Tagline: Death Never Runs Out of Time!
Aftermath solidified Nacho Cerda as a filmmaker to keep an eye on over eight years ago. His film was visually arresting and terrifying. The Abandoned is a welcomed homecoming for this incredible filmmaker.
Writing with his collaborator from Aftermath, Nacho and Karim have created a narrative that transcends Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House and tramples down the recent retelling by Spielberg and Co, The Haunting. (the remake of William Castle’s House on Haunted Hill stood on its own in my opinion as a B-movie classic thanks to Joel Silver and Bill Malone and I’m currently shrugging with their current slate of films; uggghhh I can’t wait to dismiss the production plagued ‘The Reaping’).
The Abandoned is a haunting film about an adopted woman (Anastasia Hille) traveling back to her native homeland in Russia to a home she never knew existed and discovering memories from her past while reconnecting with a man that claims to be her brother (Karl Roden) as he’s been lured there under similar pretenses. Together they experience time as it reverses and they witness their ghostly counterparts reconnect with them and show how they will die.
Where contemporary filmmakers tread today amidst dismembered body parts and buckets of corn syrup as blood, Nacho’s able to steer clear of that and spin a truly creepy visceral yarn. By the time the third act kicks in, the minimal special effects only add to the tale rather than distract.
This film is extremely eerie and atmospheric. The house itself becomes a living and breathing character throughout the film and provides one genuine scare after another. By the time the man-eating pigs waddle into the film, one should be frightened beyond belief. Unless of course the desensitization of the masses created by films like Hostel and Hannibal have completely ruined society. Ohhhh, how I long for the days of Tod Browning and James Whale, someone needs to clone them.
Taking a cue from masters like Welles and De Palma, Nacho stages a tracking shot where Karl Roden slips through the floor, Anastasia runs from the spot into another room then back again where the floor is completely sealed up. Deconstructing that scene, it’s one of the most impressive sequences of the film.
The Abandoned was selected as one of the fan favorites of After Dark’s Horrorfest this past November which has resulted in the re-release later this month. I highly recommend this film to be seen on the big screen. For more information about this film, click here and read my interview with Nacho Cerda.
Sleep tight and don’t let the carnivorous pigs bite.
– Jack Reher
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
