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Damned by Dawn

Damned by Dawn




This Australian horror film was heavily marketed toward fans of Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead series. Watching the film it is easy to believe that the director is a fan of Raimi. The camera work and cinematography is reminiscent of the first Evil Dead film. Likewise the demons bear a fleeting resemblance to the “deadites” of Raimi’s films. However the humor off the Evil Dead series is missing from Damned by Dawn. The movie is dark and humorless, but I think the film works better without humor. Paying homage to Sam Raimi is one thing but I think trying to make an unauthorized remake would be a massive fail.



The movie’s plot revolves around the legend of the banshee coming to claim the soul of the dying. Piercing and horrifying screams awaken a family, when the matriarch is on her death bed. The old lady warns then that they must not interfere when the banshee comes to claim her soul. Off course they do interfere. This leads the shrieking spectre to awaken the dead to hunt down the family one by one.



The film manages to be creepy and scary at times. It even made me jump early on, which doesn’t happen a lot. The outside scenes look reminiscent not only of Raimi’s early work but also remind me a bit of Hammer films. The scenes are mostly kept dark which serves to help the effects, keeping the undead onscreen but for the most part not easily seen. The creatures appear to be CG or possibly a mix of Cg and practical effects. The fog and darkness work to keep them obscured enough so that they do not look as fake as most CG effects.



Some of the gore effects would have been better served to have been obscured more. The film makers attempt to pile on the demon gore ala Raini, but it doesn’t work as well. I won’t say that all of Raimi’s gore looked realistic, but on Damned by Dawn it just really looks fake.



It’s a minor detail though and overall it is a very effective little horror film. The banshee’s screams are chilling, and watching it in the dark can lead to jumps and squirms. Damned by Dawn will not make you stop waiting for Evil Dead 4, like the DVD case promises, but it might help you hold out till then.

Happy Vetern's Day

Just wanted to give a quick shout out to those who give so much, and some who give everything.  To those veterns, home and abroad, especially those still in a war zone, we salute you.  Hopefully there will come a day when we stop making veterns, when the world no longer needs the sacrafice of American blood.  To the families who are missing their loved ones we salute you as well.  To those Veterns who did give everything, who gave their life, let us never forget.

Salute!

SINT trailer

From Amsterdamn comes the latest killer Santa movie, just in time for the holidays here is the trailer for Sint

Contest! Free Giveaway

SOOO I am working on a contest to give away something here on the blog.  What is the prize?  I will announce as soon as it is physically in my hands.  How will the contest work?  Not sure but it will be simple, along the lines of leaving a comment.  Stay tuned!  the prize will be decent, worth at least 25 bucks  Let's call it a Christmas Horror Contest.  Keep watching

The Walking Dead

Well I had to DVR The Walking Dead last night due to work,  but it looks like it was the biggest series premiere ever on AMC.  I am watching it as I type and I am stunned by it.  Darabont delivers again not just with the horror but with believable, likeable characters that we care about.  Characters coping with an uncopable situation.  Got about thirty minutes left in this episode and I am already jonsing for episode two.  Give me more AMC!

Bloody Reunion- Korean Slasherfest.

I caught the very end of Bloody reunion on cable a couple months ago. Really bloody, but also confusing. Now Asian cinema can be confusing at its best, so I should have known better than trying to make sense of a Korean slasher film from just the final ten minutes. Even though those ten minutes really looked encouraging, I completely misread the motivation of the killer.

Then last weekend I picked up a copy of Bloody Reunion at a local used DVD store. I settle in to watch it and really enjoyed it. Knowing the ending (or so I thought) didn’t spoil the film in the least.

Without giving away too many spoilers, the film concerns a reunion of former classmates at their teachers house. At first glance they all seem happy and successful, but they all harbor a dark secret about their time with teacher. As the party gets under way, the secrets start to surface. When night falls a mysterious figure in a rabbit mask starts killing the former classmates one after another.

Is the killer, the teachers disfigured child that she locked away in the basement? Or is the answer even more sinister? The story is told in flashbacks with some clever misdirection. The story is set up and told so well, that the misdirection doesn’t seem unfair. You may hit yourself on the forehead near the end and say “damn I forgot that was a flashback.” The filmmakers may have bent the rules of story telling but they didn’t break them.

There isn’t a huge amount of gore in Bloody Reunion but there are some squeamish points during some of the torture scenes. If you are a fan of Asian horror, don’t miss out on Bloody Reunion.