The Abandoned (2007)
Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins
Theatrical Release: Feb 23, 2007 Wide
Box Office: $1,255,524
Synopsis: The expertly crafted 2007 haunted-house movie THE ABANDONED puts an original sheen on the well-worn tradition of the haunted house flick. Shot in Bulgaria but set in Russia, the movie centers around Marie (Anastasia Hille), an American born in Russia and abandoned as an infant. Marie... The expertly crafted 2007 haunted-house movie THE ABANDONED puts an original sheen on the well-worn tradition of the haunted house flick. Shot in Bulgaria but set in Russia, the movie centers around Marie (Anastasia Hille), an American born in Russia and abandoned as an infant. Marie returns to Russia 40 years later to visit the family estate with her brother, Nicolai (Karl Roden), who was also abandoned, but raised in Russia. Together they explore the old homestead in the hopes of rediscovering their pasts and unearthing the truth about the family they never knew. Like any haunted-house movie worth its salt, THE ABANDONED is all about the psychic residue left in the house following a tragedy. In this case, the spirit of Marie and Karl's father has summoned them back to the family home in order to finish the foiled infanticide he was attempting decades ago. The manifestations of the past--i.e. the things that go bump in the night--are terrifying. Director Nacho Cerda's cinematic "boo!s" come at the least expected moments and in unique forms, and his unflinching shots of Marie and Karl's decaying yet persistent doppelgangers offer some of the most chilling images in the movie. Ultimately, THE ABANDONED works because it takes viewer by surprise on so many levels. Thrills and chills abound, but they are delivered in unexpected ways. While the premise isn't entirely original and the script isn't completely free of holes, it is expertly made from a purely filmic standpoint, and there is something unavoidably chilling about the idea of never escaping one's past, particularly when the past is as horrific as the one depicted in THE ABANDONED. [More]
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Starring: Paraskeva Djukelova, Karel Roden, Valentin Ganev, Jordanka Angelove, Annastasia Hille
DVD Info
Release:
Jun 19, 2007
DVD Features:
- Keep Case
- Widescreen
Audio:
- Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo - English
- Subtitles - English, Spanish - Optional
Additional Release Material:
- Behind the Scenes - Making of THE ABANDONED
Buy It On DVD
Reviews
It is, to put it simply, a totally kick-ass horror movie that should be seen by every self-respecting fear film fan.
All haunted house movies feature labyrinthine corridors and darkened rooms, but few achieve the tangible depth and texture of The Abandoned. After so many inferior generic excursions and aberrations, Cerdà's film feels like a homecoming.
The work of a master visualist trying to walk the line between narrative and visual spectacle. The story is there, but it just sits on the side of the visual experience.
A definite fascinating and creepy mystery that leads up to a very surreal finale I enjoyed...
Despite some effective atmosphere at times, this multi-European produced supernatural thriller is a tedious snoozer
A sort of haunted house story, "The Abandoned" has scary atmosphere, decent acting, an interesting setting %u2013 everything but a coherent story line.
Cerdà quickly lets slip his woeful lack of skill with a curious, "arty" predilection for switching camera focus in the middle of a shot.
Director Nacho Cerdà succeeds in pushing the haunted-house movie into an abstract realm where the past and present fold into each other.
The movie sinks so deep into deathly atmosphere that there's no life to it.
At its best, it's an effective shocker with an atmosphere that seeps into your very bones. The problem is it's not always at its best, and when it isn't, it really isn't.
Heralds the arrival of a new talent that every horror fan should keep their eyes on, if they're not covering them with their hands.
The relatively tame horrors on display here may disappoint fans of the director's gut-spelunking short Aftermath, which made him an underground hero on the abra-cadaver circuit.
As the heroine wanders around her old, rundown childhood home, the movie itself wanders, trying to find its purpose, meaning, and even, it seems, a worthwhile starting point.
Perhaps the worst offense of The Abandoned, however, is that so little effort is made by the screenwriters to make any 'sense' of it all.
Through the murk and gloom of The Abandoned; a mystery emerges: Why didn't this go straight to DVD?
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