The Damned: Nordic Marine Folk Horror

For fishermen, the sea provides sustenance, but what it really generated were superstitions.  The Draugur (or Draugr) was supposedly one of them. However, a fishing camp in Iceland’s frozen Westfjords are about to learn they are actually real, because Thordur Palsson’s The Damned is horror movie that opens today in theaters.

There is no going back for the crew of Eva’s fishing boat, because no ships would dare traverse the icy waters until the thaw. Unfortunately, the fishing has been so poor, they have resorted to eating their bait. Technically, the widowed Eva owns the outfit, but her burly but much older second husband Ragnar acts as the skipper, foreman, and taskmaster. She has the final word, but Eva usually defers to him, so she does so again when a ship freakishly wrecks on the reefs surrounding their bay. He insists they cannot even feed themselves, so they cannot afford to rescue more hungry mouths.

Obviously, this generates some bad karma—especially when Eva and Ragnar organize a salvage operation to scavenge supplies. In fact, it gets rather ugly when they must beat off survivors. Of course, spooky old Helga recognizes all this provides a conducive environment for vengeful draugurs. Sure enough, something seems to soon start preying on the fishing camp, killing them off one-by-one and/or driving them mad. Helga tries to protect them with traditional charms, but to no avail.

Palsson and screenwriter Jamie Hannigan serve up another generous helping of folk horror. The isolated coastal location, the washed-out color palate, and the bleak tone prompt comparisons to Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse. Yet, even though The Damned is moody in the extreme, Palsson still maintains a healthier pace, which is quite impressive.

Admittedly, Palsson relies on casting to provide much of the shorthand character development for his supporting cast, like Francis Magee as burly middle-aged Skuli, baby-faced Michael Og Lane as nervous Aron, and Rory McCann as grizzled Ragnar. Yet, that economy often serves genre films relatively well—and it works here.

Joe Cole broods with his usual sense of quiet danger as Daniel, the only fisherman with the grit to stand up to Ragnar. He would be Eva’s logical choice to oversee the fishing party if anything happens to Ragnar—and most likely something will. Odessa Young pulls off something like what Liv Ullmann’s character in The Emigrants might act like if transported into a horror movie (but I’m not saying she is like Liv Ullmann, at least not yet). Plus, Siobhan Finneran is aptly squirrely and disconcerting as not-so crazy Helga.

It is always nice to see a film overachieving. Palsson does exactly that throughout The Damned. As horror goes, it is uncharacteristically subtle, but it still takes care of genre business. It is a good film and hopefully the start of more to come from Palsson, who previously only helmed shorts and episodic television. Enthusiastically recommended, The Damned opens today (1/3) in theaters, including the AMC Empire in New York.