O Misterioso Assassinato de Uma Família

I am a fan of found footage films because if they are done right, they can be very scary. "Atrocious" definitely has some tense, scary moments but basically you're always waiting for something that never happens. Tension is one thing, but you need a payoff at some point.

My main problem with this film is that it falls victim to the same problem that many other found footage films have. Which is, why in the world would you be holding on to a camera at that particular moment? You're running, likely for your life, and you're actually thinking about capturing the moment? I am willing to let a lot of things go when I watch a movie, but this just bothers me every time.

Secondly, it seems that the writers and director were unsure as to what to do with the plot. Is this the story of a terrifying urban legend, or is it something else? Overall, I think it's worth a look, mainly because you're only investing a little over an hour of your time, but don't expect anything amazing.

A family are staying at their holiday home in Sitges in Catalonia, Spain, and one of the kids, Cristian, is fascinated about the myth of Melinda - a spirit of a woman who supposedly haunts the labyrinth outside the house grounds. Cristian gets more background stories regarding Melinda from a family friend, Carlos, but these versions of events are much more sinister than the version he already knew. Determined to see if there is any truth to the stories of Melinda, he and his sister, July, document everything they can. However, after their dog goes missing one day, things soon start taking a horrible turn for the worse.

Atrocious is a POV "documentary" style of film and while we all know that's not an original style anymore, the film is still very good. Making a labyrinth the subject matter for the myth of Melinda was good because they can be creepy enough through the day if you get lost, but to be lost in one at night (especially the one shown in the movie) and knowing of a myth surrounding the labyrinth is downright terrifying.

The night scenes are obviously where the movie escalates, and they ARE scary. You watch intently as Cristian tries to make his way out of the labyrinth at night as you never know what is going to happen. Even when he's supposedly safe in the house at times after, there is still that unsettled feeling of "what's going to happen?" The movie may be considered a wee bit slow for about the first 30 minutes or so, but I didn't feel that it was. For me it was all a good build up to the inevitable scarier scenes and climax of the movie.

The actors are all very believable in their parts, and do a really good job in making it seem like a real documentary of events. The end scene of the movie is a nice touch to make it that wee bit more convincing too (obviously can't say anything else it will give it away).

If you enjoy watching movies of this style then there's a good chance you'll enjoy Atrocious. Good film and well recommended.

This movie would have been awesome if it was cut down to about 30 min. I was excited about this movie hoping it would give me the same chills that "The Blair Witch" gave me when I first saw it and to its credit it did… to an extent. I found that this movie spend the majority of the time running around aimlessly in the woods breathing overly heavily with absolutely nothing happening. These scenes got very boring, very fast.

I felt that these overly long scenes killed it for me. At times I felt chills at the back of my neck and that paranoid feeling I get when I'm scared watching a movie and then quickly that would fade away to boredom and annoyance due to a scene that was ridiculously long.

To the movies credit, if they cut those horribly boring long scenes this would have been a great movie. I loved the relationship between the Brother and Sister and how they would go out and explore together even though they were not allowed. It reminded me of my Sister and I when we were younger.

I also loved the whole storyline with a really awesome twist at the end. I loved the creepy maze, creepy house, creepy basement, creepy ghost stories and Etc. There was so much amazing about this movie but when you add overly long scenes of someone annoyingly breathing super close into a mic and a camera shaking and running so much you cant even see what's going on it absolutely kills anything good and creepy about the movie.

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Atrocious (2010)

*** (out of 4)

This Spanish entry in the "found footage" genre has a brother and sister going to their summer house with their parents and younger brother. The place is close to an urban legend of a small child who got lost in the woods but was never found. The legend has it that if you get lost in these woods that her spirit will show up and lead you out. There's also a version that isn't so friendly. These found footage films, in my opinion, delivers some of the greatest scares in regards to horror movies and this one I found to be quite effective. I like this genre so much because the films require you to use both your visual and seeing senses at all times. You never know where in the frame something is going to happen so your eyes are constantly trying to hear things and your eyes are bouncing around the frame just waiting to notice whatever might be there. This is a type of exercise that also has your mind running at full speed and this is where the suspense comes from. ATROCIOUS isn't the best the genre has to offers as there are a few plot points that I'd question but there's still no doubt that the film was very effective and very scary at times. There are several scenes in the woods where the kids get lost and you just keep waiting for something to happen to them. Director Fernando Barreda Luna does a very good job at building up the suspense and making sure the viewer is constantly on the edge of their seat. The final showdown in the woods was highly suspenseful even if how they got there left a bit to be desired. As for the ending, I won't ruin it but I don't think it perfectly closed up the film as I had hoped. Still, the performances are good and the "found footage" stuff was nicely done and made believable. ATROCIOUS is a good, creepy film that manages to use atmosphere and suspense over gore, which is always a good thing.

Despite that it treads very familiar territory and doesn't really bring anything that fresh to the found footage genre it still remains as formidable than ever. The film starts off pretty much like The Blair Witch Project introducing us to ordinary people who are documenting their research on figuring out an old legend but soon get attacked by an unknown force or being and things turn from normal to terrifying. This film is uber creepy with an fantastic atmospheric setting that will send chills to your bones and intense suspense that will have you grabbing you seat as well as believable performances from the likable leads that makes the whole ordeal that more effective and downright disturbing. It was scary but doesn't have a lot of nonstop jolts like the Paranormal Activity series but the intensity is their and the fear of the unknown and the big reveal at the end was clever and shocking and gave it an even more sinister tone that will get under your skin but still expected something bigger and different but liked the direction it took which was a different change of pace. The violence in this film though basically off screen is brutal and twisted once revealed after the fact and is the things of nightmares. Overall I wouldn't say it's with the top dogs of the found footage genre but I liked it a little bit more than the very disappointing Paranormal Activity 3 and I liked the direction it took more and this one was just more unsettling and better executed and a more disturbing story. Worth a look just don't expect something with tons of jump scares just more shock value. 6.3 out of 10