The Appeared review!
One night Malena and Pablo, a sister and brother traveling together in Argentina, discover a diary that details crimes committed twenty years ago. That same night, the past and present intertwine; before the siblings' helpless eyes, a family is persecuted, tortured, and murdered step-by-step in the manner described in the diary. The siblings' trip becomes a nightmare, in which they don't know if the people whom they're trying to save are real... or manifestations of something that occurred twenty years ago. Following the trail of 'the disappeared', they discover that, beyond the fiction, the true horror is hidden in the reality: 30 000 people were kidnapped, tortured, and murdered under Argentina's military dictatorship. The people forget, but the pain, as a physical presence, lives on.
A surprisingly, well done, supernatural/thriller, that was frequently gripping, chilling and suspenseful, with two fine performances, from the leads.
It's a unique and ambitious touch, to the genre, but also has some familiar elements as well, kind of like The Sixth Sense, School Killer, Forget Me Not, Stir Of Echoes ECT. type of vibe, but held its own and packs an emotional punch as well.
I like how it wasn't so overly gory, like most horror movies these days are and how it took its time, developing its story and characters so we care about what's going on and be connected. The effects were nifty, with one scene reminding me of the Tina slaying, from the original, A Nightmare On Elm Street and the atmosphere, just haunting enough.
The film is suppose to be based on facts, though I'm not sure all of it is, especially the supernatural aspect of it, but the story is very well written and well executed, holding you in its fist, through the whole duration and letting you go in its touching, conclusion.
While most of it is pretty flawed free, I can't help, but be let down, by the lack of true scares, but it had enough jumps here and there to satisfy me, but in the end, it had the potential to be a classic, but missed the mark, by a tad but better than most.
Overall, the most clever, engaging, tense, out of the box and harrowing, supernatural/thriller, I've seen in quite awhile. A story, that will have you on the edge of your seat and two likable and solid leads, with characters that you care about and root for and to me they should remake this, because this movie is hard to find and the story has the potential, to be done even better and deserves a wide release treatment. Recommended! 7.3 out of 10
Chillin'
