Kernel Rating (out of 5): 
Length: 75 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Age Appropriate for: 17+. So much blood. There are a bunch of deaths, both of people and animals, and while you don’t see the killings onscreen, you see their gory aftermaths (think decapitation and being burned alive). There’s also cursing and lots of suspense, which may affect viewers the most.
“Atrocious” is the fourth film in a summer series exclusive to Baltimore’s AMC White Marsh theater. The series, a collaboration between AMC, entertainment management company The Collective and horror website BloodyDisgusting.com, brought a different horror movie from international and festival film circuits to White Marsh each month. Chesapeake Family will review the entire series; “Atrocious” runs until the end of August, while the next film, “Cold Fish,” will be released on DVD on Tuesday, Aug. 23.
Ugh, scary movies! They never cease to terrify me, and ‘Atrocious’ is no different. Another entry into the found-footage genre, ‘Atrocious’ excels in all things creepy — and bloody.
By Roxana Hadadi
I always try to watch horror movies in daylight, since I’m one of those shameful adults who is still afraid of the dark. And even though I saw “Atrocious” while sitting in a well-lit room on a sunny morning, I’m still going to get nightmares. I just know it.
Bad for me, but good for director and writer Fernando Barreda Luna, whose 2010 film is a fine addition to the found-footage horror genre. Much like “The Blair Witch Project,” “Paranormal Activity” and “Paranormal Activity 2,” and far better than a previous entry in this summer series, “YellowBrickRoad,” “Atrocious” has a less slick, more renegade cinematography style, with shaky shots, lengthy dark sequences and a bunch of night vision. It’s not anything revolutionary — and in some ways, the story unfortunately isn’t, either — but “Atrocious” is flat-out great in its tension and anxiety. I got so nervous and twitchy that I wouldn’t let anyone stand behind me the rest of the day (since they could attack me, of course), refused to go down into the basement and wanted to yell at my neighbors for constantly hammering away at their porch. That ominous slamming sound could drive anyone crazy!
And for parts of “Atrocious,” you may think you’re going mad, too. The film focuses on the Quintanilla family — mother Debora (Chus Pereiro), father Santiago (Xavi Doz), 18-year-old son Cristian (Cristian Valencia), younger teen daughter July (Clara Moraleda) and 8-year-old son José (Sergi Martin) — who decide to spend their Easter vacation, from the end of March 2010 to the beginning of April, at their old country home outside Sitges, in Garraf County, Spain. Cristian, who videotapes everything around him as a hobby, gets July to borrow another camera from her friend David, and the two hope to document everything they do on vacation.
But what is there to do in such an abandoned old house, which the family hasn’t visited in 10 years? Cristian is determined to investigate an urban legend he heard about — that a girl named Melinda, who disappeared in the Garraf woods in 1940, now haunts and terrorizes travelers who similarly get lost in the forest — and he drags July around with him, too, since they’re so bored. Everything about the home is menacing: The basement needs a different key than everywhere else; there’s an overgrown labyrinth near the house that hasn’t been tended to in years; and the home’s barren quality, with wide, empty spaces and nothing to do, makes it “a bit spooky,” July and Cristian decide.
The spooky factor goes way up, though, when July and Cristian decide to venture into the labyrinth — against their father’s orders — and continue videotaping whatever they come across, especially after their father’s friend Carlos (Jose Masegosa) tells them more about Melinda: “Her body was never recovered,” “You should never turn your back on her,” “People who claim to have seen her say they’ll never forget the sound.” His words stick with Cristian later that night, when he’s convinced he hears creepy noises outside; July, however, is more skeptical. ‘Cristian, you believe everything you hear,’ she says flippantly.
Wouldn’t you, though? Of course the two get lost in the labyrinth. Of course they think they see a person — a woman, maybe? — watching them. Of course they find a hidden well. Of course their dog Robin, who had been barking nonstop each night since they got to the house, disappears without a trace. Some of those twists are somewhat expected, since we’ve seen them in films like “The Ring,” “Paranormal Activity” and “The Shining,” but it’s how Barreda Luna builds up the characters and environment, and then weaves them together, that makes “Atrocious” terrifying.
From the beginning of the film we know Spain’s National Police Department has found Cristian’s and July’s footage and is airing it as this film, but you forget that as you get caught up in the siblings’ believable relationship, the friction between Cristian and his father and July and her mother, and the unbelievable eeriness of the house and the labyrinth. Hints are dropped about what could come next — “This must be really spooky at night,” Cristian says of the labyrinth; the camera lingers on a kiosk in the middle of the woods; the kids watching videotapes in the basement seems important — but they’re not so obvious that you can guess the film’s plot. The skin-crawling conclusion stays a surprise, and while it’s not pleasant to watch, it’s definitely unforgettable.
“Atrocious” has some plot problems, though, which keep it from being a completely impactful film. Why would a family member bail on vacation? How could secrets about the legend and the home be kept for so long? Some of the narrative’s untold elements keep the film unsettling, but they also equal loopholes.
Confusion aside, however, “Atrocious” starts off creepy and rapidly vaults into horrifying. It may not be totally original, but you’ll probably stay away from narrow hallways, mazes and little girls for a while. I’m good without those things, thanks.
