X
- 2016
- Not Rated
- IFC Films
- 1 h 26 m
- 2016
- Not Rated
- IFC Films
- 1 h 26 m
Summary Desperate to get her life back on track, the unstable Streak (Louisa Krause) takes a job as a security guard, working the graveyard shift at a once upscale, now abandoned apartment complex. But on her first night on duty, she discovers a horrifying presence lurking deep within the bowels of the decaying building. With her nerves already ...
Written By: Ido Fluk
- 2016
- Not Rated
- IFC Films
- 1 h 26 m
- 2016
- Not Rated
- IFC Films
- 1 h 26 m
The Abandoned
38
7.3
Where to Watch
Summary Desperate to get her life back on track, the unstable Streak (Louisa Krause) takes a job as a security guard, working the graveyard shift at a once upscale, now abandoned apartment complex. But on her first night on duty, she discovers a horrifying presence lurking deep within the bowels of the decaying building. With her nerves already ...
Written By: Ido Fluk
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 10 Critic Reviews
38
30% Positive
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
20% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
50% Negative
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 10 Critic Reviews
38
30% Positive
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
20% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
50% Negative
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
It is an anxiety-inducing production that is bolstered by the astounding performances of Patric and Krause. While the ending is weak, two-thirds of the film works so wonderfully it is still worth watching.
Despite its formulaic structure, The Abandoned has a lot going for it. It eschews cheap scares, bloodletting, and gore. Instead, it works the audience with good, old-fashioned suspense. And it has heart.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 26 User Ratings
7.3
69% Positive
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
15% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
15% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 26 User Ratings
7.3
69% Positive
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
15% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
15% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
amazing ..............................................................................................................................................
Report
The Abandoned is a steadfast and creepy haunted flick, until the final five minutes sink the entire production. It'll work for some, but sadly not for most.
The Abandoned leaves us in the lurch, wondering at the nonsensical ending exactly what we wondered at the beginning. Jason Patric — Jason PATRIC? Man, what happened?
Streak and Cooper are meagerly drawn characters, first-draft dialogue abounds, and the story proves more tedious and head-scratching as it goes.
Two second-act revelations alter its tired dynamic for the better, but those changes are undone by cheap scares and a climactic revelation that's more ho-hum than horrifying.
All goodwill from that first hour is dead and buried by the last scene, abandoned by a screenwriter and director who had no idea where to take this story.
Abandon hope for originality, all ye who enter.
There's no delicate way to say this, Abandoned is a husk made by imitating other horror movies, especially those with isolation theme, even down to the almost exact screenplay. Scene by scene comparison could be made to Keifer Sutherland's Mirrors to the most recent Last Shift. It matters not the level of sophistication replicated, it eventually comes down to silly characters running through plainly made corridors.
A troubled young girl has taken a job on secluded building as security. Right from the bat it follows so many conventional examples without adding anything. It uses backdrop of a psychological disease, the call from parent, the banter with rude co-worker. It creates a question of why such large building has only two people as security and these are not the most capable ones either, although this is an uninspiring effect of the dubious story, not intentionally done to set up mystery.
It doesn't create any engaging atmosphere as the few on-screen characters are highly unlikable despite the potential of the cryptic setting. They banter with mundane dialogues, almost equivalent to internet squabble. Their disabilities are merely there to enact stupid stereotypical jump scare moments. There's not much logic or structure to be had here, and it's even worse later on when the movie takes a dive with scrambled plot.
It also fails on producing any sense of dread. The beautiful setting promises a good clear environment for terror, yet it repeatedly shows only barren hallways. It's no understatement that it's one hour worth of plain tour of corridors with some possible haunted rooms in between. The progression is far too predictable, introducing vague entity as the characters are lost or confused if it's their minds playing trick at them.
The Abandoned is sloppy attempt at recreating horror from isolation premise, it starts poorly and ends with an implosion on itself as though the production value just abandoned any sense of coherency then pasted scenes from other movies.
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The horror genre relies on characters with everything to lose making stupid choices. A locked door with instructions not to enter can only be an invitation to go straight down to that dark basement (alone) to take a look-see. But this one is absolutely stuffed full of genre cliches, camera angles, lighting, one note characters and a twist that managed to be somewhat predictable yet also totally ridiculous at the same time. Clearly the writer just gave up on plot. Bottom line, there's only so much wandering around in the dark looking scared and whispering "who's there" I can take, before I begin to fast forward. But to end on a positive note... an extremely short running time. Especially if you fast forward.
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Production Company
C Plus Pictures,
Above the Clouds
Release Date Jan 8, 2016
Duration 1 h 26 m
Rating Not Rated
Tagline Where hope goes to die.
Awards
Chicago International Film Festival
• 2 Nominations
Los Angeles Film Festival
• 1 Nomination