The Abandoned (2006)

The abandoned is a great film and a testimony to Nacho Cerda's ability to direct. This film takes you to a place you really wouldn't want to go. Set in the woods of Russia, where even the Olga boat man wouldn't show, the fright level of this film is high and the suspense will have you on the edge of your seat for the duration of the movie. The main character (Marie) Anastasia Hill does an excellent job and keeps you in a state of suspense. Karel Roden (Nicolai) plays a great character and compliments (Marie) in a good way. The movie has a wonderful story/plot and is not afraid to throw the ball when it comes to horror movies. Cerda did not pull any punches and hits the horror movie scene with a right cross to the jaw.

Fmovies: Spanish director Nacho Cerda's THE ABANDONED is like the beautiful, unholy marriage of Lucio Fulci (circa THE BEYOND) and Russian art-house master Andrei Tarkovsky -- if that sounds like some high-falutin' pretentious art/horror movie, think again: this film is so downright terrifying I spent half the movie with my hands over my eyes, and my brother confirmed it's one of the scariest flicks he's ever seen. Cerda conjures up a classic Haunted House from Hell (or in this case, the Russian countryside) scenario, and then wrings about as many shocks and spinetingling moments out of it as (in)humanly possible. Some amazing, ear-shredding sound design also adds to the scare factor. Mucho credit goes to main screenwriter Karim Hussain for creating a storyline that is at once enigmatic in an unfolding, puzzle-box kind of way and also emotionally resonant and intense. Again, if you long for the days of classic Fulci shockers with a strong dose of PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK/THE LAST WAVE dreamlike vibe thrown in -- check this one out. A winner all the way.

In 1966, somewhere in Russia, a wounded woman drives a truck to an isolated farm with two babies. Forty years later, the film producer Marie Jones (Anastasia Hille) leaves her daughter in California and travels back to her home land in the wilderness of Russia. Marie is one of the children and had received a phone call from the notary public Andrei Misharin (Valentin Ganev) that had told her where the farm of her family is. Marie arrives in the abandoned house and meets the stranger Nicolai (Karel Roden) that tells her that he had also received a call from Misharin and he is her twin brother. Weird things happen in the house and Marie and Nicolai are haunted by eerie ghosts of themselves. Further, they find that they are trapped in the house and can not leave the place.

"The Abandoned" is a frightening and creepy film of ghosts, with a nightmarish atmosphere but a dull story. The unknown Anastasia Hille has great performance and the cinematography is very dark; but the story is very confused and predictable. Cristopher Smith used in "Triangle" (2009) a similar idea of people trapped in a location that can never leave the cycle. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Abandonados" ("Abandoned")

The Abandoned fmovies. This film is a solid 6, no it isn't going to win any awards or anything like that but what horror suspense film with 2 no name actors does anyway.. ever. What The Abandoned will do for you is keep you wondering what is down the hall or around the next corner. It is a suspense film, sprinkled in with some horror elements. I can't tell you how many times the audience jumped out of the room. It was great, the people were embarrassed for themselves because they got so scared. That to me is what going to these movies is all about, it is about the experience and the film and how it draws you in at 10:00 at night. I did think the movie had a lot of credits at the beginning, the writing caught me off guard, but I like how when the family was speaking Russian we didn't get subtitles, that was cool, we don't need to know every word these folks are saying, just know that something bad is about to go down and it did. Check out The Abandoned for a good time with friends, the movie is pretty solid in a day when a lot of these movies leave you wondering what you just wasted your darn money and time on, this one will keep you jumping and guessing the whole way through.

This movie instantly rose to the very top of my scary movie list. I have always been a fan of scary movies, however the misuse of suspense and gore has always bothered me. So many movies these days will rush a scene or a plot string by killing people off, breaking the suspense too soon, or simply by cutting away to somewhere else. This movie was a huge exception to the norm, the writers pinned down their monsters, their characters, and their plot to a T. The suspense was executed with such finesse, such perfection, that I left the movie both shaken and amazed. The filming style, using strong angles without overusing zoom and focus, instead focused on the whole composition of a shot. Even the first person scenes, where the camera is moving violently in all directions were controlled and limited. As far as the plot goes, the writers clearly weren't aiming for the meaty plot of any contemporary American horror film, they reached for the brutish nature of suspense, and it left the viewers helpless to any and every twist the writers could muster. This movie is utter brilliance.

One of the original "After Dark Horrorfest: 8 Films to Die For," (ADHF) and the only one to get a nationwide release in theaters, The Abandoned tells the story of an American movie producer (Marie) who receives word that she has inherited a house and land in the back woods of Russia. She sets off to examine the property, which she has no interest in keeping, apparently just out of curiosity. There she meets a man claiming to be her fraternal twin brother (Nicolai), but the house appears to have its own plans for both of them. Their birthday nearing, they prepare to face their dark past.

This was my second time seeing this movie, and for some reason the first time I saw it I got the complete wrong idea about what happened at the end. It is way more psychological than your run-of-the-mill haunted house movie. There are only 2 or 3 "phantoms" in the movie that don't show up very often, so most of the "scares" are through the suspense of not knowing when the next horrible thing is going to happen.

I really love the setting of this film. The dark woods, withered house, and misty lake all contribute to the chilling atmosphere...you couldn't really ask for a better set for a movie such as this.

There aren't that many special effects, but for the most part they are above average. The makeup on the crazy ghost zombie things is very convincing.

The acting is quite good for an independent film full of unknowns. There are really only two full characters in the movie, all others besides Marie and Nicolai can easily be considered extras (except maybe the main villain ghost thing, which gets a few minutes of screen time). I'm not exactly sure how good of an actor Karel Roden (Nicolai) is because of his Russian accent, but he appears to be acceptable.

The storyline was not my favorite, but when everything came together it ended up being a solid independent horror flick, definitely one of the better ADHF films.

Final Score - 8/10