Running Out of Time Vs. The Village

Yesterday's post was a little, well... pathetic. So I'll make up for it today with a movie/book review. Beware of Spoilers...

Have you ever seen "The Village", by M. Night Shyamalan? Did anything about the story seem familiar? Is there even the slightest chance that you've read "Running Out of Time", by Margaret Peterson Haddix? If you have, you would have noticed the similarities in the two plots.

~ Movie Review ~

The Village
At first glance this late nineteenth century village seems picture perfect. However, this close-knit community lives with the frightening knowledge that a race of creatures resides in the woods around them. The villagers share the fear of the evil and foreboding force that lurks outside. So frightening that one dare not venture beyond "The Village" and into the woods. Despite the advice of his elders, a curious and determined Lucius Hunt has a burning desire to step beyond the boundaries of the town into the unknown...
I give this movie 3 out of 5 stars. ***

~ Book Review ~

"Running Out of Time" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Clifton is an 1840 pioneer village. The village doctor used to have special pills that would cure any illness. But those pills are all gone now, and Clifton is suffering from a diptheria epidemic. Mrs. Keyser, the midwife, tells her daughter, 13-year-old Jessie, a shocking truth about Clifton, and sends her for help outside of the village, into a world full of amazing things and unknown dangers.
I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. *****

I can't reveal the true connection between the two stories without spoiling the surprise endings of each, but if you really want to know, highlight the white text below:
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In The Village, the "creatures" (a.k.a. Those We Do Not Speak Of) are not real. They were an invention of the Elders to keep people from entering the woods. They are simply a scare tactic to keep people from leaving The Village. Why? Because it's not really a nineteenth century village at all, it's a modern social experiment. The whole thing is a ruse to keep the world out, because each of the elders suffered a tragedy in the outside world. So they decided to isolate themselves and their families in a simpler, safer world of their own creation. The main female character, Ivy, learns of all of this from her Father. She then ventures out on her own to find medicines from the "Other Towns", to save her fiancé's life.

In Running Out of Time, The children of Clifton are dying and Jessie's mother is desperate for medicine to save their lives, but it is 1840 and no such remedy exists. Except that it isn't 1840 at all, it is 1996, and the critical situation forces Jessie's mother to reveal the truth. Clifton Village is actually a tourist attraction, a replica of a historical village, and tourists watch the villagers everyday through hidden cameras. After many village children become ill with diphtheria, Jessie is sent on a mission to find a cure for the disease.
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I want to point out that Running Out of Time was written in 1995; nine years before The Village came out.

(The plot of the 2004 M. Night Shyamalan movie The Village is very similar to the plot of Running Out of Time, to the extent that Margaret Peterson Haddix's publisher considered legal action against the makers of The Village. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

~*Quote of the day*~

Two roads diverged in a wood and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

~*Word of the day*~

Aka (Japanese)

Meaning: Red
Any of various colors resembling the color of blood; the primary color at one extreme end of the visible spectrum.