A new watch for me of GALLOWS HILL (2013, aka THE DAMNED, aka HOUSE ON GALLOWS HILL),a tale of demonic possession with the novelty of being filmed on location in Bogota, Colombia. The story sees an American and his fiancee travelling cross-country with some family members and friends only to get caught out by flooding and forced to take a rural route. After a car accident the group stay at a closed hotel inhabited by an old man who keeps a young girl chained up in his basement. Wrongly believing him to be a paedophile, they free the girl only to get a nasty surprise...

Despite the novelty of the South American filming location this is another stock and routine story with dark and dreary cinematography; most of it is filmed in the dark so the exoticism is wasted. It's one of those stories with paper-thin characters and familiar actors (Peter Facinelli, Sophia Myles) wasted in predictable 'demon' scenes of overacting and possession. Some gore and horror along the way, but I found it all very passe and unappealing, not helped by the tiny scale and low budget of the production.

Starting a few millenniums back, science; i.e., facts, began a battle with religion; i.e., superstition. Those who believe in the supernatural, miracles, extra-terrestials, etc., are unaware science has won. As such horror and sci-fi movies, long ago limited to genre, are measurable by HOW it's done, with limitations on what CAN is done. This film (on Netflix as GALLOWS HILL) is creative on the CAN as it's stars are not lost or partying kids or paranormal sleuths. The creativity on character relations is done with useful effect. Its setting is not the USA and the film usefully employs the language barrier. Okay, it is stuck inside a house and borrows some gimmicks. The actors, photography, dialog and editing are professional. Restraint is employed regarding gratuitous nudity and special effects and the opening and closing "narrative" is minimal enough to avoid the preachy manure many films of this budget use. In sum, in relation to the tons of horror films out there, this one is pretty good. The makers might think what I'm going to say is faint praise: GALLOWS HILL, a/k/a THE DAMNED, didn't make me feel like an idiot for watching it until the end. For a grouch like me, that's praise indeed.

I saw this on a rented DVD in 2014. I enjoyed this movie. Its a very good demonic horror flick. Víctor García (Return to house on haunted hill, mirrors 2) did a decent job. I really liked the new take on the possession. Some may compare it to Fallen or The shrine. It is a very atmospheric horror. The eerie hotel, the middle of nowhere, the rains, all added to the creepy feel. Best part is that it is not ur typical pg13 possession film. This movie has lots of brutal killings. The scariest part was that the demon is able to read people's secret past n spill out in front of others. There is plenty of eye candy faces. Decent acting. Good cinematography n screenplay. Horror fans will not b disappointed.