Abandoned Dead

Directed by Mark Curran, Abandoned Dead is a pretty great suspense thriller. When first watched as a horror film, I would have rated this lower, but despite the name and couple of goryish scenes, it's more of an introspective look into the life of a security guard who is working an extra shift, and has to deal with some psychological mystery surrounding the place she is guarding.

There is some nice camera-work and lighting, some good acting, and everyone involved did a great job from cast to crew. Sarah Nicklin does a great job as the main character Rachel, who plays the security guard the movie focuses on. The atmosphere was great for what they were trying to accomplish with this film. I would definitely give this a watch if you are into suspenseful thrillers, and keep an eye out for more films from Mark Curran and team.

I rather enjoyed this independent film concerning an over-worked Security Guard's night spent in an inner-city medical clinic. Rachel, very well played by Sarah Nicklin, has an aversion to darkness (and therefore the night), so her enforced nightshift already sets her nerves on edge.

Director and writer Robert Adams, ubiquitous behind the scenes, supplies a very effective, minimalist electronic music score which adds greatly to the low-key atmosphere of murky horror.

I like this because it attempts something a little different and for the most part succeeds. While the idea of a young woman spending the night in a creepy building (seemingly) alone isn't exactly new, this is a story atmospherically told, and not one that relies on 'jump scares', which has become a rather monotonous staple of many modern films. My score is 7 out of 10.

I can't say I hated this movie but I can't say I loved it either. It wasn't bad, it wasn't good, it was just, there. The music was okay but i found the photography kind of flat. The acting was okay, all the cast did their thing, but there was nothing that stood out to me. The movie should have been creepier and the atmosphere should have held more dread but it didn't and that is a shame because the plot was good, it just didn't hold my interest. I do not hold the belief that a horror movie should be filled with buckets of gore, but it should grab your attention and hold it and this one just does not. It's not a bad movie, just a rather bland one.

Dear horror film makers.

Even a permanent spooky atmosphere, the heaviest jump scares and the best masks and effects are senseless when the plot is so uninspired and boring. Then the movie simply is not scary at all. And the reason why good horror films are so rare.

Just have a look at some horror shorts on YouTube from young and ambitious film makers. They show you so-called professionals what really is good and scary.

I was initially lured in by this movie's cover and the fact that it is a horror movie. And also the fact that I hadn't already seen the movie helped to win me over. So I ended up sitting down to watch the 2015 horror movie "Abandoned Dead" from writer and director Mark W. Curran.

Well, if you are unfamiliar with the horror genre and this is your introduction movie to horror movies, then I suppose you are off to a good enough start. But for a horror veteran such as myself, then "Abandoned Dead" was a swing and a miss.

For me, the plot and script was boring and uneventful. Nothing of any interest happened throughout the course of the entire movie. And while I managed to sit through the entire movie, then I can't claim to be entertained in any real way. And for a horror movie, then "Abandoned Dead" was just way too tame and uneventful.

The acting in the movie was adequate, taking into consideration the severe limitations of the script and storyline. But keep in mind that you are not in for any Shakespearian experience when you sit down to watch "Abandoned Dead".

This was, for me, a boring movie. And I cannot recommend that you waste your time, money or effort on it. Some of us did, so you don't have to.

My rating of "Abandoned Dead" is a mere two out of ten stars. While I did manage to endure the entire movie, this is by no means a movie that I will be returning to watch a second time.