Thordur Palsson’s Tribeca Festival selection THE DAMNED is now in theaters and should be of interest to folk horror fans.
In a 19th century Icelandic fishing community, the residents’ inability or even willingness to rescue the survivors of a sinking ship puts a curse on them.
Odessa Young is perfectly cast as the widow, the lone female in the village. There are many gory moments, beautiful visuals courtesy of Lamb cinematographer Eli Arenson, and a fine string score by Stephen McKeon.
The revelation at the end, which casts doubts on what we’ve seen up to that point, did not sit well with me, but The Damned should still be worth seeing for genre enthusiasts.
