Thursday, February 16, 2023

The Abandoned (2006)


THE ABANDONED (2006)
By Ralph Santini - **½

In 2006 Spanish filmmaker Nacho Cerdá decided to make a film in Bulgaria within his production country in collaboration with both the United Kingdom and Bulgaria itself. The result was a horror film called “The Abandoned”. The film is about a woman called Marie (Anastasia Hille) who was born in Russia and adopted in the United States now visiting her initial native country and reclaim the rights to a house where her family lived 40 years ago after her birth. She eventually ends up in a remote Russian island where she eventually seems to see strange things in the house and eventually meets up with her estranged twin brother Nicolai (Karel Roden). Both Marie and Nicolai experience some sort of supernatural maze where Marie must battle evil spirits, including a creepy clone of herself that she can’t end up harming because the effect allows it to harm herself plus some more bizarre secrets that link to her horrendous past.

Despite some rather chilling moments that does it’s best for the film to be scary, I really don’t see how it can build all the tension within this film’s premise. I do, however, admire Nacho Cerda’s style of using the screen’s creepy moments in this film. I would like to mention how well the clones were made up, some clever performances from the cast especially Karel Roden who really does a good job as the disturbed Nicolai and Anastasia Hille is satisfying enough as the victim of her own past. Also, Xavi Gimenez’s cinematography is absolutely dark and brooding. Even the scenery in the woods do look appealing for horror fans. Overall, for a movie with a clever premise, it’s execution falls short with the very little tension in which I couldn’t feel that much. It’s too slim for my personal taste. But I think one can do a lot worse with other horror films of the mid-late 2000s.

 




 

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