Scan and Pan
Monday, February 26, 2007
Los Abandonados (The Abandoned)
Marie is a Russian-born American film producer who returns to the motherland to seek out her past, knowing only that something happened to her birth parents before she was adopted by an American family. An attorney contacts her with information about her family and their remote farmhouse, compelling her to visit it. After she meets her long lost brother Nicolai, the puzzles of their past begin to be unlocked in the house.
A good horror film doesn't require a large cast, a big budget, or fancy visual effects. Noted director of short films Nacho Cerdá makes his successful feature film debut by employing a small cast, a small budget, and a genuinely creepy atmosphere to slowly build the chills to a crescendo by the end. Cerdá and his co-writers, Karim Hussain (Ascension) and Richard Stanley (Hardware, The Island of Dr. Moreau), create believable characters and a compelling puzzle for them to solve, with an emotionally satisfying epilogue that ties the film's themes together.
Cinematographer Xavi Giménez (Darkness, The Machinist) uses bright light with the highlights burned out in the early part of the film, but once the action shifts to the house, it invokes a mood where you don't want to see what's lurking in the shadows but yet your eyes are forced to look in precisely those places. Filmed in Bulgaria, the sets by production designer Balter Gallart (Rottweiler) make the house a vividly realized character in its own right. Alfons Conde (La Hora fría) conjures up a score to complement the general mood of the film.
The cast is limited in number but not in quality. Anastasia Hille as Marie and Karel Roden as Nicolai both deliver restrained performances that help to sell the audience on the reality of what they're experiencing. Valentin Ganev is effective as the attorney, while Paraskeva Djukelova is good in limited screen time as Marie and Nicolai's mother.
The Abandoned is a creative effort that horror fans should find rewarding. Nacho Cerdá is a filmmaker worth keeping your eye on in the future. Recommended.
This Spanish production (filmed in English) is quite an effective piece of horror.
Marie is a Russian-born American film producer who returns to the motherland to seek out her past, knowing only that something happened to her birth parents before she was adopted by an American family. An attorney contacts her with information about her family and their remote farmhouse, compelling her to visit it. After she meets her long lost brother Nicolai, the puzzles of their past begin to be unlocked in the house.
A good horror film doesn't require a large cast, a big budget, or fancy visual effects. Noted director of short films Nacho Cerdá makes his successful feature film debut by employing a small cast, a small budget, and a genuinely creepy atmosphere to slowly build the chills to a crescendo by the end. Cerdá and his co-writers, Karim Hussain (Ascension) and Richard Stanley (Hardware, The Island of Dr. Moreau), create believable characters and a compelling puzzle for them to solve, with an emotionally satisfying epilogue that ties the film's themes together.
Cinematographer Xavi Giménez (Darkness, The Machinist) uses bright light with the highlights burned out in the early part of the film, but once the action shifts to the house, it invokes a mood where you don't want to see what's lurking in the shadows but yet your eyes are forced to look in precisely those places. Filmed in Bulgaria, the sets by production designer Balter Gallart (Rottweiler) make the house a vividly realized character in its own right. Alfons Conde (La Hora fría) conjures up a score to complement the general mood of the film.
The cast is limited in number but not in quality. Anastasia Hille as Marie and Karel Roden as Nicolai both deliver restrained performances that help to sell the audience on the reality of what they're experiencing. Valentin Ganev is effective as the attorney, while Paraskeva Djukelova is good in limited screen time as Marie and Nicolai's mother.
The Abandoned is a creative effort that horror fans should find rewarding. Nacho Cerdá is a filmmaker worth keeping your eye on in the future. Recommended.
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