The Village (2004 film)

Ivy encounters Those We Do Not Speak Of in The Village (2004 film)...

Summary

Members of a remote pioneer community are threatened by the strange creatures that inhabit the surrounding forest under an uneasy truce when one villager enters the forest and breaks the pact.

Details

• Release Date: 2004
• Country/Language: US, English
• Genres/Technical: Suspense, Thriller, Mystery, Drama
• Runtime: 1 hr 48 min
• Starring: Bryce Dallas Howard, Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt, Joaquin Phoenix
• Director: M. Night Shyamalan
• Writer: M. Night Shyamalan
• Producer/Production Co: Touchstone Pictures, Blinding Edge Pictures, Scott Rudin Productions
• View Trailer: (link)
• IMDb page: (link)
• Wikipedia page: (link)

Ratings

MPAA Ratings

• Rated: PG-13 (mild Violence with fairly gentle scares; it could otherwise pass for a PG)

Tentacle Ratings

A rough measure of how "Lovecraftian" the work is:

• S____ (One Tentacle: Debateably Lovecraftian; has almost no direct connection to Lovecraft's work)

Not exactly a "Lovecraftian" film in the sense of being based on any of Lovecraft's work or containing references to his creations, though some viewers may find the location and atmosphere suggestive of Lovecraft's work (an "Eldritch Location" film). The concept of Those We Do Not Speak Of, a monstrous race of people living in the forest outside of the village, is somewhat Lovecraftian in nature, in spite of the film's execution of the idea via plot-twist.

Note: This rating is not intended as a measure of quality, merely of how closely related to Lovecraftian "Weird" fiction the work is.

Reviews

Review Links:

• Roger Ebert at RogerEbertdotcom (1 Star) (link) - The Village is a colossal miscalculation, a movie based on a premise that cannot support it, a premise so transparent it would be laughable were the movie not so deadly solemn..."
• Chris Evangelista at CutPrintFilm, (link) - "Right up until the movie was released, every singe bit of press was designed to make you think this was going to be a big, scary movie [, but] that’s not at all what this movie is.... The Village is actually a quiet, sad, at times even beautiful film.... These three twists, coupled with the marketing, more or less damned the film...."
• Richard Scheib at The Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review (3/5 Stars) (link) - "...genuinely breathless dread as to what might exist in the woods. The brief appearances that we initially get – something seen scuttling under the trapdoor of the watchtower, the unearthly vision of a creature in a red hooded cloak with spikes protruding all over heading towards someone’s door... If this had been all of the film, The Village would have been a minor masterpiece."
• Keith Simanton at IMDb (Staff Review) (4/10) (link) - "Do Not Write Stilted Corny Dialogue, Chock-Full of Declarative Statements from Out of the Blue: In Retrospect It Will Only Make Less Sense.

Synopsis

 Spoiler Section (Highlight to Read)

Members of a remote pioneer community are threatened by the strange creatures that inhabit the surrounding forest. In the film's two infamous plot twists, the monsters are revealed to be Villagers in costume, and the village itself is revealed to be a secret modern-day colony of people who have isolated themselves from the violence of modern society.

Notes

Associated Mythos Elements

• Race: Those We Do Not Speak Of
• Setting: Weird West

Keeper Notes

• Feel let down by the twist endings, because you hoped there would be monsters? You didn't like the movie, and you're sure you can do better? A "home brew" Call of Cthulhu scenario might be your opportunity!