The Atticus Institute

The premise of The Atticus Institute is a very promising one. In fact, going into it, I was not sure if it was going to be a documentary or a fictional movie. In the event, it turned out to be a pseudo-documentary. Set in the mid 70's, it's about a group of scientists who perform a series of paranormal experiments on a woman with extreme extrasensory abilities. Before long the government get involved and things go increasingly badly wrong.

The film-makers have taken some care to present this in a manner that replicates an actual documentary. To this end we have lots of talking heads footage involving people who were connected to the story and there is also retro looking filmed material as well as stills. It would only be fair to say that the execution of the whole thing is less than the actual ideas. It's pretty low budget and this accounts for some mediocre acting, while the script was a little clunky in places. The biggest problem though is that it all gets a bit samey and one-note after a while with little variation in events. On the whole, however, it gets points for trying to do something interesting and having an intriguing central idea. It could surely have been better but it has some good things about it.

'The Atticus Institute' is quite a strange and unique film. It's a "found footage" film in a way, yet it's also presented as a documentary. Now, about the least scary thing I can possibly think of watching is a documentary, and that stands true here. Having the documentary style did take away a lot of the horror element to me. It meant that any character we were shown talking in the future obviously survived the past experiences shown in the tapes at the institute. On the other hand, it was quite an interesting way to have the story told to us. It let us get inside the mind of the characters and hear stories and insight we wouldn't otherwise have gotten. I suppose it's like having a narrator, but of course a narrator in a horror film is a big no-no, so this was a way around it. I don't think we'll ever see any big-budget horror films adapt this documentary style, but it was an interesting concept to see done here in a lesser-known film.

There are one or two moments of quality horror to be found, where suspense was drawn out of the scene. They weren't quite as regular as you may have liked though. The ending was quite quirky and a bit of fun that requires the viewer to think back on what they thought they knew. Altogether though it's unfortunately pretty forgettable. Those who watch it won't be disappointed, it's above average as far as some of the garbage horror films Hollywood is putting out these days, but ultimately they won't be blown away by it either.

Frankly I am very fond of horror movies especially those involving demonic possessions based on true stories. Well 'The Atticus Institute' certainly falls in that genre. The best thing that I liked about this movie was the way in which the story was told, shot more like a documentary, depicting events using recorded footage's. In addition there were certain events in the movie which are based on true stories.

The movie starts at a slow pace but in a unique way uses some of the characters to narrate the incidents that occurred in 1976 at a paranormal institute. This film takes its time to build the tension and suspense but it does so masterfully that in the end you are left wandering what you are watching is not really happening.

A film is only as good as the cast, which made me wonder how difficult it was to play the Judith Winstead's character. But hats off to Rya Kihlstedt (Judith Winstead), she was absolutely marvelous from the beginning to the end. The movie is written and directed by Chris Sparling who also directed movies like Buried. The Atticus Institute also has some really scary scenes with the demonic possession display shot to perfection.

Overall I can say 'The Atticus Institute' is a movie that in a unique way provides a lot of suspense. Initially one can find the movie a bit slow but I can assure you as the movie moves forward it will captivate your imagination making it hard to believe that what you are watching is not real. I really enjoyed watching this movie so will rate it 7/10.

The subject matter is interesting. The movie is very well paced. This (the pacing) is the absolute best thing about this movie. Since it is about research on telekinesis and stuff, it is very smart to pace it slow, so that the viewer gets time to adapt. We don't want to be thrown straight into a fantastical universe, at least not if it is to be realistic. So for that I applaud this movie.

The acting is pretty decent for the most part, too.

And it being found footage, isn't such a drag as it could have been. It's rather realistically made, some of the time.

But then it just never gets really cool. It is a little boring at times, and there is this one CG-blood scene in there that is just horrible. And it is such a short scene, why could they not make sure it looked better!? I will never understand stuff like that.

So to sum up, the pacing is good at first, then it gets a little boring, and then it goes down hill. At the end I was kind of happy it was over. Even though it was the opening movie on Frightfest 2015. Bummer.

Seriously how can you hate this movie?

Clever, interesting and original The Atticus Insititute gets a thumbs up from me, hats off to writer and director Chris Sparling.

Filmed as a mockumentary, it initially revolves around telekinesis and one particularly gifted woman, Judith Winstead. Rya Kihlstedt who plays Judith gives a brilliant and totally believable performance.

I really don't want to say much and spoil any of it, I'd just say give it a go.

How many noses does a monkey have?