"Atrocious" Review - Written by Anthony T

Atrocious
Year: 2011
Director: Fernando Barreda Luna
Stars: Clara Moraleda Cristian Valencia
Studio: Bloody Disgusting Selects
MPAA Rating: R
Running Time: 75 Mins

You might have noticed lately on the site that I’ve been providing a good chunk of coverage to this film. From posting theatrical listing to recently posting stills for the film, I’ve been pushing this film hard on the site. The reason for that, this is one very good horror film.

“Atrocious” is the latest film in the Bloody Disgusting Night Terrors series that currently goes on monthly at AMC theaters. The film started to pick up a lot of online buzz at this year’s Slamdance Film Festival, as it was getting compared to the likes of “Paranormal Activity“ and “The Blair Witch Project“. The film centers around footage that was found by Spanish Police in April of 2010.

A family of five moves into their summer home, where there’s a mysterious murder legend that has haunted the place. Two kids, Cristian (Cristian Valencia) and July (Clara Moraleda) are spending their time at the house filming their investigation on this legend . As they begin to find evidence, strange occurrences begin to happen rapidly around them that ultimately leads to unspeakable atrocities that occur.

I know that some of you might notice that I’ve been writing many very positive review to all the films that Bloody Disgusting has put out. I can’t help it, because each film has been very good. As a lover of this genre, I’m being spoiled with all these great films. This film was no different. This along with ‘YellowBrickRoad” and “Cold Fish are three films that will most likely end up on my top 10 horror films list of 2011.

“Atrocious” is one scary movie that effectively uses the elements of “The Blair Witch Project” and “Paranormal Activity to its advantage. Writer/director Fernando Barreda Luna does a great job making this film very entertaining through the pace and story. One of the major things that makes this work, he makes sure the action is moving. Even though “Blair Witch” and “Paranormal Activity” were very good films, the pace of the films were slow in some parts. Here, there is none of those slow moving scenes that slows the intensity. Luna does a very good job editing the film. I liked, how doesn’t spend an a good chunk of time on filler dialogue that isn‘t providing anything to the story. It moves the story along and that’s you want to see. The other thing that I like about this, the way that he handles the two leads. Luna does a very good job making the two leads develop a certain chemistry that was needed for the film to succeed. For this film to work for me, you needed to be interested with these two characters and you needed the leads to feel like they were brother and sister to make the action work. He gets the performances to feel that way, so that your interested in the characters and you feel shocked at what happens.

The other thing that makes this very good, Luna’s screenplay. What makes his screenplay very good, he doesn’t make the story feel like a rip off of “The Blair Witch Project” or “Paranormal Activity”. There were two things that makes it different. The way that he established the mythology of the place and the twist at the end that literally turns this film upside down. It’s the way that Luna handles each of those things that makes the film very effective, as the end result is shocking. The other that I liked about this, the way that he handled the brother/sister relationship. Luna focuses on the characters, from how they adjust to their new surrounding to their obsession with the supernatural. He handles them, in a way that your not bored watching them and waiting for something to happen. It makes you become invested with the characters, even though you pretty much know the character’s fate.

“Atrocious “is truly a horror film that you should seek out at your , if you’re a fan of this style of horror. This is one scary film that is filled with intense scares and an ending that will shock you.

For times of screening, check this news article here that has all the information on “Atrocious” theatrical run at AMC theaters at: http://www.filmarcade.net/2011/08/atrocious-official-stills.html .


Review Rating: Five Stars