Village of the Damned is a 1995 American science fiction–horror film directed by John Carpenter, written by David Himmelstein, and starring Christopher Reeve, Kirstie Alley, Linda Kozlowski, and Michael Paré.

The people and animals of the sleepy coastal town of Midwich in Marin County, California fall asleep at a 10 AM "blackout" and regain consciousness at 4 PM.

Following the blackout, ten women of child-bearing age mysteriously fall pregnant, including a virgin girl and a married woman who has not been sexually active for a year due to her husband being away for work in Tokyo.

None of them seek abortions after having dreams, and all the babies are born the same night in a barn – five boys and five girls, though the virgin's daughter is stillborn due to umbilical cord asphyxia.

The surviving children are healthy but have pale skin, white-blonde hair, cobalt eyes, and fierce intellect.

They display eerie psychic powers that can result in violent and deadly consequences whenever they experience pain or provocation.

The children develop a bad reputation in town after causing several injurious and fatal "accidents" to townsfolk, and eventually move to their classroom at a local barn for survival.

Soon, it is learned that there are other colonies of blackout children in foreign countries, but due to their inhuman nature, they were quickly eliminated, in some cases at the cost of destroying the entire town.

One of the scientists, Dr. Susan Verner, is forced to show the children the well-preserved alien corpse of David's intended mate she secretly kept for research.

An angry mob gathers to attempt to kill the children, but their unsuccessful efforts lead Midwich into chaos, and the rest of the scientific team flees.

By thinking of a brick wall, he is able to create a mental barrier and keep the presence of the bomb a secret from the children.

According to Carpenter, there had been attempts to remake Village of the Damned since Invasion of the Body Snatchers had been successfully remade in 1978.

"[3] Carpenter said his relationship with the studio was "a good marriage, because we all had the same goals in mind...we all knew what story we wanted to tell.

Bruce Nicholson and Greg Nicotero applied a special effect where the eye pupil colors change when the children seize control of the adults.

Based on 38 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, Village of the Damned holds a 29% approval rating from critics, with an average score of 4 out of 10.

[6] In 1996, the film was nominated at the 16th Golden Raspberry Awards for Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel but lost to The Scarlet Letter.

[7] Lloyd Paseman of The Register-Guard said that while the remake did not attempt to make Village of the Damned "something" that its predecessor was not, the film had "mediocre" dialogue and plot development.

The remake was "mostly more sly than frightening ... restaging the original story with fresh enthusiasm and a nice modicum of new tricks.