The Abandoned (2015)

Storyline a bit predictable but well executed. Acting is first rate and doesn't rely on jump scares.

Some people can't be trusted to carry out the simplest of tasks. Julia is a single mother who has obviously had a troubled life, possibly due to substance abuse. Her mother is threatening to apply for full custody of her daughter, so this is the last chance saloon. She gets a well-paid job on the graveyard shift guarding a massive deserted palatial complex that has never been occupied owing to the slump. There is only her and the time-serving Cooper, who is confined to a wheelchair. All she has to do is watch screens all night, walk about every two hours, and don't let anybody in. What could be simpler? And of course, on her very first night she breaks every rule in the book, but if she didn't there would be no film, would there? Cooper is of the opinion she will last a week at most, par for the course due to a combination of the boredom and his sparkling wit. As it turns out, girlie guard does have a pill problem, but not the recreational kind; she "sees things" others can't see, and the good doktor has prescribed these to ensure she doesn't continue to see them. Cooper is not impressed with her explanation that the things she sees are indeed real, especially in this vast empty building in spite of its past; apparently part of it has not always been unoccupied. There is a massive twist in the end which is open to interpretation or misinterpretation, but this isn't a bad effort considering most of the film consists of people walking around in the dark.

Normally I'm extremely skeptical on horror movies. Most of the time I'm skeptical when it comes to "Will this scare me?" or "Will this put me on edge and accomplish what horror movies are meant to?"After finishing watching the Abandoned, I can say it managed to accomplish both of those two things for about 95% of the movie.The film had some obvious cues as to what was going to happen. Most horrors seem to hold basics of when a happens b is to follow followed by c. Even with the predictable moments, it still was able to keep my attention.I was gripped onto the story of the film up until the very end. The ending of this film threw off the entire film for me. Perhaps there is a reason as to why it was written and produced as it was, but for me, it felt like it had gone a little too far in attempts to twist things up. If the directors and/or writers chose to go down a different path, I might have been left liking this film immensely more instead of instantly hating the ending to feeling as if it has effected the entire film.

Dear Eytan Rockaway, your first full length feature film was a good effort. For the first one hour at least. The location (an old building with many claustrophobic corridors and impenetrable rooms) and the atmosphere were perfect for a horror film. A melancholic young woman (Louisa Krause) takes a job as a security guard at an empty old building with some spectacular architecture. Her interactions with her paraplegic and cynical colleague (a great Jason Patric) are the best parts of the film. The film is a great study of how the relationship between two people confined in a abandoned building engaged in stressful jobs develops over time. Some of Patric's dialogues and the way he delivered them were hilarious. The character reminded me of Jim Broadbent's in Art School Confidential. But the rather strange twist and some of the scares ruined the film towards the end. It was a shame because the first one hour was quite entertaining. But I would definitely watch more of your films. Best Regards, Pimpin. (6/10)