The final film in the Horrorfest after Dark was given a full solo release and therefore appeared in theaters a little while after its brethren.
What the back of the box says:
Filmmaker Marie Jones (Anastasia Hille) is trying to find out something about her past. She was an orphan but was adopted by an American family and now she has finally traced her origins back to the country of her birth – Russia. She’s gone back to the old country to find out more about her past and contacts a lawyer who tells her that she’s inherited an old house – an extremely creepy old house we’ll soon find out.
The house is isolated on an island and when she arrives she finds that it hasn’t been touched since the night that devilish events made her into an orphan. She’s shocked to find that she’s not alone on the island when her twin brother Nicolai (Karel Roden) show up also eager to find out his past.
They’re even further shocked when they meet the other inhabitants of the old house – themselves. They begin to see extremely creepy, cadaverous doppelgangers of themselves who are seemingly predicting how they’re going to die.
The Abandoned has something in spades and that’s the creep factor. There are many scenes in the old abandoned house that will truly give you the chills. However, where the film falters is in the story department.
I’m still not too sure as to what was going on and there are some points that I’m still confused on. The twists and turns of the plot basically tend to confuse rather than enlighten and some of it leaves you scratching your head when the show is over. I thought the leads, Hille and Roden, did well with the material but I think that it was a bit too complicated for it’s own good.
The Abandoned is presented in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. The only special feature is a making of featurette. It seems rather sparse when comparing them to the other releases in the Horrorfest line.
As far as the Horrorfest goes, I found Reincarnation the best of the lot. The Abandoned probably comes in fourth or fifth in my listing (Reincarnation, Unrest, Gravedancers, Wicked Little Things and Abandoned vying for fourth perhaps) and I thought all of them had some fault to them but others were better.
The Abandoned is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for this version of the DVD in the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
Your Talkback on this Story