The Damned

David Reynolds (Peter Facinelli; Twilight Saga) and his soon to be wife Lauren (Sophia Myles; Transformers Age of Extinction) are in Columbia to collect David’s daughter Jill (Nathalia Ramos; House of Anubis) so that they can all go back to the states for the wedding. Jill has been milling around Columbia with her Aunt Gina (Carolina Guerra; Da Vinci’s Demons), a journalist, and her cameraman Ramon (Sebastian Martinez; La Pola). Jill’s “summer fling”. The group must unfortunately travel to pick up Jill’s passport, during a flash flood, through the back mountains of Columbia, and soon find themselves in an accident and stranded without transportation. The only thing nearby is a run down old Inn. How could things possibly go wrong?

 

The premise of the film is that the group finds a lone man occupying the run down building and later find a shocking surprise in the basement that they unwittingly set loose on  themselves. The film borrows most of its components from an old episode of The Twilight Zone (which I oddly enough watched this Thanksgiving Day) and 1998 Gregory Hoblit (Primal Fear, Fracture) film Fallen. If you’ve never seen either of these films chances are likely you might be wowed by the film if you can get passed the mostly abysmal acting. 

 

Special effects are pretty decent and the setting, a creepy old building and desolation during a rainstorm, add to your ability to suspend disbelief even if the acting won’t.  Fortunately the film is already part of the Netflix library so you can see it without spending money on a Blu-Ray copy of it if you don’t feel like taking a gamble. Still, there are some aspects to the Blu-Ray experience that might make it worth your penny. 

 

PICTURE AND AUDIO QUALITY:

The location of the damned is a mostly low lit, somewhat dilapidated old Inn. Despite the low light quality of the atmosphere in the film lightning effects and subtle light plays a great part in the fear aspect of the story. The rain is also a big plus in the film. The constant sound of the rain, dripping (sometimes pouring water through the old run down building) take away focus from the jumps around certain turns. It’s a real atmospheric tool in which you’re forced to listen a bit harder, strain your eyes a bit deeper, and that’s mostly where you find yourself most vulnerable in the heat of the moment. 

 

I’m not going to say it’s a perfect picture. Despite the film having been shot on Red there are some environmental hiccups that just can’t be avoided, especially when you have seemingly no control over lighting and natural shadow. Still, not a bad production for what I would call a mediocre delivery. 

 

BONUS FEATURES:

~Commentary Tracks

~Heaven Help Us Featurette

~Making Of Featurette- Pretty much the same information as the above title, only lengthier. 

~Trailer