Movie review of The Abandoned

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The Abandoned

August 1st 2007 00:45

This would’ve been a sensational film to have seen on the big screen, but unfortunately, down under in Australia director Nacho Cerdà’s The Abandoned (2006) has been relegated straight to the DVD shelves, alongside so much dross and dreck.

It’s a Spanish/UK/Bulgarian ghost story which enjoyed a brief theatrical screening in the States as part of the After Dark Horrorfest: 8 Films To Die For, which screened late last year. I’ve seen three of those festival flicks; Zombies (aka Wicked Little Things), The Hamiltons and now The Abandoned. The first two blew chunks. The Abandoned raised the bar considerably.

The Abandoned Anastasia Hille and Carlos Reig-Plaza

Anastasia Hille as Marie and Carlos Reig-Plaza as Anatoliy

This is the best haunted house movie I’ve seen in a long while. An orphaned American woman Marie (Anastasia Hille) returns to her homeland, Russia, to discover she has inherited an isolated derelict farmhouse. It is the scene where her mother's dead body had been found under bizarre circumstances 40 years earlier. Marie never knew her parents. A mysterious man, Anatoliy (Carlos Reig-Plaza) guides her to the property only to inexplicably disappear into the woods on approach, forcing Marie to explore the homestead alone.

This is one dark forest indeed

Marie encounters her doppelganger on the property. She also discovers a man named Nikolai (Karel Roden), who claims to have been lured there in the same manner, so he too could discover the truth behind his unknown past. He is her twin brother. He too is privy to his own ghost (doppelganger). Time begins to move in reverse as their tragic history re-lives itself in front of their very eyes, revealing truly horrifying and shocking secrets.

The Abandoned Anastasia Hille and Karel Roden

Marie and Nikolai (Karel Roden) tread tentatively

Spaniard Cerdà came to attention in the mid-90s after he made a very controversial half-hour movie called Aftermath (1994) which dealt with a necrophiliac pathologist. I have yet to view this, apparently, intensely disturbing experimentation in confrontation. When I do, I will most definitely review it for Pleasure of Nightmares. Cerdà then made another half-hour movie called Genesis (1995), a more phantasmogorical movie with more emphasis on poetic fantasy than visceral excess.

Marie's doppelganger

The Abandoned is his first feature, and it is a very assured and highly atmospheric movie. The acting is strong, but many may find the narrative moves too languidly and is too dark (literally), but on the contrary it is the mood, pacing and tone of this ill-fated tale that elevates it above the work of so many other try-hard shlock-mongering charlatans.

Beware the beady eye of the beast

Interesting to note the screenplay was co-written with English genre maverick Richard Stanley, who made the cult rogue robot flick Hardware (1990) and the existential demon in the desert flick Dust Devil (1992).

Some things are better left unseen

The production values for The Abandoned are impressive, especially the interior art direction, the tenebrous cinematography, and the special effects make-up. All top notch. Shot in anamorphic widescreen, with striking compositions and clever use of the sides of frame, like I said first up, this is one horror movie that demands to be seen on as big a screen as possible.

Nikolai's doppelganger

Few films deal with the spectre of doppelgangers (ghosts of one’s self indicating your own imminent death) intelligently and with palpable effect. The Abandoned does so quite masterfully. There are many genuinely frightening scenes as poor Marie first explores the farmhouse and later as she and Nicolai are further terrorized. I’ll admit there are several instances where you question Marie’s decision to remain in the house, but the elasticity of the reality/nightmare fabric helps to stretch credibility.

Nothing like being in the rain in the dark in the back of a decrepit truck

Having recently subjected my partner to some seriously schlocky horror movies I anticipated this movie would make up for those indiscretions. She had to close her eyes on several occasions during The Abandoned and requested not to have to watch anything like that again. Later she expressed her concern that all these dark horror movies were probably having a detrimental effect on my mental health. Me? Disturbed? Never. Muah-ha-haa!

The Abandoned isn’t a masterpiece, but it’s an incredibly well staged and executed ghost story framed in ghoulish detail and languishing in a dense atmosphere of decay. Great stuff!

Here's the impressive, but typically spoiler-splashed American trailer:

And for those who wish to see venture further (more spoilers) for some SFX behind the scenes:

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews

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Comments

19 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by KylieW

August 1st 2007 01:36

Celebrity Obsession

Bryn,

Never heard of this flick before. But it looks pretty good. Love the trailer.

As for you mentally disturbed? Just put down that knife Bryn. You're amongst friends. Your hand isn't really possessed. Just put the knife down.

And for gods sake, you're not a werewolf. So stop stripping off at a full moon and running round the neighbourhood.

Kylie

Comment by Louie

August 1st 2007 02:45

randomthoughts
Phil's Wellness Tips

I am too scared to press play on the trailer let alone watch it........i think it is the Bulgaria part that freaks me the most, I can actually imagine shit like that happening there

Comment by Bryn

August 1st 2007 04:38

Horrorphile

Kylie ... grrrrrrrrr!!

Louie, well, if you can't bring yourself to watch the trailer ... stay clear of the movie itself then! lol

Comment by Damo

August 1st 2007 07:46

looks cool and creepy
I like creepy more than splatter.

Comment by Tracy

August 1st 2007 09:40

Movies and Life

Oooh, that looks like one scary film....

Comment by Bryn

August 1st 2007 10:31

Horrorphile

Damo, this is most creepy indeed. There is some splatter, but it's done in the best possible taste ... lol

Tracy, yeah, this is the first film that's creeped me out decently since The Descent, and before that The Blair Witch Project.

Comment by Nickoftime's Sanity Corner

August 1st 2007 18:19

Bryn,

now the trailer combined with your great review is gonna have me searching the horror sections of every video store I know!

This looks like one fantastic movie! Well done...

Take care,

Nick

Comment by Anonymous

August 1st 2007 20:47

Well, if it freaked you out Bryn, I have no chance!!

Tracy (with diffiuculties logging in)

Comment by Cibbuano

August 1st 2007 23:36

Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak

this looks terrifying...

looking forward to your review of Aftermath... I couldn't even handle the description of that movie.

Comment by Terry

August 2nd 2007 03:45

MysTerry's Mansion
Theatre of the mind

I just bought this a week ago (I'm slowly collected all 8 films to die for. 3 left...)

I haven't watched it yet and now I'm afraid to watch it alone...lol

Way to go...lol

Hurdy Gur

Terry

Comment by Bryn

August 2nd 2007 04:24

Horrorphile

Cibby, stay tuned ...

Nick, cheers mate, glad you exhumed, er dug it ... lol

Terry, I wanna see Reincarnation by the director of Ju-On: The Grudge ... and perhaps Gravedancers, but the two others I saw I thought sucked.

Comment by JohnDoe

August 2nd 2007 04:34

Film & TV on DVD

Im a huge fan of Aftermath as you know and this is one I have been dying to see since I first heard about it.

A travesty that there was no big screen release, especially when stuff like the remake of House of Wax and Hills have Eyes still hit cinemas.

Didnt read the review because of spoilers but i will have to settle for a small screen premiere soon.