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The Abandoned
Spain / UK / Bulgaria 2006
produced by Julio Fernández, Alexander Metodiev, Carlos Fernández (executive) for Castelao Producciones, Future Films, Radiovision
directed by Nacho Cerdá
starring Anastasia Hille, Karel Roden, Valentin Ganev, Paraskeva Djukelova, Carlos Reig-Plaza, Kalin Arsov, Svetlana Smoleva, Anna Panayotova, Jordanka Angelova, Valentin Goshev, Jasmina Marinova, Monica Baunova, Marta Yaneva
written by Karim Hussain, Nacho Cerdá, Richard Stanley, music by Alfons Conde, David Kristian, special makeup effects by Creature Effects
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Marie (Anastasia Hille) has always felt uprooted. As a kid back in
Russia her parents (Valentin Ganev, Paraskeva Djukelova) have died under
myserious circumstances and even their identities are shrouded in mystery,
and she was taken to the West at a very young age, and somewhere along the
way she has lost her cultural identity. Then, out of the blue she receives
a letter from a Russian attorney telling her about her having inherited
her natural parents' farm - and she's just too curious to not check it
out. It turns out to be the only house on an island with only one bridge
to and from it that's periodically flooded, and not having been inhabited
in 40 years, the farm's in a sorry state. That said, Marie stumbles into a
big surprise there, Nicolai (Karel Roden), the twin brother she has never
known she has, who has also summoned to the farm by the attorney. The two
of them decide to investigate the farmhouse and thus their past together -
to discover the past has never left the farmhouse, meaning their parents'
ghosts haunt the place to this very day, doomed to replay their last hours
on earth each night - these last hours including dad murdering mom and
then trying to kill the kids as well. Thing is, Marie and Nicolai have
seemingly been summoned to the farmhouse to finally become part of that
past, meaning since dad hasn't succeeded to kill them the first time
around, he wants another try ... The Abandoned sure is
directed with much verve, a careful balance of tension on one hand and
jump scares on the other, and an overall predilection for the macabre - in
other words, this movie knows where to hit to make it hurt. And a very
solid cast only helps in that of course, as do fittingly moody locations.
But the really fascinating aspect of The Abandoned is its script
that unspools a labyrinthine mystery that lets the audience (just like its
protagonists) into the full backstory only by the by, adding to the
nerve-wrecking nature of the film, making this one very worthwhile horror
experience.
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review © by Mike Haberfelner
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Robots and rats,
demons and potholes, cuddly toys and shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill Your Bones to is all of that.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to -
a collection of short stories and mini-plays ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle,
all thought up by the twisted mind of screenwriter and film reviewer Michael Haberfelner.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to
the new anthology by Michael Haberfelner
Out now from Amazon!!! |
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