source: The Damned

The Damned is unfortunately one of those films that promises more in the trailers than it actually does for the full film as the whole event was quite a bit of a let down. The film as a whole isn't really THAT bad, and I've definitely seen much worse, but it is a below average horror that falls short of delivering much in the way of any decent excitement, thrills, or tension. The story for the film has been done a thousand times before, so there's obviously nothing that original being done here (it's very rare these days to actually find a good original horror story that's not been done in some way before in all honesty), but that doesn't make the film unwatchable. It's also pretty predictable, so you're not really in for any twists or surprises, but like I say, it's not all that original so as long as you're not expecting too much then you should be OK. The film's cast was decent as well and nothing more. If I'm being honest, however, I don't think there was really one likable character apart from maybe Peter Facinelli as luckless father David Reynolds and Juan Pablo Gamboa as the unfortunate Capitan Morales. The rest were pretty annoying more than anything, especially Reynolds' two daughters Jill & Gina. There are other movies I've seen where the young actor playing the role of a possessed/evil child has been very good/excellent (Linda Blair as Regan MacNeil in The Exorcist, Daveigh Chase as Samara in The Ring, and Macauley Culkin as Henry Evans in The Good Son), but Julieta Salazar as Ana Maria wasn't really all that convincing in her part, and that added to the lack of suspense for me. Factor that in with the other annoying characters then you do struggle to find any plus points for that side of the film as well. On the whole, The Damned is watchable as I said earlier, and as long as you're not expecting much then you shouldn't be disappointed. Much.

It's hard to put into words how bad this film is. Yes, it has all of the clichés, old house, rain and thunder, creepy old guy. What really kills this film is how unlikable the characters are and how positively stupid as well. You could care less if they are killed off and when they are, you find yourself almost cheering. This, of course is when you aren't yelling at the screen. What is the first thing you should do when things get threatening? Have everyone separate! Absolutely! There is nothing redeeming about this film at all. I am a horror movie buff and this is just about the worst I have ever seen. This is so bad that I set up an account here so I could write my first review.

Imagine yourself stranded at an old INN, in the middle of nowhere, on a dark and rainy night. There's no food in the fridge and no heat. Its damp, cold and oh yeah, did I mention haunted? Haunted with the notion that you may have just walked into HELL itself. Then, you find out there's a demon in this INN. If this SCENARIO doesn't make you feel even a wee bit unsettling, then this just might not be your kind of movie. Otherwise, enjoy, because I just freakin LOVE THIS MOVIE! The acting is top notch by all actors. The big sell fir me was Peter Facinelli and Sophia Myles. Both of these actors imo, are underrated, and they both do an amazing job with their craft. This movie scared the hell out of me the way THE EXCORCIST did when I was a kid back in the 70's. This movie is totally UNDERRATED and looked over. I can't believe all the negative reviews I've read about it, I can't make any sense out of it. THE DAMMED or GALLOWS HILL as it is also referred by, is far from being a "B MOVIE" / "LOW BUDGET" horror movie, in fact it's just the opposite. In contrast this movie HAS MOXIE through and through. Enjoy!

Let's see..., let's go to a third world country, do the opposite of what the local police say (i.e. someone knowledgeable in what is currently going on in the near area), take the remote unimproved dirt road the police just said was not safe to drive as it is washed out, because they are 'smarter' than the local policeman (liberals will love this!), i.e. let's be really stupid and do everything wrong. How many recent horror movies start in a similar fashion as this?!? Now, 'we' are stupid kids so let's not believe the adult male (libs lovin this), follow our emotions, release a 'child' who is an evil spirit that, if it is killed, takes a nearby body as it's new host. Let's continue being really stupid and do everything wrong. Everyone in the movie is evil and the evil spirit uses that against the travelers. There are NO GOOD people with any redeeming qualities. When there are just two people/travelers left and the spirit has taken over the daughter, the father is going to take the demonic spirit controlled daughter back to the USA 'to find a way to cure her.' You can smell 'sequel' about his exploits in the USA when the evil spirit escapes into Los Angeles... Except maybe because this movie is so-o-o bad they don't gross enough to make a sequel... We can only hope!

Seriously, how do you make such a movie, watch it afterwards and think it is good to be distributed? Almost nothing saves it. The acting, the plot, the dialogues, the stereotype actions taken by the victims, nothing does the job. Don't watch, please, waste of time with dumb ending, and no one can care about the characters and what happened to them

Could have been OK, but as I don't speak Spanish I missed half of it. there are NO subtitles, yet they speak in Spanish half the time. VERY annoying. Why on earth they would do this is beyond me. The film seemed fairly interesting, as I tried to guess what was being said. But not worth putting up with a language you don't speak

Starting a few millenniums back, science; i.e., facts, began a battle with religion; i.e., superstition. Those who believe in the supernatural, miracles, extra-terrestials, etc., are unaware science has won. As such horror and sci-fi movies, long ago limited to genre, are measurable by HOW it's done, with limitations on what CAN is done. This film (on Netflix as GALLOWS HILL) is creative on the CAN as it's stars are not lost or partying kids or paranormal sleuths. The creativity on character relations is done with useful effect. Its setting is not the USA and the film usefully employs the language barrier. Okay, it is stuck inside a house and borrows some gimmicks. The actors, photography, dialog and editing are professional. Restraint is employed regarding gratuitous nudity and special effects and the opening and closing "narrative" is minimal enough to avoid the preachy manure many films of this budget use. In sum, in relation to the tons of horror films out there, this one is pretty good. The makers might think what I'm going to say is faint praise: GALLOWS HILL, a/k/a THE DAMNED, didn't make me feel like an idiot for watching it until the end. For a grouch like me, that's praise indeed.

Extremely Claustrophobic and Bloody Demon Doings. It is one of those that the Evil Entity can leap from Body to Body. The Atmosphere is sometimes Chilling and the Gore is Prevalent while Weak Characters are put in Jeopardy in a Regular Rhythm of Gross and Disgusting Displays of Horror Movie Tropes. But there is enough Splatter in this B-Movie to give it a Pass on the Familiar way it goes about its Story. None of the People here are Relate-able and some of Their Back Stories are so Glossed Over the Victims remain Nothing but Props. Some Creepiness is at hand and the Movie does make for a bit of Unsettling Reaffirmation that when told that a Road is Unusable, the Horror Movie Thing to do is, well You Know. This Leads to the Clichéd Set-Up of the "Cabin in the Woods" Variety of Pent Up Spirits and many Brutal Deaths ahead. Overall, there is Something here that makes all of its Familiarity somewhat Watchable for Horror Movie Fans. Just don't Expect Anything other than a bunch of Semi-Clever Kills with an Eat Your Own Tail Ending.

I liked this to start with. It's conventional, but I think they set it up well for a ride into the depths of horror. So that should have picked up speed right after the witch was released. There was some spooky ghosting around the house, but ... the little girl was not scary. We even had the closing the fridge door jump - if they have to resort to that then something's gone wrong. But don't worry - there were other versions of the beast to come. And I think that's the problem: they didn't have to focus on one character, so all characters became a bit bland when it was their turn, and you never got the essence of the original beast. Then you've got the back story, which they returned to a few times with an unnecessary complication involving the relatives of the persecutors. Then they threw in a dose of guilt from each character's life. And it all got a bit cluttered, losing focus on the original elements. Think of the Blair witch - you get some sketchy exposition at the start, the audience fills in the details, we go to a lonely place, all the elements are in place, and bit by bit the witch simply shows what she can do, raising the stakes steadily without once appearing on screen. The final insult was some dreadful dialogue between father and daughter as they cowered in the basement. And oh - there was another bloody twist after that too. Keep it simple!