“Damned by Dawn” is a 2009 Australian horror film written and directed by Brett Ansell. The film stars Rebekah Brandes, Michael Dorman, and Kain O’Keeffe.
The film follows a group of friends who travel to a remote farmhouse for a vacation. When they arrive, they find that the house is haunted by a demonic spirit. The spirit possesses one of the friends, and the group must find a way to exorcise the demon before it destroys them all.
Damned by Dawn is a flawed flick in many ways, although it does have some good things going for it. Firstly, the acting quality’s not too bad for a b-movie. Sure there’s no oscar winners, but generally speaking everybody is good in their respective parts. Particular mention should go out to Dawn Klingberg who plays the Nana. She brings across her characters subtleties well and also helps raise the suspense bar on the movie quite a bit. The general premise of the story is solid also, nicely written and paced… It never gets too boring.
Sadly though things go downhill from here. The special effects are woeful, truly bad. CGI-ness everywhere and it doesn’t look good. They would probably have been better to go back to old fashioned stop and go motion ala Evil Dead 2. There is one good scene with gore (which i won’t spoil) but apart from that it’s pretty sparse and empty on the gore front (unlike the Evil Dead). Nor would i say Damned by Dawn is that scary a movie either. Sure it’s creepy and tense in parts but on the scare-o-meter scale is ranks down pretty low.
In the end i think I’d have to recommend folks to avoid this one unless your a big fan of Aussie horror or have nothing else new to watch. Might be worth catching if it’s on TV i reckon.
“Damned by Dawn” is a well-crafted horror film that is sure to send chills down your spine. The acting is strong, the direction is solid, and the film’s overall atmosphere is creepy and unnerving. If you’re a fan of horror films, then “Damned by Dawn” is definitely worth checking out.
Synopsis
The movie opens with a young woman, Sarah, driving through the Australian Outback. She’s on her way to visit her grandparents, who live in a remote area. Along the way, she picks up a hitchhiker, who turns out to be a friendly ghost. The ghost, named Dawn, is searching for her lost love, who died in a car accident. Sarah and Dawn become friends, and Sarah helps Dawn search for her lost love.
The search leads them to a small town, where they meet a woman who tells them about a cursed place called Black Rock. Black Rock is said to be a portal to the underworld, and it’s where Dawn’s lost love is said to be.
Sarah and Dawn travel to Black Rock, and sure enough, they find a portal to the underworld. They also find Dawn’s lost love, who is now a zombie. The two women fight off the zombies and make their way back to the surface.
The movie ends with Sarah and Dawn saying goodbye to each other. Sarah returns to her grandparents’ house, and Dawn goes back to the underworld to be with her lost love.
Movie Details
Director: Brett Anstey
Writers: Brett Anstey, Russell Freidrich, Rob Townshend
Actors: Renee Willner, Bridget Neval, Danny Alder, Peter Stratford
Release Year: 2009