Shudder Saturday: Terrified AKA Aterrados (2017)

Written and directed by Demián Rugna, Terrified is all about a policeman (Funes, played by Maxi Ghione) who ends up accompanying three researchers (played by Norberto Gonzalo, Elvira Onetto, and George Lewis) as they try to get to the bottom of some supernatural events that have plagued a small neighbourhood. That's the main part of the story, but that all unfolds after a number of creepy events depicted, almost vignettes, that feature a) a woman telling her husband that she heard voices comeing from the kitchen sink telling her that they were going to kill her, b) a man being tormented every night by a ghost or creature who is stopping him from resting peacefully, and c) a dead young boy reappearing in his home, seemingly still dead but with no explanation as to how he got there. These elements all intertwine during the second half of the film, more or less, but as they play out in the first act it almost seems as if Terrified might be an anthology horror movie.

And, in a way, it is. Although the form starts to adhere more closely to a standard narrative film, despite some playing about with the chronology of events, so many of the set-pieces feel as if they could be individual little tales, presented as they are with either such a great flourish or such a great "punchline". As well as an anthology horror movie, Terrified ALSO plays out very much like a survival horror videogame. I know that may be enough to put many people off but don't be dissuaded. Considering the fact that Ghione plays someone with a medical condition that means he really doesn't want to spend too much time being too frightened, I was very much reminded of my first time playing Silent Hill many years ago, wandering around a mysterious environment while the heart monitor conveyed to me how afraid the main character was, and so how on edge I was while playing the game.

Everyone onscreen does well, acting opposite a variety of special effects, from creepy creatures to levitating home furnishings. As well as the people mentioned, you also have Agustin Rittano and Demian Salomon as two men who have been greatly affected by the events, and Ariel Chavarria is very good as the shaken mother of the strangely-mobile dead child.

But all kudos really goes to Rugna, who starts the film off in an impressively eerie way before taking viewers on a fun thrill ride for the rest of the runtime. This is not a film without humour, but be warned that the humour is only there as a temporary release in between more frights. It's very smart, although I know a few people who prefer their horror movies to have no humour in the mix at all, and allows Rugna to draw out the moments of tension right up to a near-unbearable extreme.

There are flaws. It's hard to see how everything quite fits together, there's no obvious starting point for events (not that there has to be), and a past case is mentioned without enough detail to even make it worth including. Some people may also dislike a few of the computer-generated special effects, although I thought they were generally well done and worked well alongside a lot of the practical work. But all of these things are easy to overlook while being so effectively made to squirm in your seat by Rugna.

If you like a good ghost story, and if you appreciate being in the hands of a filmmaker who can both make you jump by showing you something you didn't want to see and also make you very nervous by NOT showing you something that others are reacting to, then Terrified is highly recommended. It might even leave you . . . well, I am sure you can guess what state it might leave you in.

8/10

There's nothing obvious I can recommend to purchase here so here's a general link.
And here's Amazon.com.