The second big screen adaptation of John Wyndham’s 1957 novel The Midwich Cuckoos, Village of the Damned flopped with critics and gorehounds alike, picking up a Razzie nod for Worst Remake and raking in less than half its $22 million budget at the domestic box office when it came out 30 years ago today. But the most damning indictment arguably came from the man who made it.
“I’m really not passionate about Village of the Damned,” director John Carpenter said to Vulture in 2011 when asked about the least favorite movie of his storied career. “I was getting rid of a contractual assignment,” he explained, referring to the one-for-you, one-for-me studio deal that was supposed to result in a new spin on Creature of the Black Lagoon.
