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Cast: Louisa Krause, Jason Patric
Director: Eytan Rockaway
Take a terrifying plunge into the warped mind of a disturbed young woman. Desperate to get her life back on track, the unstable Streak (Martha Marcy May Marlene's Louisa Krause) takes a job as a security guard, working the graveyard shift at a once upscale, now abandoned apartment complex. But on her first night on duty, she discovers a horrifying presence lurking deep within the bowels of the decaying building. With her nerves already on edge, Streak must confront demons both real and imagined as she struggles to keep a grip on her sanity.
"The Abandoned" tells the story of Streak, a young lady who is trying to get her life back together in order to keep custody of her daughter. Streak has some mental issues and takes medication to help. She takes a job away from home at an abandoned apartment building that was built during the boom when things were good but when the economy went bad the building was shut down. She will be working with a man by the name of Cooper who seems very bitter, and you can tell right from the start that life hasn't treated him very well. During her shift Streak notices on the blue prints of the building that there is an area called 441 deep in the bowels of the building. Cooper tells her the area was never finished so technically it doesn't exist and no one is allowed down there but Streak insists on going down and checking it out. She finds an old steel door which is locked but she thinks she hears something on the other side so she decides to go in and investigate. What she will finds is a secret long buried.
For starters let me say that Louisa Krause and Jason Patric both give outstanding performances as Streak and Cooper. They give very believable performances and show great chemistry together.
The story is full of suspense and mystery, it reveals it's secret slowly and the more we get to know the more frightful the story becomes. The film builds and builds on it's mystery and suspense until the very end when it hits you with a major twist that changes everything. I have read a few other reviews that did not seem to like the ending all that much but I really enjoyed it because looking back afterwards I realized there were several clues in plain sight that offered hints to the film's big surprise.
And then there's the location which is perfect and it creates tons of atmosphere, combine that with a few jump scares and sound effects and you have an edge of your seat thriller that will have you creeped out long after the film is over. I purposely avoided giving away the film's secrets and it's ending here and I recommend not reading any reviews that might spoil the film for you. "The Abandoned" is a well-written horror/thriller that will get in your head and under your skin, top that off with fantastic performances and you have a horror film worth seeing. The film will be in Theaters and on VOD January 8, 2016 so be sure to check it out. Seeing it on the big screen would be ideal for full affect.
Released by IFC Films
**** Out Of *****