- Film Review
- Reviewed By Alan Jones
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2 out of 5
Those blond alien youngsters return to wreak havoc in a small town in cult director John Carpenter's pointless update of the 1960 British sci-fi near-classic based on John Wyndham's famous novel The Midwich Cuckoos. Despite the setting being transferred to California, superior special effects heightening the nastiness (Kirstie Alley's hard-to-watch self-autopsy) and Christopher Reeve giving a nicely heroic performance (the film was released in the States just prior to his tragic riding accident), the end result forgoes the touches and stylish atmosphere you might expect from Carpenter. This has a bland TV movie-style sheen, relieved only by hints of comedy. Stick with the original.
Plot Summary
Science-fiction horror, an updated version of the classic British chiller, starring Christopher Reeve and Kirstie Alley. The unsettling discovery that all the women in a sleepy California village have become simultaneously pregnant is compounded by the disturbing abilities of the children they give birth to. In just a few years the youngsters are influencing the adults around them to horrific effect.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Alan Chaffee
- Christopher Reeve
- Dr Susan Verner
- Kirstie Alley
- Jill McGowan
- Linda Kozlowski
- Frank McGowan
- Michael Paré
- Melanie Roberts
- Meredith Salenger
- Reverend George
- Mark Hamill
- Mrs Sarah Miller
- Pippa Pearthree
- Ben Blum
- Peter Jason
- Callie Blum
- Constance Forslund
- Barbara Chaffee
- Karen Kahn
- David
- Thomas Dekker
- Mara
- Lindsey Haun
Crew
- Director
- John Carpenter
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