems to be that you can have intelligence without emotions. I believe this to be a contradiction because any reasonable definition of intelligence (say, the one that requires the passing of the Turing test (i.e., any perfect simulation of a human is intelligent)) requires a drive, a curiousity, and a passion, that goes beyond mere survival. But besides this, the picture the movie paints is rather reasonable. One of the main ideas is the notion of a "collective soul", which I think is indeed a feature of higher intelligence (low level examples include our own brain which is simply a collection of smaller "intelligent" units, neurons). However, rigourous conformity, which is one of the aspects of eight out of the nine children in the movie, is not a necessity and is certainly not a sign of higher intelligence. Without allowing for change within such a collective, there is no room for evolution. A successor species to us would have emotions, intelligence, telepathic powers (allowing for complete freedom of information), and individual free will, thus enabling Thomas More's vision of Utopia coming true. The actual story is about how two doctors, one M.D. (Christopher Reeve), and one Ph.D. (Kirstie Alley), battle with the children. If you do see Village of the Damned, see it not for the way Carpenter kills off the cast, but for the lesson it teaches us about what our next evolutionary successors would really be like. ram@elan1.carb.nist.gov From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon Nov 4 16:31:52 2002 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.ida.liu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!newsfeed1.swip.net!swipnet!jfk3-feed1.news.algx.net!dfw3-feed1.news.algx.net!allegiance!newsfeed.news2me.com!sn-xit-05!sn-xit-01!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail From: Dennis Schwartz Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Retrospective: Village of the Damned (1960) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.past-films Date: Mon, 28 Oct 2002 19:22:17 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 33215 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 803119 X-RT-TitleID: 1022823 X-RT-SourceID: 873 X-RT-AuthorID: 1315 X-RT-RatingText: B Summary: r.a.m.r. #33215 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: abuse@supernews.com Lines: 95 Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:5051 rec.arts.sf.reviews:393 VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED (director: Wolf Rilla; screenwriters: based on John Wyndham's novel The Midwich Cuckoos/Stirling Silliphant; cinematographer: Geoffrey Faithfull; editor: Gordon Hales; music: Ron Goodwin; cast: George Sanders (Gordon Zellaby), Barbara Shelley (Anthea Zellaby), Laurence Naismith (Doctor Willers), Michael C. Gwynne (Alan Bernard), John Phillips (General Leighton), Richard Vernon (Sir Edgar Hargraves), Martin Stephens (David Zellaby), Bernard Archard (Vicar), Peter Vaughan (Gobby); Runtime: 77; MPAA Rating: NR; producer: Ronald Kinnoch; MGM; 1960-UK) "By keeping everything elementary and not relying on gimmicks or special effects, Village of the Damned remains an intelligent creepy tale that has not lost its luster over time." Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz A splendid sci-fi film adapted by director Wolf Rilla from John Wyndham's novel The Midwich Cuckoos. What seemed to be missing in the film from the book, were the cuckoos. It was made for under $300,000, and the film's only recognized star at the time was the suave 54-year old George Sanders. He's Professor Gordon Zellaby, a happily married resident in the small English village of Midwich. His perfectly charming wife is the 27-year-old Anthea Zellaby (Barbara Shelley). One day for several hours everyone in Midwich mysteriously blacks out, and just as suddenly as they went under they awaken from their trance. Two months later all the village women (12 of them) who can bear children find they are pregnant from an unnatural force that possessed them during their fainting spell when the village was cut off from the rest of England. The children are all born healthy and look similar: they are all golden-haired robot-like aliens with super-intelligence, no human emotions, strange eyes that have the power to stare at someone while putting them under a spell, the ability to read minds and communicate telepathically, and all are of one mind--so if you teach one of them something they all learn it even if they weren't physically present. As the children grow to school age, the mere presence of them in town and how oddly cold they act makes them outcasts with their peers as well as with the adults. Also, disturbing to the locals is that a few village children have died from unexplained causes. But the incident that shows how the children will not adjust to humans, is when a motorist nearly runs down one of the children and the Zellaby child, David (Martin Stephens), the ringleader, gets a group of alien children to stare down the motorist as their eyes devilishly glow. The motorist goes into a spell and crashes his car deliberately into a wall, which kills him as the car goes up in flames. The inquest rules it an accident. When the motorist's brother tries to use his shotgun against the children in revenge, they stare him down and he instead blows his head off. Gordon argues with the local military commander, General Leighton (John Phillips), that the children shouldn't be imprisoned but science should have a chance to study their super powers. The high ranking British government official, Sir Edgar Hargraves (Vernon), decides to let Gordon be responsible for the children and gives him a year to get some results. The children now all live together in the schoolhouse and Gordon is their teacher, and is the only adult in town whom they respect. When the men in the pub decide to burn down the schoolhouse with the children in it rather than wait for the children to destroy them first if they don't act, it only results in all the village menfolk being forced into burning themselves with their own torches by the children's use of their kinetic powers. When Gordon's brother-in-law, Major Bernard (Michael C. Gwynne), tries to intervene to get the children to behave properly, they paralyse him into a state of temporary shock to warn the others of their growing powers. Gordon realizes that it's up to him to handle these uncontrollable "damned children," because calling in the army will not help--the children who are determined to survive will only brainwash the troops to fire on each other. He gets his chance when the children request that he secretly help them escape from the village, and he meets them in the schoolhouse with a briefcase packed with dynamite and his mind fixated on an image of a brick wall to act as a shield so the children can't read his mind. By keeping everything elementary and not relying on gimmicks or special effects, Village of the Damned remains an intelligent creepy tale that has not lost its luster over time. This sci-fi horror story may not make much sense if analyzed as no explanations for what happened were made by the filmmaker, but it sets a spooky atmosphere and the film's sinister tone is superbly presented--the children make for wonderfully creepy monsters. It's also easy to speculate that the animosity between the village's adults and the alien children is a generation gap thing, or just a typical response to outsiders as invaders, or just another alien as-the-enemy film leftover from the plethora of such 1950s sci-fiers; but, in any case, the children's true mission never gets explained. Three years later came a sequel "Children of the Damned." REVIEWED ON 11/2/2002 GRADE: B Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews" © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DENNIS SCHWARTZ http://www.sover.net/~ozus ========== X-RAMR-ID: 33215 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 803119 X-RT-TitleID: 1022823 X-RT-SourceID: 873 X-RT-AuthorID: 1315 X-RT-RatingText: B