The Damned Review

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Rating: 3/5

Synopsis:

The first review of 2025 is here! In typical fashion, January kicks off with a horror film. We find a small Icelantic fishing crew enduring a difficult winter. They have dwindling resources and an especially cold climate to deal with. When an unknown ship crashes off the coast of their island, the leader of the crew is forced to make a difficult decision. Does she protect her crew and resources by leaving them? Or does she offer them assistance? Facing the consequences of her decision, the crew believe they are being haunted by an unknown entity. Is this their punishment for their decision?

Positives:

“The Damned” is an above average January release. The strongest aspect of the film is the location of the shooting. It’s clear that the actors are forced to endure the cold setting while the film is being made, making the plausibility of their situation more believable. We see the barren environment, red skin forming on their chilly faces, and the large glaciers in the background. I love when the setting of a horror film is a character in itself. Their village is remote and desolate, adding to the paranoia each character is feeling. It also helps elevate the sense of urgency these characters are feeling. They’re first worried about their ability to fish and survive during the winter, but quickly shifts as they sense a demonic presence in their lodge. 

The film presents a handful of extremely creepy sequences where the camera lingers on the entity as it terrorizes the fishing crew. As the scary sequences are happening, the cinematography and lighting are impressive. The crew is either braving the chilly elements outside of their shelter or inside of a closed quarter lodge with candles lighting the room. Both settings create a nice sense of dread and discomfort. The characters never get a sense of relief as they are forced to endure horrible conditions or stay inside with a horrifying entity. The performances are pretty good considering it is a largely unknown cast. This is a case of doing a lot with a small budget. Credit to the filmmakers for making a solid little January thriller. 

Negatives:

While I commend the filmmakers for crafting a largely successful film, the final few minutes hampers the story immensely. While the plot largely stuck to a simple premise that relies on dread, the film adds some strange commentary about foreigners into the mix during the final sequence. The ideas about being selfish and ignoring those in need because they are foreign/immigrants was a strange direction to take the plot as the film was concluding. Personally, I believe the crew made the right decision in protecting themselves and their resources because there is a good chance they would have lost their lives in assisting the foreign crew. They also didn’t have enough resources for themselves, let alone to help a crew larger than themselves. So the sense of guilt and torment felt misplaced based on the main crew’s circumstances. The final narrative is strange and full of logic issues, especially with the explanation of the demonic entity. It’s such a bummer the film chose to conclude this way because it is quite strong for most of the runtime. 

Conclusion:

“The Damned” is an above average January horror movie that builds great suspense within its icy setting. The small cast does a nice job at conveying the paranoia and discomfort associated with the frigid conditions and close quarter setting with the demon. But the misplaced thematic exploration of selfishness and exclusion is a strange way to conclude the story. It undermines the craft and suspense the story establishes earlier. The film didn’t need to attempt to be so thematically dramatic. This story would have been more effective if it took the simpler route. In any case, “The Damned” isn’t a bad way to pass the time during the first month of the new year.