Atrocious Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: Siblings, on vacation with their family, investigate a local urban legend only to discover more than they anticipated.

Review: I think this may be the first Spanish horror film I've reviewed...so, welcome to the party, Spain. For some reason this has been marketed as a "Paranormal Activity" clone, but, other than the found-footage style, they don't have a lot in common. I'd say it was closer to Blair Bitch if you feel compelled to make a comparison, but I think it can stand alone on its own merit. Anyway, this is another mixed bag for me. Unlike the numerous other films I've covered that wasted their potential, "Atrocious" had all the cards in place to make this an unforgettable experience and then completely blew it with an ending so unbelievably stupid and out of left field that I was genuinely infuriated. Even though the movie is fairly short, the buildup is calculatingly slow complemented by excellent atmosphere that immerses you in the story unfolding. Unfortunately, you are brought to the edge of your seat, expecting to be thrown off a cliff by all the tension, only to find yourself saying, "What?!" and "That makes no sense!." I suppose they were going for an unexpected twist, but, had they gone with a straightforward ending, it would have turned out more favorable; at the same time, the ending is not original, so what was the point?!

I want to go over the urban legend established in the story separately so you can understand the cool setup they had. Supposedly some girl (we can assume she's young), named Melinda, got lost in the woods or fell into a well (or both) and her body was never found. When people go into these woods, and become lost themselves, they may see or hear the girl. If you hear her in the distance, she is actually behind you. The stories are ambiguous as to her motives, with some saying she helps you find your way, while others make her appear more malevolent or even the devil in the form of a girl. To add to the intrigue, the main characters are staying at a home that has a hedge-maze attached to these woods. I think this material speaks for itself with endless possibilities, but most, if not all, turns out to be a red herring.

Okay, so the main story involves brother and sister combo, Christian and July, who have their own videos investigating urban legends and such, when they go on a vacation at a family mansion or something; along with them is their younger brother, mom, dad, and doggy. Christian and July are obviously interested in filming and understanding more about the story of Melinda so that's why the whole film ends up as found-footage; eh, it's not the most original motivation, but it works nonetheless. A friend of the family is the one that tells them about the urban legend, but the mom and dad are extra shady, telling no one to go into the hedge-maze and the gate leading into it is locked. Of course the two siblings don't listen and they come across various landmarks in the hedge-maze to help guide your way: benches, a gazebo of sorts, and, interestingly enough, a well that's off the beaten path. At one point they also think they see someone crouching in the maze, but, for some reason, don't bother to investigate further. If things weren't creepy enough, the siblings go into a locked basement at the house that has all manner of suspicious items that you know will have relevance by the end.

Later, the dog goes missing and the siblings try to find out what happened to him. The last we saw of him he was barking at something before July had cut out the camera feed for some unknown reason. While wandering around the maze, the two stumble upon a trail of blood that leads directly into the well--almost as if someone, or something, dragged the dog back into the well with them! The dog is, of course, dead and at the bottom of the well. I felt the siblings should have been a bit more unnerved considering the story about Melinda and that their dog appears to have been dragged into the well right after taunting Melinda's alleged ghost...but maybe that's just me. The two decide not to tell the youngest brother about the dog's death and plan to retrieve his body out of the well the next day. Oh, I should mention, at some point the dad goes back to work, for some reason, leaving the family alone in the woods; this will become important when explaining the idiocy of the ending!

At night, the mom explains that the youngest brother has disappeared and they suspect he went into the maze to find the dog. This leads to a frantic pursuit into the maze that you know won't end well. The mom and siblings are each separated by a considerable distance and none, except the mom, knows their way around the maze. The camera can be a bit shaky during this sequence, but I find that the anticipation as to what will happen next overrides that feeling. Christian and July find each other and hear a strange scream in the distance whereby Christian thinks it's the mom and July doesn't think it sounds the same. Even though they had just agreed to stick together, Christian goes running after the voice idiotically ditching July again. Finding only a flashlight on the ground, Christian becomes lost and wanders around aimlessly, unable to reunite with July either. Out of nowhere Christian is grabbed from behind and dragged a few feet before breaking free and sprinting his heart out. This is probably the most intense moment in the film as Christian frantically runs around bends and turns within the maze--we never know if anything is about to jump out and we know something is behind him regardless. Sadly, the tension just fizzles out as the scares are not capitalized upon. Things pick up again as Christian finds a bloody July tied to the gazebo, but she is conveniently unable to speak. Once more, instead of properly making use of the scares, we have a lot of tension but no followthrough as the two somehow make their way out of the maze. Yet again, the tension rises when the two discover, what appears to be, the charred body of their brother in the fireplace when the power goes out.

I guess the makers wanted this sensation of a roller coaster, going up and down, but I felt a steady barrage of scares with a maintained momentum would have served to be more effective. Christian hides July in a large closet as an axe plunges through one of the entrance doors; Christian himself flees to the third floor and locks himself in his room. Someone or thing pulls at the door, but then we cut to daylight and Christian slowly makes his way downstairs believing the coast may be clear. He checks on where he left July but only finds signs of a bloody struggle. Then he hears a voice coming from the basement and idiotically goes down there instead of running away! There is a pointless interjection of news reports explaining to us that the bodies of the three kids were found dead along with the family friend from earlier, but then we cut back to Christian for a final explanation. So the voice that is playing is from an old VHS of the mom dealing with a psychiatrist. We learn she has had various mental problems as a child but more so since she killed her third kid, a girl born after Christian and July, but before the youngest brother. She has some split personality, named Elvira, that apparently the mom claims talks and visits her. In other words, the mom's other personality is the one killing everyone all along. The movie simply ends with a close up of the mom when taken over by the Elvira personality on the VHS. LAME! There are more problems with this scenario than you could possibly fathom! How could this plot point, about the mom being crazy, not be mentioned earlier? No one is worried about setting her off? Why would the dad moronically leave the kids alone knowing his wife was like this? Christian and July don't remember any of this? What exactly did the mom do to allow herself to be released and maintain custody of her kids? Why the fuck would you have another kid with this woman? How does she have this many mental disorders all at once--postpartum depression, some weird childhood psychosis, and dissociative identity disorder?! Oh come on. What exactly brought this on right now? The movie makes you think it's the dark or something as a trigger...uh hello, this isn't her first night ever is it?! As many endless directions they could have taken this movie in, that's how many  problems there are with that ending. And no, it's not original in the least and would have been a thousand times scarier with an actual ghost. In fact, the movie deliberately fakes you out with contrivances that add to the stupidity rather than enhancing what would have made for a badass ghost story. Imagine how awesome of a final shot it could have been with maybe Christian being dragged into the well backward by a mysterious force and then the camera cutting out as it hits the bottom. I kept thinking we'd at least see some Samara/Sadako-esque moment!

Overall, it's tough to rate this film, because it's really great leading up to the disappointing ending. I mean, they nailed the atmosphere and tension perfectly; I was completely engrossed in the action and was seriously on edge wondering what may be lurking around the maze or be caught momentarily on the camera without the characters aware of it. The urban legend works well enough and opens up all manner of directions to take the plot while simultaneously establishing potential scares galore. Without a doubt, the first hour of this film is amazing and puts you on edge. Unfortunately, I have to lower the rating tremendously for making the entire experience feel pointless due to a nonsensical twist that was trying to step out of the box, only to step into another box of cliches. And for realzies, it takes a special level of incompetence to turn your own cool ideas into contrivances needlessly; who does that, and why would you? I want to recommend this film, but it's hard to do when I know most will be as disappointed as I was.

Notable Moment: When Christian and July find a trail of blood leading back into the well. Oh man, what a waste to do something truly crazy with this material.

Final Rating: 6/10