The Damned

Concise, clever, and unnerving, it’s a perfect film for the onset of winter.

The Damned gets by more than well enough via the elemental strength of its moral dilemma and the pristine beauty and unrelenting inhospitality of the Icelandic wilderness that is its scene-stealing star.

The final reveal is as unnecessary as it is predictable, and the pace can be as glacial as the setting. No matter. The Damned is powered along by suspicion, atmospherics and an unforgettable landscape.

In his debut feature as a director, The Valhalla Murders creator Thordur Palsson lets the icy-blue pitilessness of the inhospitable Westfjords permeate every frame and every moment.

Young is very good in her part, making Eva a strong, flawed character whose depth helps to counterbalance the shallowness of everyone else. On the whole, however, The Damned wasn’t able to achieve what I was hoping from it and, rather than being an overlooked gem, it’s instead simply “overlooked.”

While it may have more punch as chilly horror-drama than allegory, it’s a decently put together film.

Had we been allowed to truly sit with the characters’ prejudices, then The Damned might have earned the desperation with which it strains for contemporary resonance.

brrrr bring a blankie and scarf, maybe even a cuddle buddy. not a visconti re-make (couldn’t resist) but a story conceived and directed by thordur palsson and set during wintery gothic, 19th-century iceland. eva, a widow and owner of an isolated, fishing post decides to protect the men and woman that work for her; however, grief, guilt, superstition, etc. take their toll. i thoroughly enjoyed eli arenson’s freezing-cold cinematography. the screen is a canvas for his use of a lot of over and underexposed shots, playing with the trick of light and dark to terrorize the tired, cold, hungry characters. i can only imagine how difficult it must have been filming on location but you can see the results on how it must have given the actors great incentive and motivation for their solid performances. internationally produced (iceland, belgium, ireland, uk, us) this might not appeal to a mass consumer or a horror fan expecting non-stop gore and action. in 89 minutes, it focuses on the inescapable, psychological horror of being caught between a syclla or charybdis, moral choice. to me, it would be a great date movie (sooo cold, so good excuse to snuggle) or with movie companions that enjoy a post-discussion.

Real vibes spooky horror stories like it going through he'll non and priests

Filme frio assim como seus cenários, salvo por uma disposição da protagonista em tornar tudo palatável. A opção por ser meio parado nas cenas de ação restou um filme que parece ter mais de duas horas de duração, e ainda conta com uma fotografia, por vezes, incompreensível.

Throughout the movie, I was surprised that I wasn't more engaged with the story. This is the exact kind of thing that usually excites my imagination. In the end, the movie dismissed itself as a mere delusion. That must have been coloring the production the whole time. You can't spend the entire movie in the realm of the psyche and then rise above it in the denouement. You can't snub your own vision, declare yourself superior/smarter - and then expect me to appreciate the dream that you yourself disdain. OTOH this is exactly what the Wizard of Oz movie adaptation does, and nobody seems to mind. Hey, it was all a dream! I used to read Word Up Magazine...