Damned by Dawn
Review By Sharon Foss
Writer and director Brett Anstey brings Damned by Dawn, a story about a family who has been damned for decades by the Banshee. The Banshee steals the souls of family members when they die and anyone who interrupts the malevolent being will pay the price.
Claire (Renee Willner) and Paul (Danny Alder) arrive on Claire’s family farm to visit her father, sister and sick grandmother. Grandma, (actress Dawn Klingberg) warns her granddaughter of a wailing woman who will be visiting soon to take her on death’s journey. “You mustn’t interfere” she tells Claire. Instead of listening, however, Claire thinks it must be the ramblings of an elderly woman knocking on heaven’s door. So when the Banshee arrives, wailing, to take her grandmother, Claire’s instincts kick in and she intervenes.
Not a good idea.
When you try to stop the Banshee, what happens is far worse than had you let the wailing woman do her job. All hell breaks lose on this country farm, as the dead rise to seek revenge.
The special effects were a bit lacking in Damned by Dawn. I assumed this would be another zombie movie where decrepit souls return from the dead to seek vengeance. In Damned by Dawn, however, that which rises from the dead is a special effects nightmare. You have floating skeletons with sickles and what appears to be grim reapers flying about these fields. The whole movie would be more effective had the effects seemed more real and creepier.
Also, the wailing woman—it’s barely a few minutes into the film before you learn there will be some wailing involved. As you learn why this woman is wailing and why she is coming for the family, the puzzle pieces come together and make sense. The amount of wailing, however, is excessive. It is constant throughout the movie. If you have sensitive ears, or are trying to watch late at night, trying not waking anyone else in your household, keep the volume low.
The resolution of the movie isn’t entirely believable. What Claire ends up doing to rid her family of the curse seems pretty obvious. So much so that you have to ask yourself, why didn’t ‘ole grandma just do this herself?
While the effects aren’t top of the shelf, and the storyline lacks in some believability, what is great about Damned by Dawn is that it does not drag on and on like other movies of its stature. Its 84 minutes stays on track, moving swiftly enough to keep any viewer interested in the “what happens next” phenomenon, and does leave you (almost) satisfied at its conclusion. As the movie opens with creepy scenery of a foggy Australian house in the middle of nowhere, you know you can settle in for what you truly feel will be an excellent creep fest. But be warned—it does not always follow through, but I blame the “effects” entirely. The actors are believable, the scenery is perfect and the storyline isn’t bad at all.
https://www.damnedbydawnmovie.com/
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