| Special Features: |
DISC ONE: 4K UHD
- NEW Audio Commentary with Filmmakers Jackson Stewart and Francis Galluppi - this feature-length commentary was recently recorded by Scream. It starts out very promising. Stewart and Galluppi discuss the filming locales and their earliest memories of seeing Village of the Damned (1995). Both Stewart and Galluppi are friends with composer Daniel Davies, who helped connect them with John Carpenter and his producer wife, Sandy King. Stewart explains how Dave Davies (Daniel's father) and Carpenter came to work together and become friends. Stewart interviewed Carpenter and King for this track and shares some of the tidbits he learned from them. One wonders, though, how much information he gathered from them because he doesn't share that much in the commentary. As the track progresses, several gaps stall Stewart and Galluppi's discussion. They sometimes lose focus on the film and veer off topic. Galluppi shares anecdotes he learned about the production but he speaks without sources or proper attribution. Kudos to Stewart, though, because he said he read the film's original source material (John Wyndham's 1957 novel, The Midwich Cuckoos), apparently in preparation for his talk here. He describes some of the differences between the book and Carpenter's film. In English, not subtitled.
DISC TWO: Blu-ray
- NEW Audio Commentary with Filmmakers Jackson Stewart and Francis Galluppi - this feature-length commentary was recently recorded by Scream. It starts out very promising. Stewart and Galluppi discuss the filming locales and their earliest memories of seeing Village of the Damned (1995). Both Stewart and Galluppi are friends with composer Daniel Davies, who helped connect them with John Carpenter and his producer wife, Sandy King. Stewart explains how Dave Davies (Daniel's father) and Carpenter came to work together and become friends. Stewart interviewed Carpenter and King for this track and shares some of the tidbits he learned from them. One wonders, though, how much information he gathered from them because he doesn't share that much in the commentary. As the track progresses, several gaps stall Stewart and Galluppi's discussion. They sometimes lose focus on the film and veer off topic. Galluppi shares anecdotes he learned about the production but he speaks without sources or proper attribution. Kudos to Stewart, though, because he said he read the film's original source material (John Wyndham's 1957 novel, The Midwich Cuckoos), apparently in preparation for his talk here. He describes some of the differences between the book and Carpenter's film. In English, not subtitled.
- NEW Beware the Stare: Writing VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED – An Interview with Screenwriter David Himmelstein (22:04, 1080p) - Towards the end of this interview, Himmelstein briefly describes the short working collaborations he had with two directors on pre-production of Village of the Damned before Universal hired Carpenter to direct it. Himmelstein then summarizes what did and did not happen for the rest of the production. I would have liked to have learned more about the collaborative process he had with the first two directors attached to the film and why he feels alterations were made to his draft of the script. Himmelstein talks about the hot-button issues surrounding the original movie and how global problems changed or shifted at the Cold War's end when he wrote his screenplay. The writer describes some of the scenes that never made it into the film and how they were changed. He also profiles some of the characters, including one whose name was changed after Carpenter took over. In English, not subtitled.
- NEW March of the Children: Composing VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED – An Interview with Film Music Historian Daniel Schweiger (15:01, 1080p) - Schweiger first delves into Ron Goodwin's score for Wolf Rilla's Village of the Damned (1960). He examines musical patterns that are employed in certain scenes. He delivers a nice overview of Carpenter's early scores and other composers the director hired to compose original music for different films. Schweiger speaks about Carpenter's association with Dave Davies on Village of the Damned and musical layers each contributed. He analyzes the "March" theme. Several scenes from the film are excerpted with the score. In English, not subtitled.
- It Takes a Village: The Making of VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED (49:18, 1080p) - this 2016 doc features interviews with director John Carpenter, producer Sandy King as well as actors Michael Paré, Peter Jason, Karen Kahn, Meredith Salenger, Thomas Dekker, Cody Dorkin, Lindsey Haun, Danielle Wiener-Keaton and make-up effects artist Greg Nicotero. Shout! had asked Carpenter if he wanted to record either a commentary or conduct a new interview about the film and he chose the latter. The participants' comments are intercut with clips from the film along with VHS footage of a deleted scene. This is a well-balanced account of how the film came together. Dekker defends Carpenter's contributions on the film and is the most vociferous of all his castmates, speaking his mind with passionate conviction. Alley, Hamill, and Kozlowski do not appear here so they were probably not available. In English, not subtitled.
- Horror's Hallowed Grounds – Revisiting the Locations of the Film (20:59, 1080p) - in this continuing series included on Shout!'s vintage horror releases, host Sean Clark takes the viewer to many of the locations in northern California that Carpenter filmed Village of the Damned. In English, not subtitled.
- The Go to Guy: Peter Jason on John Carpenter (45:14, 1080p) - Carpenter's frequent collaborator looks back with nostalgia and guffaws at several of the films he's worked on with the director. Filled with many amusing stories. In English, not subtitled.
- Vintage Interviews Featuring John Carpenter, Christopher Reeve, Kirstie Alley, Linda Kozlowski, Mark Hamill and Wolf Rilla (Director of the Original VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED) (14:20, 1080p upconvert) - a compilation of brief interview segments with Carpenter, Reeve, Alley, Kozlowski, Hamill, and Rilla that were culled from Universal's original EPK. They are presented full-frame with VHS-like quality. In English, not subtitled.
- Vintage Behind-the-Scenes Footage (10:19, 1080p upconvert) - this B-roll footage immediately follows the collection of older interviews. It shows Carpenter directing the actors in several different scenes. In English, not subtitled.
- Theatrical Trailer (2:00, 1080p) - a 16x9-friendly original studio trailer which appears in decent shape. It is in anamorphic widescreen with a very thin black border around all four sides.
- Behind-the-Scenes Still Gallery (2:00, 1080p) - a compilation of twenty or so production stills, lobby cards, ad slicks, and theatrical poster sheets from Universal's press kit and publicity campaign.
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