Les Damnés

You can say this, for The Damned, the feature film debut of Icelandic director Thordur Palsson: It understands the shivery allure of a classic ghost story.

...atmospheric period chiller twists the knife on Iceland fishers.

This is a culture in which monsters are real in the way that waterspouts are – you may never see one, but you’ve heard of them, and you must be prepared to deal with them if you’re ever so unlucky.

...succeeds in creating a haunting atmosphere, which is aided by the deserted Icelandic landscape that seems to stretch on forever.

It’s a keeper, so treat yourself to a scary New Year’s celebration.

Minervini fights against classic Hollywood’s Technicolor visions of men at war, like those of John Ford, with a kind of dirty realism.