Damned by Dawn (2009)

[Sam@Cult Labs]

“SICK OF WAITING FOR ‘EVIL DEAD 4’? CHECK OUT ‘DAMNED BY DAWN’” – QUIET EARTH.

A huge crowd-pleaser at the Film4 FrightFest in 2010, the film the festival’s organisers called “the coolest, scariest movie from Australia since ‘Undead’”, Damned By Dawn comes to DVD on 7th March 2011 courtesy of Momentum Pictures and is guaranteed to delight horror movie fans with a yearning for the type of inventive and entertaining horror-comedy shenanigans not seen since Sam Raimi’s ‘Evil Dead’ trilogy.

The debut feature from writer-director Brett Anstey (Atomic Spitballs), Damned By Dawn earned itself a ‘Three Skulls’ (out of four) review in horror movie bible Fangoria, where it was praised as “serious fun…” with the further proviso, “And you can’t knock a film with flying skeletons.”

Prompted by the arrival of a mysterious package from her terminally ill grandmother (Dawn Klingberg), Claire (Renee Willner) drags her reluctant new boyfriend, Paul (Danny Alder), off to meet her family at their remote country home where she hopes she will discover the motivations behind the unexpected gift.

Things seem to be going well until Claire’s heavily medicated gran begins rambling on about a female spirit she is expecting to come in the night to escort her body into the afterlife. That night, as a violent thunderstorm rocks the house, the family is awoken by a succession of piercing, otherworldly shrieks, which prove to be the cries of a banshee. As the terrifying sounds ring out, the dead are summoned to rise again, so beginning a waking nightmare for Claire and her family as the banshee and her army of the undead unleash their fury upon the living.

“A remarkably effective piece of visual spookery, both atmospheric and blood-splattered, with an evocative script, and ghostly FX” (Undead Backbrain), Damned By Dawn is about as entertaining as independent horrors movies get, combining shocks, gore and sly wit in equal measure.

Damned By Dawn (cert. 15) will be released on DVD (£15.99) by Momentum Pictures on 7th March 2011. Special Features include: audio commentary by director and crew; making of featurette; trailer; optional English subtitles for the hard of hearing.

[pedromonkey]

if a little known site like Quietearth.us gets on the cover then it must be worth a watch, been following QE for years, great little site...

[nekromantik]

this looks like it could be fun.
edit: reviews are quite bad though.

[wayfarer]

It looks ok, although the flying Grim Reaper things, in the promo images, look a little odd. As I liked Dark Floors which also had some outlandish ghosts, I might like it

[mazon2709]

This movie is awful, I'd heard all the hype about it being the next Evil Dead. It isn't, to even think it comes close is utter nonsense. Avoid

[Sam@Cult Labs]

The movie got me thinking about why horror movie monsters tend to be selected from a very small toy box.

HOWL OF THE BANSHEE

[blu]

Originally Posted by mazon2709

This movie is awful, I'd heard all the hype about it being the next Evil Dead. It isn't, to even think it comes close is utter nonsense. Avoid

Agreed. This movie is fails on all levels. That they tried to make it sound like it was an acceptable substitute for Evil Dead 4 is absurd. This movie isn't even worth renting.

[wayfarer]

Comparing it to Primal, which was flashier looking with far better physical effects, I enjoyed it far more. But Primal is one terrible movie in my opinion. The filmmakers behind Damned at least seemed to try and make a good movie even if the atmosphere is lost at sight of the first Atmosphere Video Board Game CG skeleton.
The trouble is, and I've ranted about this many a time, distributors use ridiculous quotes for the covers of movie releases and give audiences the entirely wrong view of a movie. Sometimes, the art doesn't help (citing Zombie Diaries and Siege of the Dead as clear examples of art not imitating content).

I wonder how these "reviewers" come to these conclusions in the first place. Likening DBD as something akin to an Evil Dead 4 is shockingly stupid. There's not even much in the way of a parallel to an Evil Dead movie in the first place.

Despite the fact I thought the movie was ok in a drought of new genre releases does not mean that I recommend it. Anyone curious should wait until it turns up on whatever the Horror Channel calls itself nowadays.

[ecc]

Originally Posted by wayfarer

Likening DBD as something akin to an Evil Dead 4 is shockingly stupid. There's not even much in the way of a parallel to an Evil Dead movie in the first place.

Well, you've got a possessed Nana who actually says "Join us."

Some of the foggy wood exteriors do occasionally recall the first film.

Some of the graves with the stick crosses recall either the first or the second film (I forget which).

Some of the wide angles close up on the kyro-syrup splattered heroine recall some shots of Bruce Campbell in the first film (as do some shots of Nana's supposedly dead body late in the film).

The St. Christopher's medal also seems to reference the tacky necklace in the first EVIL DEAD film (although it is not put to use in the climax).

Some of the roaming force shots through the woods would have recalled the Raimi film had they not been rendered or augmented with CGI.

There is some parallel, just not anything that is remotely imaginative. It seems like the director might have written the script around these elements rather than doing anything new with them. The use of the banshee seems arbitrary, considering that a lot of the interesting folklore around it is not explored. They probably could have inserted any other supernatural being but they chose the banshee because there have not been a lot of films in which it is featured.

DAMNED BY DAWN isn't a very good film, but the EVIL DEAD 4 blurb really did it no favors (kind of like drawing comparison of other films to LET THE RIGHT ONE IN).

[wayfarer]

Originally Posted by ecc

Well, you've got a possessed Nana who actually says "Join us."

Some of the foggy wood exteriors do occasionally recall the first film.

Some of the graves with the stick crosses recall either the first or the second film (I forget which).

Some of the wide angles close up on the kyro-syrup splattered heroine recall some shots of Bruce Campbell in the first film (as do some shots of Nana's supposedly dead body late in the film).

The St. Christopher's medal also seems to reference the tacky necklace in the first EVIL DEAD film (although it is not put to use in the climax).

Some of the roaming force shots through the woods would have recalled the Raimi film had they not been rendered or augmented with CGI.

There is some parallel, just not anything that is remotely imaginative. It seems like the director might have written the script around these elements rather than doing anything new with them. The use of the banshee seems arbitrary, considering that a lot of the interesting folklore around it is not explored. They probably could have inserted any other supernatural being but they chose the banshee because there have not been a lot of films in which it is featured.

DAMNED BY DAWN isn't a very good film, but the EVIL DEAD 4 blurb really did it no favors (kind of like drawing comparison of other films to LET THE RIGHT ONE IN).

Points duly noted

I guess that I was referring more to the vibe of the movie. I didn't really hate DBD. There was a good movie in there somewhere, screaming to get out. I was disappointed at the lack of mythology regarding the Banshee. It did seem just a device. I prefer ideas like The Blair Witch, that inspire credibility rather than get simply backed up by cheesy effects.