The Appeared (2008)

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

This exciting , bizarre film contains tension , thriller , chills , drama , mystery , supernatural deeds , plot twists and shocks . Splendid thriller/horror with an original and ingeniously basic premise about siblings discover a diary that documents horrendous crimes , including intelligent edition , atmospheric scenarios , slick utilization of shock images ; all of them make this one , a very good terror film plenty of killings . It deals with two siblings , a sister and brother , as Pablo convinces Melena to take their father's old car on a 2000-mile road trip from Buenos Aires to Patagonia , Tierra del Fuego . While traveling together in Argentina Malena (Ruth Díaz) and Pablo (Javier Pereira) discover a sinister notebook that details crimes committed by the author twenty years ago . That same night ; before the siblings' helpless eyes , a family is persecuted , tortured , and killed following the history of the diary . Along the way the siblings slowly uncover the dark secrets of families who suffered the horror of a repressive political regime . The siblings' journey becomes a nightmare , in which they don't know if the people whom they're attempting to save are true or manifestations of something strange , as the past begins to fade into the present, and the present moves into the past . Now Malena and Pablo have to discover what is authentic and what isn't . As they find out the methodical killings were committed during a period of political persecution of Communists in Argentina in the early 1980s . This eerie picture Aparecidos (The Appeared) displaying genuine chills , suspense , mystery , dark atmosphere and a twisted finale , being skillfully proceeded . This Argentina/Spain co-production results to be a well made film because of the thriller , tension , Kafkaesque suspense in which a family is murdered step-by-step in the manner described in a diary , as well as an interestingly written script concerning a complex intrigue in which our protagonists are in such extreme situation and their subsequent instinctive urges for survival as , the night after the discovery a diary , a family is killed following in an identical manner to one incidence in the diary. Dark Terror/thriller deals with a deadly game of cat-and-mouse in which the past and present intertwine through a time warp . Following the shady travel of 'the disappeared', they discover terrible events , beyond the fiction when the old ghosts are killing again by an invisible force that will not permit them to change the historical outcome ; as the true horror is hidden in the reality : a lot of people were kidnapped , tortured , and murdered under Argentina's military dictatorship . The good thing about this film is that the director made it on a limited budget only having to do a few sets , yet the movie works on many levels but is constantly reconfigured . The final result is an offbeat Horror movie that's captivating , as well as thoughtful and thought-provoking , too . It turned out to one of the most unusual Spanish horror movies of the 2.000s and certainly one of the most unsettling . Acceptable acting from Ruth Diaz and Javier Pereira as Malena and Pablo that discover a diary telling of crimes occurred twenty years ago . Evocative and gloomy cinematography by Andreu Rebes . Special mention for musical score , a thrilling and terrifying soundtrack perfectly composed by Oscar Araujo . This Spanish/Argentine co-production is a stunning road movie horror was compellingly written and directed by Pablo Cabezas in his first feature length Project . Paco is a good screen-writer such as ¨Bon Appetit¨ (2010) , ¨Spanish movie¨(2009) , ¨Sexy killer¨(2008) and a notorious filmmaker , especially known for Carne Neón (2010), and this ¨Aparecidos¨ (2007) , being subsequently hired by Hollywood/Nicolas Cage , where directed Tokarev (2014) . Furthermore , he is filmmaking ¨Men with No Fear¨ and ¨Mr. Right¨ in post-production . Rating : 7.5/10 . Better than average . The motion picture will appeal to horror fans .

Following a visit to their comotosed, estranged father, brother and sister, Pablo and Malena, find an old diary which in turn leads them to strange and haunting discoveries and situations.This co-Argentine-Spanish offering (translated as The Appeared) falls into similar territory as Los Cronocrímenes, Intacto, and Fermat's Room, in the fact that the viewers expectations are stretched, the narrative constantly changing. What is fun, if somewhat frequently implausible, is the many situations the protagonists get themselves into. Each set piece covers familiar ground to standard horror conventions (we get the slasher-killer; the road chase with the 'unseen' driver; haunted house scares), yet always done with the reign pulled tight as not to fall into parody.Add into the mix historic elements, where we discover the truth about the people and locations that Pablo and Malena find themselves involved with, as well as a truly haunting ending, and you have a neat, ambitious ghost story which although may not fully succeed, in the most part holds the viewers interest throughout.

Written directly for the screen this horror film has a captivating and staggering story. Almost every scene from beginning till ending is full of action and tension sequences, which are done by good camera work. Its way of storytelling is very smooth. I watched it with subtitles; even though the script is very substantial, it isn't necessary to follow up each conversation. The dialogue and connection which Pablo and Malena established together magnetizes the full attention from the viewer, since their body language and gestures were complementary with the screenplay.The story takes place in August 2001 in Argentina. Pablo and Malena, who are in their mid-20s', are siblings from a dysfunctional family. Their father whom Pablo never seen in his life before, is in coma. They visit him and Malena introduces him to Pablo. Malena has grown hatred for his father, for he served under Anti-Communist Dictatorship of the Argentinian army to quench the communist movement torturing thousands of innocents, instead of looking after his family. There is a huge question mark here: Why are all the communists introduced as innocents in this film? The frightening fact here is that when Pablo and Malena think that their father is helpless in coma, he turns out to be more powerful than he was alive. His spirit continues to torture the restless souls of the dead innocents. He has written a detailed diary including how he tortured the families of communist vanguards when he was young. In return to his weakened body, he bargains with one or more daemons to continue on his dictatorship mission. One of the daemons in the look of a little girl finds this diary from where he hided away. Then Pablo, the curious and adventurous one of the siblings, gets this diary from that daemon, assuming that it was something the little girl lost. So the daemon begins to bugger around Pablo and Malena. The diary which has the curse of the daemon brings only trouble to them.Aparecidos has the meaning for "Seen versus Disappeared". Who is seen is the Dictatorship regime runners, and who is disappeared is the slaughtered rebels against this regime. Soon, Pablo and Malena read the diary and start a journey to save the victims of the murderers. One of the communist vanguards ,who has never been captured by the police due to the lack of evidence, has been killed with his pregnant wife and little daughter in the hands of Pablo and Malena's father. Daemon completes the bargain with continuously torturing the wife and the daughter's souls.When you feel like you accomplished something, you think that you must be happy and be proud. Then suddenly you realize that you didn't accomplish anything; the confusion in your mind and senses leads you realize the fact that you just decoded something hidden. That was Pablo's confusion in the movie. When he was explaining to her sister what he was really trying to do, he says that he was gone out of his mind and trying to save someone whoever is dead already. Every night at the same hour in the same motel in the same room, the same murder takes place involving the same dead corpses continuously for the last 20 years. Who are you going to save? Save a dead tonight. Amazing concept, isn't it?

If you want something different than the usual horror genre, this is the movie for you. I would personally describe it as horror with a supernatural twist/thriller within a mystery. Long description, but that's what it is. I wanted to see it first and foremost because it was filmed in Madrid, Spain (having lived there, some things were recognizable), and I am a fan of supernatural horror flicks. The plot of this movie was NOT predictable whatsoever, which is good. I hate movies you can figure out in the first five minutes of watching them. I was so engaged in the film that I did not move from seat for fear of missing one little detail. There are some parts that made me gasp even, and what you find out in the end is really disturbing,intriguing, and extremely unexpected. Oh, and just a further note, the Spanish they speak in the movie is a castilian dialect, but that's why they have English subtitles.