DtH Episode 82 – Haunted Houses

October 30, 2024 by Jon Kitley in Discover the Horror Podcast and tagged Halloween, Haunted Houses, Hausu, Richard Matheson, The Abandoned, The Haunting, The Legend of Hell House | Leave a comment

The Legend of Hell House (1973), Hausu (1977), The Abandoned (2006)

In older small towns, there is usually some old house on the outskirts of town, maybe someone lives there, maybe not. But it is one that young kids dare themselves to go up to. And if you do dare to enter this dwelling, you’ll find creaking boards, dust covered items from furniture to knick-knacks, and a lot of cobwebs. And any noise, no matter how small it might, gets the mind racing.

There is nothing better for the Halloween season than sitting down with a nice Haunted House movie. Which is why we decided to tackle 3 of our favorite scary movies about demented dwellings, as well as ones that we feel that need more attention. Going back to the very beginning of cinema, with Georges Méliès’ The House of the Devil (1896), it shows how important this sub-genre is, and why filmmakers continue to go back to it. When done correctly, can be highly effective, and damn scary.

Films mentioned in this episode:

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Soundtrack Review: The Abandoned

July 17, 2024 by Jon Kitley in Reviews: Soundtrack and tagged Alfons Conde, Moviescore, Nacho Cerdà, The Abandoned | Leave a comment

The Abandoned
Released by Moviescore, 2024
14 Tracks with a Total Running Time of 46 min.
Music Composed by Alfons Conde

Nacho Cerdá’s directorial feature debut gave us something completely different than what he showed us in his short film Aftermath (1994). Instead of the disturbing and gooey subject matter of necrophilia, The Abandoned is a slow-moving ghost story, where a woman is haunted by her childhood. She returns to her birthplace in Russia in hopes of uncovering or laying to rest her dark memories.

There isn’t a lot of action here, but more of a mood piece, there are a lot of scenes of no talking, but looking. Waiting. Searching. This is where Conde’s music blends perfectly. It worms its way into your subconscious, much like the film. Sometimes you’re not even aware of the music in the background, like a prolonged note being held, or maybe a vibration. But it’s there, helping to create and enhance the emotions you are feeling by watching what is going on.

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Movie Review: The Abandoned (2006)

March 16, 2024 by Jon Kitley in Reviews: Movies and tagged Aftermath, Anastasia Hille, Carlos Reig-Plaza, Karel Roden, Karim Hussain, Nacho Cerdà, Paraskeva Djukelova, RIchard Stanley, The Abandoned, Unearthed Films, Valentin Ganev | Leave a comment

Directed by Nacho Cerdá
Written by Karim Hussain, Nacho Cerdá, and Richard Stanley
Starring Anastasia Hille, Karel Roden, Valentin Ganev, Paraskeva Djukelova, Carlos Reig-Plaza

I was lucky enough to see this in the theater when it was released in 2007 nationwide, as part of the After Dark Horrorfest’s 8 Films to Die For. This was the first year of this happening and it had some great titles in there, such as Mike Mendez’s The Gravedances and J.S. Cardone’s Wicked Little Things (you can read our review of that HERE). I knew of Cerdá work because of his 1994 short film Aftermath that made quite a lot of noise in the horror underground, with it being a very nasty and graphic tale of a coroner who just happens to be a necrophiliac. Very disturbing, but incredibly shot and very effective. So, when his first feature film was coming out, I wanted to take advantage of seeing it in the theater. And I’m glad I did.

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