The Atticus Institute (2015)

Much of this documentary-style horror is filmed in flashback. The recreation of the world in 1976 is supremely handled, from the grainy filmic imagery to the fashions of the day to the laboratory equipment being used.This is as near as what would actually happen should someone be tested for some kind of demonic possession. When someone becomes too uncontrollable and is seen to exhibit such power, governments would have to gain authority over events. And with human beings what they are, corruption is never far away.Attempting to harness her power for political gain, Judith is told to reveal secrets held by rival governments, especially the Russians, who had previously exploited a telekinetic sensitive of their own.Beneath all the testing, the electro-convulsive therapy, the bullying, the attempts at control, is the possessed person. Judith was of no concern to her 'captors', and for that, the demon inside her gains a kind of empathy with the audience. You want it to emerge and punish the narrow-minded officials. Only a handful of the original scientists (mainly head man Henry West played by William Mapother) exhibit any kind of sympathy, understanding – even acknowledgement – of the punishment being meted out. And yet as the story reveals, the creature is in control the whole time, influencing what her captors say and do.The acting throughout is excellent. Although 'The Atticus Institute is as convincing a depiction of supernatural events in the hands of officials as I've ever seen, this results in a lack of pace and spectacle – but that's fine when the results are this good. The ending is low-key, the subtle, enigmatic nature of events in-keeping with the rest of the film. I found this thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish, although the excellent Rya Kihlstedt (as Judith) was reduced to convulsing and shrieking throughout the dramatic middle portions of the story, which robbed us of her meticulous attention to shuddering and twitching detail which made the earlier elements of her possession so effective.

Before anything else, I would like to say for the record, that 'The Atticus Institute' is an entertaining movie, and for what it's worth, I at no point felt tempted to turn it off, like I do with so many of these types of films. Like Lake Mungo, The Atticus Institute is a faux-documentary including 'found-footage' from a supposed government cover-up over the investigation into military attempts at harnessing paranormal abilities found in a middle age woman who, as it turns out, is probably possessed by some type of malevolent spiritual entity. Asides from the similar film, 'The Quiet Ones', the premise is rather unique, and the documentary interviews are very well acted. Unfortunately, it's the 'found-footage' segments that start to fall flat over the course of the movie, bringing my rating down by a few points.For the most part 'The Atticus Institute' is convincing in it's attempt at the mockumentary angle. Like I said earlier, the acting during the interviewed sessions is rather good. I also liked the use of still pictures, and some of the earlier found-footage is rather captivating. Unlike most movies of this ilk, 'The Atticus Institute' is rather pleasing to the eye, another quality it shares with it's superior counterpart, 'Lake Mungo'.The real problem with the film in it's final 30 minutes or so is that it diverges from it's rather interesting and captivating story and takes a turn towards the cliché. If you've seen The Exorcist, and the millions of rip-offs that came afterwards (The Devil Inside, The Rite, The Taking of Deborah Logan etc..), you'll know what I mean. It's really quite a shame because it started off so interesting and then became completely predictable.Anyway, I don't want to sound too harsh. If I hadn't enjoyed the movie I wouldn't have given it a five start (out of ten) rating. The Atticus Institute is entertaining, and the first half of the film is really quite good. I would overall recommend it as a fun watch, but if you're looking to get your mind blown, look elsewhere or watch Lake Mungo

Greetings from Lithuania."The Atticus Institute" (2015) is a very bad movie. It's not a horror (there isn't a single scare scene), it some kind of thriller told in mostly in old footage and pictures. Nothing works here to create some interesting story or mood. Acting is bad, especially by lead actress. It's surprising that this picture was created by Chris Sparling, who once wrote a near masterpiece "Buried".Overall, "The Atticus Institute" is so bad it's not even funny. Although there is one hilarious scene with priest in gas mask - truly funny moment. It's not scary, not interesting, and at running time 1 h 19 min this movie drags beyond believe. Skip this stuff, it's not worth of your time.

The subject matter is interesting. The movie is very well paced. This (the pacing) is the absolute best thing about this movie. Since it is about research on telekinesis and stuff, it is very smart to pace it slow, so that the viewer gets time to adapt. We don't want to be thrown straight into a fantastical universe, at least not if it is to be realistic. So for that I applaud this movie. The acting is pretty decent for the most part, too. And it being found footage, isn't such a drag as it could have been. It's rather realistically made, some of the time. But then it just never gets really cool. It is a little boring at times, and there is this one CG-blood scene in there that is just horrible. And it is such a short scene, why could they not make sure it looked better!? I will never understand stuff like that.So to sum up, the pacing is good at first, then it gets a little boring, and then it goes down hill. At the end I was kind of happy it was over. Even though it was the opening movie on Frightfest 2015. Bummer.