The Enemy is close. The Enemy is watching. The Enemy is here.
"It is said that there are more daemons lurking in the dark than there are stars shining in the sky. But the day will come when the stars stop existing."— Daemon Be'wesh G'guor
Damnatus: The Enemy Within (or to give it its original German name,
Damnatus: Der Feind Im Innern) is a
fan film set in the universe of
Warhammer 40K. It follows a small team of
mercenaries recruited by the Imperial
inquisition as they attempt to infiltrate a suspected Chaos cult on the planet of Sancta Heroica. It appears that a rogue inquisitor is behind the cult and is attempting to summon a
daemon for his own purposes, but the plot goes deeper than that, and it is not long before the heroes find themselves in way over their heads.
Created "by fans, for fans" by Spharentor studios in 2003, it originally enjoyed the full support of Games Workshop. However during post-production, problems arose over Intellectual Property rights due to differences in British and German copyright law and it was
subsequently banned from official release. However, some as-yet unknown
magnificent bastard later leaked it onto the internet and it can now be downloaded *Megaupload seized by the Internazis* for free, complete with English and German subtitles. It can also be downloaded *Ditto*.
Compare and contrast with
Ultramarines, the first official Games Workshop movie.
Damnatus provides examples of:
- Action Bomb: Oktavian
- All There in the Manual: According to the official site
, the name of Lessus' frigate is the Banishing Halo. It also has some interesting backstory for the characters that did not crop up in the film itself. - Almost Lethal Weapons: See Badass Normal below.
- Altum Videtur: As people in the Imperium are wont to do, the characters utter a few phrases of
Latin High Gothic during situations of appropriate gravitas. - Badass Longcoat: Hiero and Corris.
- Badass Normal: All of the protagonists bar Nira (who is a level 2 on the Super Weight scale), although Corris and Wodan approach Badass Abnormal when they survive a grenade and an RPG going off right next to them, respectively.
- Bait and Switch: A meta-example, the film's official website features a downloadable "soundtrack album", but only one of the songs therein actually features in the film ( "Farewell" by Summoning, which plays over the ending credits)
- The Berserker: Wodan Dubrovnik
- Better to Die than Be Killed: Some of the cultists take this option, as does Osmar, and it is implied that Wodan does the same at the end.
- Blood from the Mouth: One of the cultists after Osmar stabs him in the neck.
- Body Snatcher: G'guor
- Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: All the heroes give their lives to try and stop G'guor, an Eldar spirit accompanying them pulls a Thanatos Gambit, and inquisitor Lessus invokes exterminatus on the planet, but the outro voiceover implies that G'guor will still be back someday.
- The Cameo: Unable to fit space marines into the film, they instead have a Grey Knight contact Lessus at the start of the film (via CGI holographic display) to tell him that the Ordo Malleus strike force has been delayed and he's on his own.
- The producer's daughter also cameos as the girl with the apple.
- Camera Abuse: The view starts going swirly whenever there's a lot of Warp energy about - most notably in the ritual scene and Nira's fight against G'gour.
- Chekhov's Gun: Several of them, most notably Hiero's amulet. Although, it might be more appropriately described as a Chekhov's Gunman...
- Combat Pragmatist
- Cosmic Horror Story
- Crowd Panic: Complete with a bell-ringing doom prophet.
- Custom Uniform: All the heroes have one. Pretty much everyone else (good or evil) gets robes.
- Dog Food Diet: Apparently, during a past mission Wodan was
forced allowed to eat rats. He is quite nostalgic about it.Wodan: "I just feel like having a ratburger now. Do you remember the times on Necromunda, Corris? Those were the best!"
Corris: "There the sewer was the most contaminated place."
Wodan: "Yeah! Those were real rats!"
- Downer Ending: Well, this is Warhammer 40K we're talking about.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: In her introduction, Nira has a vision of a young woman being gunned down by the Adeptus Arbites. Later, we see that the woman is one of Makkabeus' cultists, who shoots down the servo skull Adeodatus has sent back to warn his superiors. We then hear a voice off-screen shout "Halt!"
- Dwindling Party: Once the daemon gets loose.
- Earth-Shattering Kaboom: The Exterminatus order.
- Everyone Calls Him Barkeep: The frigate officer is credited as..."frigate officer".
- Evil Laugh: The heavy stubber cultist takes this to such ridiculous levels that either the actor or the film-makers must have been hanging a lampshade.
- Fainting Seer: Nira
- Film Of The Game: Obviously.
- Also the Game of the Film of the Game - Profiles of several characters have been made for the 40K spin-off game Inquisitor.
- Five-Man Band: Von Remus is the Hero, Corris is the Lancer, Wodan is the Big Guy, Oktavian is the Smart Guy and Nira is the Chick. Adeodatus is a sixth ranger with Fundamentalist tendancies.
- For Doom the Bell Tolls: Inverted, with the bell being seen on screen but not heard (Orchestral Bombing being in effect at the time).
- Gambit Pileup: Between Makkabeus, Lessus, G'gour and the Eldar. Who actually wins is up for debate.
- Genre Savvy: In general the heroes are pretty good at this, sticking together and making a tactical withdrawal where appropriate. G'gour has to resort to reality hacks to split them up.
- Gory Discretion Shot
- I Just Shot Marvin in the Face: Fingers are frequently seen on triggers when they shouldn't be, but Corris deserves a special mention for using his pistols for everything from pushing open doors to scratching his nose. On the other hand, this is Warhammer 40,000.
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: The cultists. The heavy stubber in the maintenance hall battle has a particularly bad case of Hero Tracking Failure.
- Infant Immortality: Implicitly averted. One of the more hard-hitting images during the Exterminatus scene is a shot of a mother and baby inamongst the Crowd Panic.
- It Got Worse
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Sergeant Osmar Adeodatus, who is a bit of a dick at first but is only fighting for the safety of his home planet, and grows to accept the mercenaries as the film goes on.
- Just Between You and Me: G'gour spends the last 5 minutes of the film monologuing.
- Kill 'Em All
- Magic Versus Science: Oktavian and Nira have a bit of this dynamic going on.
Nira: "A warp storm is coming. Can you feel it?"
Oktavian: "I don't feel, psyker, I see."
- Malevolent Masked Men: Makkabeus and his cultists. Makkabeus himself also pulls off a Dramatic Unmask.
- Mind Rape
- Missing Floor The forgotten variety in that there are more than 69 sublevels to the hive.
- Mundane Utility: As well as killing cultists and shooting demolition charges in midair, Corris can use his laspistols to weld doors.
- Narrator All Along: If you thought the creepy filter was put on the intro voiceover just for effect then think again.
- Neck Snap: Two guards who get surprised by Corris and Wodan.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero
- Non Fatal Explosions
- Not With the Safety On, You Won't: An interesting variation that also works out as a Crowning Moment of Awesome for Oktavian.
- Object Ceiling Cling: Nira does this to a cultist who tries to surprise her. The fact that it's almost accidental only makes it scarier.
- Off-the-Shelf FX: Some of the props are rather noticeably this, though it's understandable in a low budget fan film.
- Oh Crap: The team when they see the result of Nira's Object Ceiling Cling, Makkabeus when the team gatecrash his ritual, and Hiero when impalement fails to stop G'gour.
- Only a Flesh Wound: Which Oktavian proceeds to point out.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: G'gour, as with most daemons (since knowing a daemon's true name renders them powerless).
- Orchestral Bombing: During the finale.
- Organ Autonomy: G'gour is so damn evil that even corpses start spasming and trying to get out of his way.
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Corris - "In the name of the damned Inquisition, I hereby adjourn this meeting!"
- Punch! Punch! Punch! Uh Oh...: Happens to Hiero when he tries to fight G'gour.
- Rage Against the Heavens: A doom prophet during the Crowd Panic scene.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: Oktavian is absent from the briefing scene (as noted by Osmar) because his heavy robes nearly caused the actor to faint.
- Right Hand Versus Left Hand: In the finest tradition of the Emperor's holy Inquisition.
- Robo Cam: From the servo skulls, and Adeodatus' bionic eye.
- Screwed by the Lawyers: The afore-mentioned problems with intellectual property rights arose due to differences between British and German copyright law. Thus, the movie was banned from official release.
- Don't blame Games Workshop though. The law difference is really crippling; allowing this movie's release would essentially enter Warhammer 40000 into public domain in Germany.
- Shoot the Shaggy Dog: Our heroes screw up, die trying to escape, and then Lessus invokes exterminatus on the planet.
- Shout Out: The shots of Inquisitor Lessus standing alone on the frigate's huge observation deck bear a striking resemblance to a similar scene in Inquisitor, a VERY old Games Workshop short movie also based in the 40K verse.
- There's also the name of Lechias' alias - Eisenstein.
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: Nira to G'gour. He responds by knocking her down.
- Space Clothes: Mostly averted, but the frigate officer has a truly epic collar.
- Sssssnake Talk: G'guor
- Taking You with Me: Oktavian detonates himself to kill several cultists chasing the group.
- Technopath: Oktavian, which comes in handy during his afore-mentioned CMOA.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: At least initially, there is some tension between the mercenaries and Osmar/Nira.
- Thanatos Gambit: Courtesy of Farseer Vintog Phaer.
- This Cannot Be!: A variation, in that it is not the villain but one of his Mooks who says the line.
- Tome of Eldritch Lore: Makkabeus has one, as well as an Artifact of Doom.
- Voice of the Legion: "Ich bin hier...WEIL DIES MEINE WELT IST!"
- Weak Turret Gun: The cultists have one of these in the maintenance hall battle. Its lack of effect does not stop the cultist firing it from enjoying himself immensely.
- You Are Too Late: Both Type 1 and Type 4, but with debatable success.
- You Shall Not Pass: Von Remus does one of these. It doesn't work out so well.
0 reviews 