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Synopsis: Maria (Anastasia Hille) is an American film producer searching for her birth parents. A Russian notary informs her that she has inherited a house in the middle of a remote Russian forest. It is the house where she was born. Abandoned and uninhabited for 40 years, it stands in lifeless disrepair, but not all is dead. She meets a mysterious man claiming to be her twin brother Nicolai (Karel Roden), and together they find the household’s dangerous secrets to a past they don’t even remember. Both are forced to relive a series of horrifying events and shocking murders that occurred just after they were born, and in the place where they were supposed to die.

Mainstream audiences probably won’t care for this film. It has elements of David Lynch pounding out his worst nightmare. But as a horror thriller, I found many of its ideas and visuals intriguing and original, especially the isolated, deep forested hills of Russia, and the clammy atmosphere infuse dread and mystery. Compelling production design by Balter Gallart and the alluring cinematography by Xavi Gimenez constantly held my attention. Casting 40-ish lead actors also held my interest more than usual by bringing a knowing maturity that is constantly lacking in the glossed up, body-ripped, perfect make-up 20-somethings that are usually running around in skin tight clothing in this genre. And more than anything, I liked Maria’s plight.

Maria’s beginnings are introduced in 1966 when she is an infant and her wounded mother barely arrives at a neighbor’s with Maria and her twin. Maria struggles to discover her childhood home, but when she does, she finds it’s hard to leave. In fact, doppelgangers are introduced (a ghostly double of a living person, especially one that haunts its fleshly counterpart) and seem to represent Maria and Nicolai’s fate. This fate was supposed to have occurred almost 42 years prior – which is the backbone of this film. Maria begins to understand what can be her fate, but she busts her ass to escape, and it had me rooting for her.

Lead actress Anastasia Hille carries the film on her shoulders, and while she might not be the best looking woman with her long nose and thin blonde hair, her boldness, empathy, natural nuances and drive help to make Maria a believable, current day person. However, I should report that many reviewers out there don’t care for Hille’s often sour performance (she worked for me). The film is certainly Nacho Cerdà’s baby with his directing it and as a co-screenwriter. Care toward the vision of the film is very evident on screen; this is not a sloppily made horror film. Yet, I can’t admire all of its elements.

Some supernatural scenes make no sense, such as Nicolai falling through a hole in the house that then covers itself up, followed by Nicolai popping up again later seemingly unscathed (huh?). The house self-repairs itself and the siblings begin to witness their intended deaths from their raging father. But we haven’t a clue why the father was so murderous – not one iota. The narrative becomes muddy and less involving in the second act – filmmakers should know that this dilutes the scare factor. The third act tries to pull things together, and in some ways it does. It’s at this point one has to fully accept the supernatural stranglehold the property has on these two victims for things to make sense, which horror fans seem to accept. Less supernatural and more realistic storytelling could have given this film a better groove. But sometimes things get too realistic.

Because the film is associated with Lionsgate “After Dark Horrorfest” film line, evidently, it’s impossible to escape a grotesque scene. Had I a brain and knew this was coming, you wouldn’t be reading this review by myself, because I would not have requested this flick! That’s the cost of trying to see something with an open mind. Anyway, a flesh-eating, super violent scene is near the end. I will say there is a lead up to it, and it ties parts of the plot together (I can’t believe I’m giving this credit, but it is true).

The film takes itself very seriously, which is evident in the craftsmanship, but there is no levity or humor. The tone is always intense or mysterious. Lightness is no where to be found. Well, maybe once: when hell is about to break loose and the sweaty, dirty and wounded siblings have barricaded themselves in the kitchen, Nicolai turns and softly asks Maria if she’s ever been to Disneyland. It was a tender moment that gave the film and characters more living blood than gallons of the red karyo syrup (and Hille softens up and becomes less “sour”). The film cries for more of these moments, but alas…. I’m a sucker for road movies and for films that deal with siblings. So this scored points for me in the latter category, though it could have gone father.

Production designer, Balter Gallart, did a mightily impressive job with this film. The interior house looks grand and realistically fatigued, moldy, dirty and in shambles with the peeling paint and broken wood. However, one nit pick distracted me others might not care about. The interior walls and the floors of this old mansion on a hill appear perfectly level, which could sometimes remind someone that this otherwise compelling haunted house is on a studio set; floors and walls looked too evenly constructed. Since my little woodshop class in ninth grade, I seem to look for those things.

The Abandoned has some other illogical issues, even within the supernatural realm it has established, which had me rolling my eyes a few times. But for the most part I have to admit that I couldn’t get its ideas about fate, haunted property and generational curses out of my mind for the last few days. Especially fate and Maria’s plight. In many ways the film is more artistic and symbolic than it is a mainstream horror film. But all is certainly not pretty.

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The film’s theatrical aspect ratio 2.35:1 is presented in anamorphic video. The film print is very clean and colors are well saturated and tinted with that sickly, green-blue tone the film chooses. Xavi Gimenez’ cinematography is often stunning, so it’s a shame the video quality is inhibited by a softness. Edge halos are all over and become more obnoxious during exterior daylight scenes. Blacks are frequently pitch black deep, but the lowest levels display some black crush, in effect, muddying the bottom end of the chroma scale. Some of this may be a result of a stylistic choice given the slightly hot contrast ratio, though. With that, small object detail in the distance becomes somewhat above average when it could have been better. Finely grained textures, under good lighting, is quite clear and reveals the thin, blonde hair of lead actress Anastasia Hille as well as a mole over her lip. The film appears very fluid and competently crafted and the picture looks good overall. It just seems like it could have looked much crisper.

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

The disc includes a Dolby Digital 5.1 track. The audio sounds great here. A pleasing frequency range and stereo movements compliment the front action very well. Dialogue sounds very natural and clear. Surrounds are almost constantly used and certainly help to open up the atmosphere with a nice dynamic range. I thought I detected a few discrete movements between the surrounds, but it was hard to tell; surrounds are far more ambient than they are distinctive. The low frequency effects were mild and smooth, but rich, plumbing lows are not as exciting as they could be. The Moscow Symphony Orchestra compliments the film wonderfully and the integration of its music, which harmonizes very well with the effects and dialogue. Discerning the orchestra’s singular instrumentation can sometimes be hard to distinguish (it sounds recorded at a distance). But it was done well without being overbearing; it certainly elevated the film.

Another audio option is English 2.0 surround is included, and there are English closed captions, English subtitles and Spanish subtitles.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

The Making of The Abandoned (5:50) is the main featurette. Not much is here. A few interviews with the two principles and the director is shown. Half of the featurette is clips from the film. There are some behind the scenes footage. The film has so many ideas about fate and family, a rich palette to talk about, so it’s disappointing that the filmmaker doesn’t devote more time to his intentions.

The only other supplement are wild horror trailers including The Gravedancers, Dark Ride, Unrest, Reincarnation, The Hamiltons, Penny Dreadful and Wicked Little Things.

The 98-minute film is organized into twenty-one chapters.

Exclusive DVD-ROM Features: What happens when you pop the disc into your PC?

There are no DVD-ROM features on this DVD.