Here’s our review for “The Damned,” a new period piece horror film where a group of fishermen are haunted after leaving a group of shipwrecked survivors to die in the sea…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
In the harshest of winters, a group of fishermen working at a remote outpost are running short on food and supplies when they witness a shipwreck in the distance. Rather than racing out to rescue any potential survivors, the leader of the group — a young widow named Eva — agrees with the head of her fishing team that saving these people would create more problems than it solves, especially considering they’re already struggling to survive. But the repercussions of leaving those people to die an icy death are far greater than what any of these fishermen could have possibly fathomed.
That’s the prelims at the heart of “The Damned” — the first major horror release for 2025 with the movie landing in theaters on Jan. 3.
The film is directed by Thordur Palsson with a story that he created alongside a script from Jamie Hannigan and starring Odessa Young, Joe Cole and “Game of Thrones” favorite Rory McCann.
As a period piece set in the 19th century, Palsson does an admirable job setting up a scaled down production that truly displays the brutal and inhospitable conditions that these fishermen endure just trying to make it through the season before returning home to their families.
The concept for this film is interesting enough with a question of morality at the heart of it all when it comes to a group of shipwrecked survivors, who make the ill-fated mistake of sailing too close to a rocky section of the sea known as the Teeth that tears through any unsuspecting ships dumb enough trying to traverse those waters. When the fishermen debate amongst themselves whether or not it’s worth saving them, the decision ultimately falls on Eva, who has been thrust into her leadership role following the death of her husband in the previous season.
It’s evident from the start that Eva never imagined herself taking on this kind of responsibility so she’s forced to make hard decisions that impact everyone. The weight of those decisions press down on her like that sinking ship and the survivors she effectively dooms by refusing to rescue them.
While the striking imagery used throughout this film with the harsh, blinding lights in the daytime that then transition to a cold, dark night lit only by fire really do provide some amazing shots, the beauty of this film just isn’t enough to save it from a monotonous story that sinks the middle of this movie to the bottom of the ocean like it’s being dragged by an anchor.
It’s the aftermath of deciding not to rescue those shipwrecked survivors that the film shifts the focus to the strange occurrences that follow with an elder woman in the camp named Helga warning them that they’ve unleashed Draugr — an undead, reanimated corpse from Norse mythology — and they may all soon perish as a result.
It’s a simple enough premise but there are so many moments in this film that drag on unnecessarily that you’ll be shocked to know there’s only an 89 minute run time. This honestly feels like a bloated short film with an interesting plot that just doesn’t find any really inventive ways to scare you.
While Young does an admirable job carrying the bulk of the film in the lead role, her character just really doesn’t[ offer much depth — and the same could really be said for everyone in this film. You’re meant to understand that these poor fishermen are essentially trapped there with this evil spirit hunting them down for leaving those shipwrecked survivors to die but the way that the terror unravels throughout the film is uneven at best and just nonsensical at worst.
There are horror elements sprinkled throughout the second half of the movie but “The Damned” takes so long figuring out which direction its headed that death is a sweet relief compared to the long, drawn out way every scene drags on too long.
It’s an admirable effort but “The Damned” is a film that started with an interesting premise and then just failed to deliver an effective horror film. The scares are short and the winter is long in this one.
Our Rating: 1.5 out of 5 Tarmans
