The Abandoned (2006)

An adopted woman returns to her home country and the family home that she never knew and must face the mystery that lies there.

Director:

Nacho Cerdà

Writers:

Karim Hussain (screenplay), Nacho Cerdà (screenplay),

Stars:

Anastasia Hille, Karel Roden, Valentin Ganev

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview:
Anastasia Hille	...	Marie Jones
Karel Roden	...	Nicolai
Valentin Ganev	...	Andrei Misharin / Kolya Kaidavosky
Paraskeva Djukelova	...	Marie's Mother
Carlos Reig-Plaza	...	Anatoliy
Kalin Arsov	...	Bearded Russian Patriarch Man '1966'
Svetlana Smoleva	...	Bearded Patriarch's wife '1966'
Anna Panayotova	...	Bearded Patriarch's daughter '1966'
Jordanka Angelova	...	Blind Woman 'present day'
Valentin Goshev	...	Patriarch - present day
Jasmina Marinova	...	Patriarch's Wife
Monica Baunova	...	Emily
Marta Yaneva	...	Natalya

Storyline

In 1966, somewhere in Russia, a wounded woman drives a truck to an isolated farm with two babies. Forty years later, the film producer Marie Jones leaves her daughter in California and travels back to her home land in the wilderness of Russia. Marie is one of the children and had received a phone call from the notary public Andrei Misharin that had told her where the farm of her family is. Marie arrives in the abandoned house and meets the stranger Nicolai that tells her that he had also received a call from Misharin and he is her twin brother. Weird things happen in the house and Marie and Nicolai are haunted by eerie ghosts of themselves. Further, they find that they are trapped in the house and can not leave the place.

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Plot Keywords:

farm | ghost | russia | house | baby | 

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Taglines:

Death never runs out of time.

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence/gore, some disturbing images, nudity and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official soundtrack site

Country:

Spain UK Bulgaria

Language:

English Russian

Release Date:

23 February 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Los abandonados

Filming Locations:

Sofia, Bulgaria

Box Office

Budget:

€3,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$782,000 (USA) (23 February 2007)

Gross:

$1,255,524 (USA) (2 March 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Castelao Producciones, Filmax International, Filmstudio Bojana

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Writer Karim Hussain said that the film was inspired by obsessions with family and the double aspects of everybody's lives. Also, Hussain based his work on some experiences he lived at his father's farm as a child.

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Goofs

When Marie and Nicolai enter a room for discussion, she places a box in front of the door after closing it. After the discussion, Nicolai goes to the door and opens it, but the box is not there.

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Connections

Features Arachnid (2001)

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Soundtracks

"Russian Sunset"
Composed by David Kristian
Performed by David Kristian

User Reviews

Insanely scary and terrifically atmospheric chiller in Lucio Fulci mode

Spanish director Nacho Cerda's THE ABANDONED is like the beautiful, unholy marriage of Lucio Fulci (circa THE BEYOND) and Russian art-house master Andrei Tarkovsky -- if that sounds like some high-falutin' pretentious art/horror movie, think again: this film is so downright terrifying I spent half the movie with my hands over my eyes, and my brother confirmed it's one of the scariest flicks he's ever seen. Cerda conjures up a classic Haunted House from Hell (or in this case, the Russian countryside) scenario, and then wrings about as many shocks and spinetingling moments out of it as (in)humanly possible. Some amazing, ear-shredding sound design also adds to the scare factor. Mucho credit goes to main screenwriter Karim Hussain for creating a storyline that is at once enigmatic in an unfolding, puzzle-box kind of way and also emotionally resonant and intense. Again, if you long for the days of classic Fulci shockers with a strong dose of PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK/THE LAST WAVE dreamlike vibe thrown in -- check this one out. A winner all the way.