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Cast: Stephanie Pitts, Nik Holmes, Jonathan "Legacy" Perez, John Thomassen, Nancy Sayegh, Julie Kendall, Harry C. Marsh, Jr., Wil Jackson, and introducing Saphie Gonzalez
A category three hurricane is headed straight to Miami. Five friends decide to have a hurricane party to weather the storm. They close the doors and the hurricane shutters and are locked inside for the night. After a while, they grow weary of playing drinking games. That's when they decide to recreate a spiritual healing that they saw a gypsy perform some weeks before. But something happens during the healing. As the electricity starts failing due to the storm, strange things start happening. But is it the storm causing those noises or something else? As time passes, they start dying -- one by one. Could one of them be doing this or is there something else inside the house with them? Trapped inside the house until the storm passes, will any of them make it through the night?
What better time for a party than during a hurricane. That's what five friends decide to do in Miami as they wait the storm out in a home with hurricane shutters and all. Manny, Kevin, Laura, Gina and Charlie are all friends but each has their own faults and problems and several have a few secrets as well but when the lights begin to go out that will be the least of their problems.
To talk too much about the characters or the story here would only ruin the film for those that are interested in seeing it so I think what is written above is enough to know before seeing the film. "The Awakened" is a supernatural horror film directed by Douglas Villalba and Lou Simon and done on next to no budget. The film takes place in one location, the home the five friends are holding up in till the storm passes but it adds to the over-all atmosphere creepiness of the story. There are no fancy special effects here, the budget didn't allow for that, but there are several reasons why the film turned out so good. For starters the writing story-wise and character wise. It's an interesting story filled with characters you feel for right away in one way or another. There's a few laughs here and there to lighten the mood and there's plenty of good drama as well between the characters plus these people are by no means one dimensional which is important here because how you feel about them early on is very important when the bad stuff begins to happen later. Secondly, and a very good reason the film succeeds is that it manages to create frightening moments without the need for cheap gimmicks of jump scares.
"The Awakened" is a good example of how a very effective horror film can be done on a very small budget when you have all the right talent who believe in the project. This is a solid supernatural horror flick with genuine scares and a very cool ending. I want to thank Director, Lou Simon for sending me a copy of her film to look at and do a review for. To be honest I didn't know what to expect from the film early on but as it moved along I began to realize that this was a little gem that more people need to know about and see. If you're a fan of horror I highly recommend checking this one out when you get the chance. You can follow the film's progress and find out when and where you might be able to see it by visiting it's official web site HERE and the film's Facebook page HERE.
What more can I say about the film, it has a clever story with some good scares that will send chills up and down your spine, it also has a tremendous cast and strong direction making it a must-see film.
Released by Blue Nile Pictures
**** Out Of *****