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:

40 years to learn the truth. 24 hours to survive it.

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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

The basic crux of the movie was based on an original script that Karim Hussain wrote in 1999, titled "The Bleeding Compass".

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Goofs

After Marie rows across the river and starts walking, the boat started to float away. The first shot shows the front of the boat (pointed end) toward Marie, moving backward. The second shot shows the boat moving forward with the rear facing Marie. Then the last shot of the boat shows the front pointing toward Marie again moving backward.

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Connections

Features Faust (2000)

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Soundtracks

"Red Kitchen"
Composed by David Kristian
Performed by David Kristian

User Reviews

Beautiful, complete and utter brilliance

This movie instantly rose to the very top of my scary movie list. I have always been a fan of scary movies, however the misuse of suspense and gore has always bothered me. So many movies these days will rush a scene or a plot string by killing people off, breaking the suspense too soon, or simply by cutting away to somewhere else. This movie was a huge exception to the norm, the writers pinned down their monsters, their characters, and their plot to a T. The suspense was executed with such finesse, such perfection, that I left the movie both shaken and amazed. The filming style, using strong angles without overusing zoom and focus, instead focused on the whole composition of a shot. Even the first person scenes, where the camera is moving violently in all directions were controlled and limited. As far as the plot goes, the writers clearly weren't aiming for the meaty plot of any contemporary American horror film, they reached for the brutish nature of suspense, and it left the viewers helpless to any and every twist the writers could muster. This movie is utter brilliance.