The Abandoned
Or, why can't people keep a horror movie good all the way through
There were some genuinely creepy moments to start with. The initial scene where the dying woman shows up in the middle of a huge thunderstorm with her infant twins; Lots of scenes of the Russian steppe, which is basically a big bunch of nowhere; creepy white-eyed dopplegangers (although my first reaction to the white eyes was "Is she going to paint the future?")
But then, we dissolve into time loops, the inability to escape from the house even after crossing the all-encircling river, Russian peasants speaking educated English and hogs looking like they're going to eat babies (Miranda: We need to fast-forward RIGHT NOW! FTR, the hogs do not eat the babies), and a bunch of nonsense that's never adequately explained.
There were some unintentionally funny moments like what is apparently miles and miles of flooded basement. There's more basement than house, apparently. I mentioned to mr.mir that if he was down there, that I'd probably try to get him out, but that I'd have to think about it.
I did like the end line. It starts with a voiceover by Our Heroine's Daughter and ends with the same Daughter literally saying "When she went to Russia I knew in my heart that I'd never see her again. But I'm not going to look for her or try to find out what happened. Better to think of something else. Best of all to be abandoned." The 'fuck THAT noise' ending was kind of refreshing.
There were some genuinely creepy moments to start with. The initial scene where the dying woman shows up in the middle of a huge thunderstorm with her infant twins; Lots of scenes of the Russian steppe, which is basically a big bunch of nowhere; creepy white-eyed dopplegangers (although my first reaction to the white eyes was "Is she going to paint the future?")
But then, we dissolve into time loops, the inability to escape from the house even after crossing the all-encircling river, Russian peasants speaking educated English and hogs looking like they're going to eat babies (Miranda: We need to fast-forward RIGHT NOW! FTR, the hogs do not eat the babies), and a bunch of nonsense that's never adequately explained.
There were some unintentionally funny moments like what is apparently miles and miles of flooded basement. There's more basement than house, apparently. I mentioned to mr.mir that if he was down there, that I'd probably try to get him out, but that I'd have to think about it.
I did like the end line. It starts with a voiceover by Our Heroine's Daughter and ends with the same Daughter literally saying "When she went to Russia I knew in my heart that I'd never see her again. But I'm not going to look for her or try to find out what happened. Better to think of something else. Best of all to be abandoned." The 'fuck THAT noise' ending was kind of refreshing.