FrightFest

Wolfshade wrote:Calling it Evil Dead 4 is just insulting to Evil Dead, Damned By Dawn was totally naff and never in a millions years should it be dubbed Evil Dead 4!

It totally failed as a horror comedy, it simply wasn't scary and wasn't funny, there were obvious attempts as 'jump scares' that never even came close to making you jump, and the ghosts were the naffest things ever - in particular that skeleton that looked like it had just walked on to the film from a childrens ghost train fairground ride! Damned By Dawn runs it close with The Tortured and Dead Cert as the worst film of the weekend.

also this film was far too loud, I was wearing ear plugs for every film of the fest, but even with ear plugs in, I was still almost deafened during the "AAARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA" moments, god knows what it was like for people without ear plugs in.

why would anyone wear ear-plugs in the cineama????

because the damn sound was ramped up too loud! :P

I fell asleep 20 minutes into this movie, no idea what happened. Something tells me nothing good..

Generally I enjoyed this one a lot. Partly that may be down to it coming after an exceptionally dull film (We Are What We Are) and the day after an uninterrupted run of solid grimness. But I liked the misty night lighting which gave it an 80s video flavour - and I'd rather have night scenes overlit than barely discernible murk.

Had high expectations but this was disappointing - started off well but then went downhill rapidly - nothing really to recommend

sherbetbizarre wrote:because the damn sound was ramped up too loud! :P

why....just why would you wear ear plugs for every movie? a huge part of the cinematic experience is the sound system you cant get at home....im not hating i just dont understand.

peace

...it wasn't me wearing the plugs... but, I did find most of the films uncomfortably loud to the point of getting a headache... so I guess I've just got screwy ears.

brad1000 wrote:

sherbetbizarre wrote:because the damn sound was ramped up too loud! :P

why....just why would you wear ear plugs for every movie? a huge part of the cinematic experience is the sound system you cant get at home....im not hating i just dont understand.

peace

I wear ear plugs to protect my hearing!!!

The volume in the main screen at the Empire was uncomfortably loud over the whole weekend, and particularly excessive during Damned By Dawn and Isle Of Dogs, during Damned By Dawn I took my ear plugs out a one point, and the volume was so loud it was painful to listen to. That sort of volume will cause permanent damage to your hearing, simple as that.

Ear plugs take out the excessive volume and make the movies comfortable to listen to, they don't detract from the experience at all, they just make the volume tolerable.

How exactly could you ever say that having irreversible damage inflicted on your hearing is "a huge part of the cinematic experience"?????

I haven't tried earplugs at the cinema, but I do wear them at concerts nowadays.

I saw Judas Priest a few years ago and by the end of the gig my ears were so battered all I could hear was a bass rumbling with a bit of high-pitched wailing over the top, I couldn't make out the songs at all [insert hilarious anti-Heavy Metal joke here] . My ears were ringing for a full 24 hours.

I bought earplugs. They don't block out the sound, they attenuate it by a few decibels and takes out the "spikes" so it's simply less painful.

It was nowhere near that bad at the Empire, but some of the harsh sounds in Eggshells, especially, were a bit unconfortable.

I know Ted Nugent (look him up, little ones) said "if it's too loud you're too old". But he's now more than halfway to being deaf.

brad1000 wrote:

sherbetbizarre wrote:because the damn sound was ramped up too loud! :P

why....just why would you wear ear plugs for every movie? a huge part of the cinematic experience is the sound system you cant get at home....im not hating i just dont understand.

peace

The volume ruined some of the films for me. Couldn't hear what the characters were saying. Exactly what you don't want in a cinema.

Apparently Dammend By Dawn was the film that made me jump the most (if anyone was sitting near a chunky guy with George Cloony-esque hair colour who was contantly jumping at loud noises, that was me), therefore scaring my mate during a film neither of us thoguht was particularly scary due to the awful CGI.

This worked really well...until the CGI "ghosts/dead" turned up.

A very welcome break from the revenge topic this one had a fresh cast (the little sister was hot), a nice idea (can you think of other movies having banshees in them?) and some really nice makeup.
There was an issue with the outside lights going from totally dark to early morning bright, back to dark in what felt like minutes but in general this one worked very well for me.
Lots of people don't like jump scares anymore but here they were well executed and REALLY made me jump a couple of times.
Things that would have made this movie MUCH better
*) do away with the CGI ghosts
*) give the banshee more screen time
*) turn down the volumn
*) get rid of the "Damned by Dawn writing on the door, this one just felt out of place and didn't serve any purpose, instead it made me ask myself if banshees spoke english and why they would write on doors

I'm not sure I got the end, when she was tasting her blood, why did the banshee "die" (for lack of better words)?
7/10

It seems most people didn't like the crap CGI. But I actually did. It was incredibly cheesy which is exactly my cup of tea.

The absence of plot however had me thinking about walking out.

Another film with a good setting. Quite enjoyed this one. Like the wailing Banshee. Shame you see too much of her, almost looking human at the end. Should be more ghost like. Also the CGI flying ghosts don't really work. Did have some good jumps for me.

After a promising first half hour, Damned By Dawns quality unfortunately went downhill pretty quickly once the CGI ghosts turned up. Plus, like some of you other guys, I couldn't understand the 'Evil Dead 4' tag. It didn't have anywhere near the crazy sense of homour to be classed as that.

Sadly a long way short of the Evil Dead 1 and 2, with little splatter, little fun and poor effects. Strangely, the film opened so promisingly, but went downhill after the first half hour especially as the effects were about as scary as the Alton Towers Haunted House ride! There were some tense sequences and jump scares, but by the end I was just waiting for the next film. One of the weakest of the fest, but still better than Dead Cert. A generous 6 / 10 (mainly for the decent opening and the jumps).