Okay, first off. I'm willing to give any independent feature film a chance. I know going in that time, money and just resources are at a low for the director and his crew. But this was a waste of almost two hours of my time. Number one on my list is the story. What? There was no "story". It felt like a bunch of random ideas put into a film. This made it hard to follow, it made the characters so indistinguishable I couldn't remember any of their names, and it made me wonder what the hell the writer/director was thinking. As far as the visual look of the film, I won't go so far as to call it terrible (at least the camera is in focus...) but the constant changing of the look (from red to green then back to read then back to normal) was migraine inducing. This also made it hard to follow the action. The practical effects were good but this does not save your movie. The CGI on the other hand falls into the bad Sci-Fi Channel realm. I give the director tons of credit for getting his film made. But there is no excuse for this. This films falls into the same category as a lot of other low budget features of directors reaching higher than their budget will allow them to go. Keep it simple, keep it direct and c'mon man keep me entertained enough to where maybe I'll forgive some of the poorer aspects of your film. But this does not have any redeeming factor. Not even that great B-movie cheese. Do yourself a favor and pass on this flick.
4 Reviews
Amazingly horrible....
WpnX7130 September 2008
Warning: Spoilers
I got to see this movie last weekend with three other unlucky viewers and as soon as it was over I honestly wished I the hour and a half back I spent watching this.
My first complaint is with the story, or lack there of. A viewer is supposed to know what's going on in the first 10 to 20 minutes. An hour into the movie I could not figure out where Stacy was going with the plot. He tried to incorporate so many different things that do not go anywhere. I honestly don't think Stacy knew where the movie was going or where he should take it. It was like watching Se7en mixed with Lord of the Rings mixed with Night of the Living Dead mixed with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre mixed with The Neverending Story. Yeah, try and see where all those intersect.
There are about 4 different times when we all thought the movie was over and it wasn't, it just kept going and going. To be honest, the last 30 minutes could have been cut town to a 5 minute ending. And the ending doesn't make any sense because the main character is back on earth hitch hiking again when the movie was telling us that he was supposed to be in the Lord of the Rings type world.
Characters are introduced that have no reason for being there except to get killed at some point. I understand this is an independent horror flick, but it's obvious that he was trying to create an epic scale horror movie, so every character that was introduced should have had some substance to them.
Which takes me to my next complaint; the acting. There was not one single moment of acting that made me say "hey, that was actually good" or "nice delivery". It was all simply awful and boring. I didn't give a crap about any of the characters, even the kid that gets kidnapped in the haunted house. That's what bad acting does to a movie, the audience doesn't care about anyone. That's all I'll say about that.
The cinematography was poorly done. The lighting was flat and uninteresting. Scenes went from being realistically lit, to lit with either a red or green light (or both), to being under lit so I couldn't tell what was going on. The constant red and green color schemes made me think of Christmas rather than Halloween. The camera work was only interesting when it was all crazy and shook at an "intense" part but even that got old real quick.
Next, the visual and special effects. It's obvious that some time was spent on the gore and CGI in the movie, and to be honest, that's the only good thing to say about the movie, but it's not really a stretch. The gore was stuff we've seen before (people being impaled, crazy make up, etc.) But even when people were shot with a gun it was clear that squibs were not used and he was cheating it, but cheating it in an obvious way. The CGI was decent with some shots, but the last flying monster thing looks so bad I actually burst out laughing because I was sort of expecting something better looking. Shame on me, right? The final flying skeleton monster thing looked like it was taken from a video game and but on screen. That's the best way I can describe it. It simply didn't fit at all and looked horrible.
Watching this movie was so exhausting. I've never been physically drained from a movie, but after watching this one I was extremely tired and worn out. Movies are supposed to do the opposite, right? This movie misses every single beat. If you find yourself crossing paths with this flick pass it up, or if you want a good laugh, need a head ache, or you haven't slept for a while, go ahead and grab it. If not, just leave it be.
My first complaint is with the story, or lack there of. A viewer is supposed to know what's going on in the first 10 to 20 minutes. An hour into the movie I could not figure out where Stacy was going with the plot. He tried to incorporate so many different things that do not go anywhere. I honestly don't think Stacy knew where the movie was going or where he should take it. It was like watching Se7en mixed with Lord of the Rings mixed with Night of the Living Dead mixed with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre mixed with The Neverending Story. Yeah, try and see where all those intersect.
There are about 4 different times when we all thought the movie was over and it wasn't, it just kept going and going. To be honest, the last 30 minutes could have been cut town to a 5 minute ending. And the ending doesn't make any sense because the main character is back on earth hitch hiking again when the movie was telling us that he was supposed to be in the Lord of the Rings type world.
Characters are introduced that have no reason for being there except to get killed at some point. I understand this is an independent horror flick, but it's obvious that he was trying to create an epic scale horror movie, so every character that was introduced should have had some substance to them.
Which takes me to my next complaint; the acting. There was not one single moment of acting that made me say "hey, that was actually good" or "nice delivery". It was all simply awful and boring. I didn't give a crap about any of the characters, even the kid that gets kidnapped in the haunted house. That's what bad acting does to a movie, the audience doesn't care about anyone. That's all I'll say about that.
The cinematography was poorly done. The lighting was flat and uninteresting. Scenes went from being realistically lit, to lit with either a red or green light (or both), to being under lit so I couldn't tell what was going on. The constant red and green color schemes made me think of Christmas rather than Halloween. The camera work was only interesting when it was all crazy and shook at an "intense" part but even that got old real quick.
Next, the visual and special effects. It's obvious that some time was spent on the gore and CGI in the movie, and to be honest, that's the only good thing to say about the movie, but it's not really a stretch. The gore was stuff we've seen before (people being impaled, crazy make up, etc.) But even when people were shot with a gun it was clear that squibs were not used and he was cheating it, but cheating it in an obvious way. The CGI was decent with some shots, but the last flying monster thing looks so bad I actually burst out laughing because I was sort of expecting something better looking. Shame on me, right? The final flying skeleton monster thing looked like it was taken from a video game and but on screen. That's the best way I can describe it. It simply didn't fit at all and looked horrible.
Watching this movie was so exhausting. I've never been physically drained from a movie, but after watching this one I was extremely tired and worn out. Movies are supposed to do the opposite, right? This movie misses every single beat. If you find yourself crossing paths with this flick pass it up, or if you want a good laugh, need a head ache, or you haven't slept for a while, go ahead and grab it. If not, just leave it be.
Impressive Independent Creature Feature
andyrose_tx5 September 2008
Domain of the Damned is a seriously intense story. Visually it's awesome on every level.
The cast is incredibly talented. I don't remember seeing any of them before. If this is their first time acting experience then I'll say two things: They had a really good director to pull this large of a cast together to make such a good film. That and that's a lot of natural talent in that pool.
The f/x work beautifully. THe CG blends well with the practical. In a lot of independent film the CG tends to be flat and not seamless with the practical. And the make up f/x, prosthetics, and creatures are all incredibly well done and are simply not the stuff of low budget fare.
Next I have to comment on the props. Stacy and his crew did a fantastic job on prop design. The reaper serial killers reaper tool is sinister as hell. The books with the mythology and legend all looked really good. Nothing looked cheap and out of place. And the wardrobe was insanely beautiful. The Seven are awesome characters in wardrobe and should merchandised in action figure format.
The widescreen DVD looks beautiful on my 42" (small I know) Sony hi-def even though it's not hi-def DVD or blu-ray. The audio is crystal clear and perfect on every channel throughout the film. You won't find background noise, hum, buzz, or hiss (or at least not on my Denon 5.1 with Sony Surround Speakers).
The use of color throughout the film and lighting through the film works in every case. It continuously adds to the creepiness that is this film whether it's dark, red, green, strobed, or really bright.
I am impressed and really happy that our support for indie film drove us to buy the film. I am not typically a mythology creature feature kind of guy, but my wife Dione has always had a soft spot for that sort of film. I like my horror much more "real-life" i.e. the A.R.T. genre. However that's neither here nor there -- this film is one of the best mythological creature features I've seen. I think maybe if more films like this existed I'd be more into it. Lovecraftian doesn't really begin to describe DoD. I don't think Barker could write a story this awesome.
With millions of dollars at their disposal the major studios continue to disappoint while the indie filmmaker continues to impress.
The cast is incredibly talented. I don't remember seeing any of them before. If this is their first time acting experience then I'll say two things: They had a really good director to pull this large of a cast together to make such a good film. That and that's a lot of natural talent in that pool.
The f/x work beautifully. THe CG blends well with the practical. In a lot of independent film the CG tends to be flat and not seamless with the practical. And the make up f/x, prosthetics, and creatures are all incredibly well done and are simply not the stuff of low budget fare.
Next I have to comment on the props. Stacy and his crew did a fantastic job on prop design. The reaper serial killers reaper tool is sinister as hell. The books with the mythology and legend all looked really good. Nothing looked cheap and out of place. And the wardrobe was insanely beautiful. The Seven are awesome characters in wardrobe and should merchandised in action figure format.
The widescreen DVD looks beautiful on my 42" (small I know) Sony hi-def even though it's not hi-def DVD or blu-ray. The audio is crystal clear and perfect on every channel throughout the film. You won't find background noise, hum, buzz, or hiss (or at least not on my Denon 5.1 with Sony Surround Speakers).
The use of color throughout the film and lighting through the film works in every case. It continuously adds to the creepiness that is this film whether it's dark, red, green, strobed, or really bright.
I am impressed and really happy that our support for indie film drove us to buy the film. I am not typically a mythology creature feature kind of guy, but my wife Dione has always had a soft spot for that sort of film. I like my horror much more "real-life" i.e. the A.R.T. genre. However that's neither here nor there -- this film is one of the best mythological creature features I've seen. I think maybe if more films like this existed I'd be more into it. Lovecraftian doesn't really begin to describe DoD. I don't think Barker could write a story this awesome.
With millions of dollars at their disposal the major studios continue to disappoint while the indie filmmaker continues to impress.
Domain of the Damned is worth watching
boots646 May 2009
A drifter, looking for work and troubled by dreams, stumbles onto a haunted house amusement that's a lot more real than anyone suspects.
One monster/psycho not enough for you? This is your flick.
The acting by these folks is a lot better than that of the teeny-bopper victims by the truckload so many horror films have. For an indie film, the special effects, monsters and gore ROCK.
Yes, this film's got flaws and it could have been 15-20 minutes shorter, but I've seen a lot worse acting, crappier special effects and dumber story lines in a LOT of major-budget horror films. It's not the same old same old and if you're a horror buff, you should watch it.
One monster/psycho not enough for you? This is your flick.
The acting by these folks is a lot better than that of the teeny-bopper victims by the truckload so many horror films have. For an indie film, the special effects, monsters and gore ROCK.
Yes, this film's got flaws and it could have been 15-20 minutes shorter, but I've seen a lot worse acting, crappier special effects and dumber story lines in a LOT of major-budget horror films. It's not the same old same old and if you're a horror buff, you should watch it.
See also
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