*May Contain Spoilers* I absolutely hated the previous Quiroz bros. film I saw (Hood of the Living Dead), I hated it so very very much. So needless to say I was expecting their vampire movie The Damned to be more or less like Hood of the Living Dead, but with vampires. However I must say that this movie was actually pretty enjoyable.
Many of the actors from Hood return in this picture, but for some reason I liked them better in this than in Hood (I attribute it to the fact that this movie had a better story/script), they also seemed to be able to act better in this movie than in Hood. The story was pretty entertaining, if not a tad stale and bland, but it served its purpose (chances are you're not here for a deep movie story, but for vampire action) and did a somewhat good job setting up the various fight scenes between the humans and the vampires.
But sadly, this movie is not all that great when you get right down to it. If you read any of the synopsis' for the movie or seen trailers for The Damned it makes it seem as though there's going to be a lot of vampire killing (I don't mean to nitpick, but I don't think four people make a clan) or that Todd Bridges seems like this big badass vampire hunter mercenary guy, when really he's just an amateur vigilante. It also makes it seem as though there's going to be a hell of a lot more feedings (I think there was a grand total of two), and that there would have been more fight scenes with the vampires, but sadly there wasn't. Another thing that detracts from the enjoyment of this movie is (in my opinion) the inappropriate use of "fast-paced punk rock." During seemingly calm scenes there's that punk-rock playing (such as when a detective is at an old abandoned house), and during the scenes when the vampires do strike, it's sort of this fast paced moody stereotypical horror music. It seems like it should've been the other way around.
The movie is also too damn short. I don't know if it was due to their budget or what, but the movie just sort of whizzed by and then ended. Also don't expect much closure from the main story, as the ending leaves it open for a sequel (what is with the Quiroz brothers and not ending their horror movies?!). Also don't expect the world out of the special effects (especially when they kill the vampires :shudder: bad CG) and don't expect Oscar-caliber acting (not that you would from a low-budget flick such as this), for its purpose The Damned is a somewhat decent picture. Its not too great, but its not god-awful, and it's certainly a hell of a lot better than Hood of the Living Dead, which they happen to reference in this movie, but it has a lot of little problems that I think take away from the quality of it, it also really bugged me that the cover art for the DVD was amazingly similar to that of the Russian vampire movie Night Watch, but that's just me.
There are of course better vampire movies out there but for a low-budget indie movie it's not the worst one around. Despite the cheesy effects, the annoying soundtrack (yep, disliked the punk rock), the poor acting at some points (the principle actors did a fairly good job), and random theories about vampires (what other movie says vampires can only enter a house if they're invited in?) The Damned was a bad movie, but an enjoyable one at that.
Many of the actors from Hood return in this picture, but for some reason I liked them better in this than in Hood (I attribute it to the fact that this movie had a better story/script), they also seemed to be able to act better in this movie than in Hood. The story was pretty entertaining, if not a tad stale and bland, but it served its purpose (chances are you're not here for a deep movie story, but for vampire action) and did a somewhat good job setting up the various fight scenes between the humans and the vampires.
But sadly, this movie is not all that great when you get right down to it. If you read any of the synopsis' for the movie or seen trailers for The Damned it makes it seem as though there's going to be a lot of vampire killing (I don't mean to nitpick, but I don't think four people make a clan) or that Todd Bridges seems like this big badass vampire hunter mercenary guy, when really he's just an amateur vigilante. It also makes it seem as though there's going to be a hell of a lot more feedings (I think there was a grand total of two), and that there would have been more fight scenes with the vampires, but sadly there wasn't. Another thing that detracts from the enjoyment of this movie is (in my opinion) the inappropriate use of "fast-paced punk rock." During seemingly calm scenes there's that punk-rock playing (such as when a detective is at an old abandoned house), and during the scenes when the vampires do strike, it's sort of this fast paced moody stereotypical horror music. It seems like it should've been the other way around.
The movie is also too damn short. I don't know if it was due to their budget or what, but the movie just sort of whizzed by and then ended. Also don't expect much closure from the main story, as the ending leaves it open for a sequel (what is with the Quiroz brothers and not ending their horror movies?!). Also don't expect the world out of the special effects (especially when they kill the vampires :shudder: bad CG) and don't expect Oscar-caliber acting (not that you would from a low-budget flick such as this), for its purpose The Damned is a somewhat decent picture. Its not too great, but its not god-awful, and it's certainly a hell of a lot better than Hood of the Living Dead, which they happen to reference in this movie, but it has a lot of little problems that I think take away from the quality of it, it also really bugged me that the cover art for the DVD was amazingly similar to that of the Russian vampire movie Night Watch, but that's just me.
There are of course better vampire movies out there but for a low-budget indie movie it's not the worst one around. Despite the cheesy effects, the annoying soundtrack (yep, disliked the punk rock), the poor acting at some points (the principle actors did a fairly good job), and random theories about vampires (what other movie says vampires can only enter a house if they're invited in?) The Damned was a bad movie, but an enjoyable one at that.
