Terrified (Aterrados) – Argentina – 2017 – Horror, Psychological, Supernatural
Directed by: Demián Rugna
Written by: Demián Rugna
Main Players: Maximiliano Ghione; Norberto Gonzalo; Elvira Onetto; George L. Lewis; Demián Salomón; Agustín Rittano; Natalia Señorales
In Buenos Aires, Clara Blumetti (Señorales) does her dishes and there are strange noises coming from the sink. She thinks they are voices. Her husband Juan (Rittano) ignores it, hearing nothing. He is just happy that a dog they hit with their car the other day survived. Yay! Maybe the pipes are just old. Or, maybe their neighbor Walter Carabajal (Salomón) was fixing things and that’s the noise she heard?
Still, despite her husband’s doubts, Clara is sure what she heard all afternoon. Something was threatening her life. Then, a thudding in the middle of the night gets Juan’s attention. What is going on? He goes to confront Walter, buzzing the intercom outside. Things keep getting creepier, and a dark and disturbing event happens.
After a relatively insane and disturbing opening, it’s hard to know exactly what we are in for other than spooky times, blood and all sorts of horrors. Almost identical cases to the opening events in the U.S. from 1998 are noted by authorities. Very odd…
Next the neighbor Walter starts having strange and unexplained happenings in his own apartment. What is the cause of all of these terrifying events? As Walter looks for help from any sources available, the cops form a small team to investigate.
Terrified shoots out of the gate with some ultra creepy and mysterious scenes to make your skin crawl, and it hardly lets up during the entirety of its runtime. If you are into chilling paranormal scare fests, this one probably will work for you. It is not a fully typical tale and features some nice horror innovation. A bit sharper of a script could have seen it hit higher levels, but I liked what I saw regardless.
The heavy and grim atmosphere is very well established, and the actors convey the right levels of reactional emotions to enhance the picture. It is well shot, and has some good ideas throughout. Despite what was probably not a gigantic budget, the crew did a lot with it. The final resolutions may not please everyone, but I definitely enjoyed the journey this film took me on.
See This If You Liked:
When Evil Lurks (Cuando Acecha la Maldad); The Dark and the Wicked; Oddity (2024); Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum; Insidious (2010); Smile (2022); Sinister (2012); Lights Out (2016); Hereditary; The Conjuring; 1408; The Night House; The Autopsy of Jane Doe
Score:
7.5