Review of Damned by Dawn (2009) by Ernie T — 22 Mar 2011

Oh how she mournfully wails,.

In the midst of the silent, lonely, lonely night,.

Lamenting, she sings the song of death...

Claire returns home after 18 months for a family reunion. She brings along her boyfriend, Paul. When he turns on the television all can be heard are strange wailing sounds and a fuzzy reception. Apparently, according to Claire's little sister Jen, the house is in a black spot causing no reception on the television, but it may have something more to do with some graves near by when Paul and Claire's father go walking about.

Claire chats with her grandmother who begins talking about silly nonsense. Something about the woman who wails for the O' Neils and that Claire should be aware of the banshee that would be coming for her. A banshee is a female spirit in Irish mythology, usually seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld. This is what Claire and her family have to contend with in order to survive.

During a violent storm, intense wailing from a woman can be heard outside giving every one a fright. The men investigate the wailing. Claire, however, stumbles upon an apparition while looking across some fog. It's wailing sending her to hide. With it's wailing on a ledge, Claire gets the opportunity to push it off where it's lands on a fence. This shakes up the graves which are close by.

Paul's ultimate demise springs him back to life. His walking corpse used for evil. The banshee bitch wails like a pot on the kettle. The father and a friend of the family stumble upon a cave with a flying skeleton. Each of Claire's family members are picked off one by one until it's Claire who is left.

The film is slightly agonizing due to it's pacing. It's very slow moving for a horror picture especially one that meanders instead of scares. Brett Anstey was obviously influenced by The Evil Dead and Drag Me To Hell. The flying skeletons are a nice touch. I will admit that the atmosphere as well as a few scenes were VERY well done. It literally creates a spooky setting, but at the cost of being scared comes the FUCKING PACING OF THE FILM WHICH WAS SLOW.

Overall, if you can withstand the constant wailing and slow pacing, you might kind of enjoy this Aussie homage to The Evil Dead. I for one am just tired of all the wailing.