It's hard to put into words how bad this film is. Yes, it has all of the clichés, old house, rain and thunder, creepy old guy. What really kills this film is how unlikable the characters are and how positively stupid as well. You could care less if they are killed off and when they are, you find yourself almost cheering. This, of course is when you aren't yelling at the screen. What is the first thing you should do when things get threatening? Have everyone separate! Absolutely! There is nothing redeeming about this film at all. I am a horror movie buff and this is just about the worst I have ever seen. This is so bad that I set up an account here so I could write my first review.

In Bogota, Colombia, the widow American David Reynolds (Peter Facinelli) is ready to travel back to America with his fiancée Lauren (Sophia Myles) and his daughter Jill (Nathalia Ramos) to get married after the death of his wife Marcela. However Jill has left her passport in the house of her aunt Gina (Carolina Guerra) and they travel in a car with Gina and Jill's boyfriend Ramon (Sebastian Martínez) to the town where Gina lives. They drive through a shortcut but they are stopped on the road by Capitan Morales (Juan Pablo Gamboa) that warns them that the road is flooded and is too dangerous to drive along, but Gina decides to continue. They have an accident and the car overturns and Lauren breaks two ribs in the middle of nowhere. They decide to walk and find an old hotel that has been closed since 1978. The owner Felipe (Gustavo Angarita) is reluctant to let them in, but he decides to lodge the group. While bringing some wood for the fireplace, the snoopy Jill and her boyfriend Ramon leaves the room and Jill overhears a cry. They seek out and find the girl Ana Maria (Julieta Salazar) padlocked in a wooden box. When Felipe returns with David with the wood and learns that the couple left the room, he runs to the box but is subdued by David. Felipe warns that the girl will kill his family, but they believe that the old man is a pedophile. But soon they discover the truth about Ana Maria. "Gallows Hill", a.k.a. "The Damned", is a reasonable horror film with Sophia Myles. Jill is an annoying character and the decision of gagging Felipe without listening to what he is saying is typical of boastful people. It is amazing the attitude of this group with his host in his house, snooping around and releasing an evil witch. How David succeeded in locking the witch in the box if they broke the pad and the tongue? My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "A Amaldiçoada" ("The Damned")

I watched this last night and feel compelled to make this the first review I have done on IMDb. I'm a huge Horror film fan and usually enjoy even the most generic of them. However, this is most definitely the exception.I'm not sure what exactly it does that is so wrong, but somehow it manages to create zero atmosphere, zero scares, and zero enjoyment. It shouldn't be the case though, with many of the elements there which usually make an at least passable horror film.(possible minor spoilers ahead in the check list, although I'm sure all are mentioned in the synopsis)Old house in the middle of nowhere...check. Bad weather...check. Shifty old dude...check. Possessed kid...check.Yet, for some reason it just fails miserably. I watched 'Livid' the night before, and whilst not great, it did at least have a tense, foreboding feel about it. Which at least made it worth a watch. The acting is poor in The Damned, the script is poor, the effects are poor and even the cinematography isn't great either. Not to mention it's almost completely devoid of any 'scares'.It's the first Horror movie in quite a while in which I found myself utterly bored. As the headline above says, this is best avoided.

OK so apparently Witches are the new concept to exploit. And apparently they can't die or something. This film was an opportunity to make a really sincerely scary horror film, but "the Damned" just doesn't hold it's weight. The movie was somewhat confusing, and overall it just wasn't scary enough. It started off a little creepy and atmospheric but that's only because the viewer is led on by gloomy surroundings and the location of the hotel they end up at. But once the "secrets" are revealed, it's pretty much all downhill. IFC has some very good films but this is one of the weaker ones. "The Squad" is a horror film that is also about witches and I totally recommend it over this movie.