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The Abandoned (2006)
As a person who has been a fan of horror films since I was very little (probably started watching horror movies around age 6 or 7) it’s easy to be totally jaded at my age (26). So it’s safe to say that movies just don’t seem to have the capacity to be scary like they were in my younger days. That’s why I’m going to have to really hand it to everyone involved in creating The Abandoned. Not only was the film totally captivating and manages to drag you into the story yourself. But there are some things in this movie that I found to be downright frightening. I found myself sitting in the theater as giddy as a 10 year old watching Texas Chainsaw Massacre for the first time. It was a film that was extremely thought provoking, visually beautiful, and extremely well written. When I noticed that in the opening credits that it had been written by Nacho Cerda, Richard Stanley (Dust Devil), and Karim Hussein (Subconscious Cruelty) I knew I was in for something special. Ever since a couple years ago when I had the pleasure of catching Nacho Cerda’s DVD Aftermath/Genesis I said to myself “I really want to see what this guy can do in a feature”, and I must say that The Abandoned totally lived up to the kind of film that I was expecting.
The story is about a woman (Anastasia Hille) who was separated at birth from her biological parents. She spends years trying to track them down until she is contacted by a Russian man with information about her real family. Taking the trip to Russia she finds out that her parents have been dead for the last 40 years and that their property is still standing on a remote island in Russia. Marie decides to take the trip out there and it’s nothing that she expects. The locals seem scared of the property and the fact that it is surrounded by water makes it that much harder to get there. When Marie finally gets there, nothing seems right. She runs into a man, starts having haunted visions, and severe nightmare’s the moment she even sets down in Russia. But the only problem is that once she’s on the island property, there’s practically no way out of there and it’s really a tension builder from there.
The film visually is stunning as the atmosphere is doom and gloom from the beginning of the movie. There’s a total feel of dread coming from everything and you just know the entire time that something awful is bound to happen. The sound is used incredibly well, and they manage to build the already creepy atmosphere even more using it. The acting is very believable and there’s some really good performances in this movie to bat. Honestly, when you are watching The Abandoned it has the feeling of being stuck in a Nightmare and that really adds to the effectiveness of the film too.
Overall, this is the masterpiece of a film that I was expecting Cerda to be able to pull off when he got to it. If there is one thing that Cerda is a master of is his exploration into life and death in his works. He always manages to paint a beautiful picture and show you some of the most horrifying imagery but at the same time never “dumbing it down” for the audiences. I must say that in this day and age where films tend to come out without making any kind of a statement that Nacho Cerda should be applauded for making thought provoking, intelligent horror films that are more about showing the human side of life and death than just being a bloody good time. Not that there is anything wrong with that either, but Nacho Cerda is exactly what most filmmakers set out to be. A true artist, and he’s definitely going to be a force to deal with in the industry for a long time and personally I’m thrilled by that notion.
Rating - ***1/2
-Ed Demko
