An American film producer named Marie returns to her homeland, Russia, where her mother’s dead body has been found under bizarre circumstances. She never knew her, having been adopted and brought to America as a baby. The only clue to what might have happened is an isolated, abandoned farm in the mountains that supposedly belonged to her natural parents.
Nacho Cerdà's The Abandoned dives into spooky waters right at frame one, splashes it on its viewers and eventually pretty much drowns them in spookiness. This is a flick that starts out being eerie and stays eerie all the way through the course of the film, and every now and then it shifts to another gear where full-on horror completely takes over. In other words, The Abandoned is never ever boring and is truly being a horror film that really sticks to the concept of horror from start to finish. But it's also a tad bit confusing, it messes with the viewer and in the end you're most likely to question the plot and if you really understood ALL that was going on and the very outcome itself. Still though, it's a pretty sweet film and at least it let's you exercise your brain.
Except for the horrific content it has to it, the film is also visually stunning in the true meaning of the word. The scenery is fantastic and the visuals are gloomy as hell, yet full of life (and death). What makes it even more horrific is that it takes place in cold raw-looking Russia in what happens to be a very spooky rundown old house surrounded by a dark forest, and close by is a lake that has dread hanging over it. Accompanied by awesome cinematography, The Abandoned is truly a feast for the eyes and it's seldom that horror looks this good.
 
The character development in the film is very good and little by little do we get to know the lead, Marie, and by getting to know her as well as we do, we're easily affected by the very scares that hit every once in a while. Taking place in a haunted house, it's far from as stupid or cliché as it may sound since the scares are never really that predictable and for most of the time comes out of the blue when you least except them to. But the hard-hitting scares are not what puts this movie on a pedestal, it's the very atmosphere it carries which is simply amazing. Right from the start it grabs hold of you and leaves you stuck in that position until the credits roll.
Best thing though gotta be that The Abandoned is a very serious horror film for adults only and does not mess around with poor dialogue, fillers or clueless teenagers that are in need of a good ass whopping. No, there are just a few character involved in the whole film and they're all over 40 years old, something that gives it a more serious tone right from the start which I felt was a well-deserved break from all the teen-packed shit-flicks that are flooding the market.
The atmosphere Cerdá creates is unsettling too say the least and he relies heavily on telling a good story, shown with beautiful yet haunting imagery instead relying on gore and cheap scares. It may leave gorehounds disappointed but other than that there are only things to look forward to since this movie pretty much has it all when it comes to horror while staying more intelligent than most flicks out there. On the other hand, you will definitely see some blood flowing even though that's not the focus of the film. Last but not least, the special effects are extremely well-done and melts into the whole look of the film and never feels out of place.
While Hollywood keep spitting out one shitty remake after another, it's guys like Cerdà that makes one still have faith in the genre. Excellent horror, `nuff said.
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ALTERNATIVE TITLE: Los Abandonados, Bloodline
MOVIE YEAR: 2006
DIRECTOR: Nacho Cerdà
WRITING CREDITS: Nacho Cerdà, Karim Hussain
GENRE: Horror
CAST: Anastasia Hille, Karel Roden, Valentin Ganev
COUNTRY: Spain
RUNTIME: 94 min
RATING: 9/10
Abandoned, The Website/IMDB Click here
Abandoned, The Trailer Click here
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