Atrocious (2010) User Reviews

Nauseous for all the wrong reasons

[cookie666 · 6/10 · 6 May 2011]

The film has a very promising premise for any horror fan - a story with paranormal elements, a small cast and filmed with a hand-held camera (think of the suspense!). This immediately sets the expectations high - I was expecting a Spanish Blair Witch Project or perhaps a successful spin-off of Rec.

In reality, the friends I went to the movies with got nauseous because of the constant shaking of the camera and I did not flinch once. It must be said, though, that Atrocious does a good job of misleading the viewer - something I rather enjoyed, but some others might find disappointing.

The biggest flaw, however, was that the movie got lost in itself. The producers were clearly so caught up with the whole amateur-footage-spooky-places-run-and-scream theme that it engulfed the whole movie, making everything else that happened inbetween seem like one long filler. And then combined with the completely unexpected ending, Atrocious might just leave you feeling a little indifferent about the whole thing - and nauseous, if you're like one of my friends.

Overall, it's a decent little horror flick, but nothing that would keep you up at night.

Atrocious

[reallyevilboy · 4/10 · 11 September 2014]

I was slightly looking forward to this and was greatly disappointed.

Firstly, don't call a movie "Atrocious" and then make a terrible movie. I don't really see the point of the title aside from being a description of the actual movie quality.

This is a "found footage" movie, some movies in this new category can be good and some can be terrible.

This movie seemed to be composed of mostly 40 minutes of quiet footage, setting up for the eventual crisis point. The crisis point is the remaining 35 minutes of running around with the camera from an unknown assailant while screaming.

No real scares, no real excitement, nothing but Atrocious.

Atrocious It Is Not

[dfa120374 · 6/10 · 14 January 2015]

A family are staying at their holiday home in Sitges in Catalonia, Spain, and one of the kids, Cristian, is fascinated about the myth of Melinda - a spirit of a woman who supposedly haunts the labyrinth outside the house grounds. Cristian gets more background stories regarding Melinda from a family friend, Carlos, but these versions of events are much more sinister than the version he already knew. Determined to see if there is any truth to the stories of Melinda, he and his sister, July, document everything they can. However, after their dog goes missing one day, things soon start taking a horrible turn for the worse.

Atrocious is a POV "documentary" style of film and while we all know that's not an original style anymore, the film is still very good. Making a labyrinth the subject matter for the myth of Melinda was good because they can be creepy enough through the day if you get lost, but to be lost in one at night (especially the one shown in the movie) and knowing of a myth surrounding the labyrinth is downright terrifying.

The night scenes are obviously where the movie escalates, and they ARE scary. You watch intently as Cristian tries to make his way out of the labyrinth at night as you never know what is going to happen. Even when he's supposedly safe in the house at times after, there is still that unsettled feeling of "what's going to happen?" The movie may be considered a wee bit slow for about the first 30 minutes or so, but I didn't feel that it was. For me it was all a good build up to the inevitable scarier scenes and climax of the movie.

The actors are all very believable in their parts, and do a really good job in making it seem like a real documentary of events. The end scene of the movie is a nice touch to make it that wee bit more convincing too (obviously can't say anything else it will give it away).

If you enjoy watching movies of this style then there's a good chance you'll enjoy Atrocious. Good film and well recommended.

Could have been great if it was cut down to half the time...

[jennifer-25-965231 · 3/10 · 25 August 2011]

This movie would have been awesome if it was cut down to about 30 min. I was excited about this movie hoping it would give me the same chills that "The Blair Witch" gave me when I first saw it and to its credit it did… to an extent. I found that this movie spend the majority of the time running around aimlessly in the woods breathing overly heavily with absolutely nothing happening. These scenes got very boring, very fast.

I felt that these overly long scenes killed it for me. At times I felt chills at the back of my neck and that paranoid feeling I get when I'm scared watching a movie and then quickly that would fade away to boredom and annoyance due to a scene that was ridiculously long.

To the movies credit, if they cut those horribly boring long scenes this would have been a great movie. I loved the relationship between the Brother and Sister and how they would go out and explore together even though they were not allowed. It reminded me of my Sister and I when we were younger.

I also loved the whole storyline with a really awesome twist at the end. I loved the creepy maze, creepy house, creepy basement, creepy ghost stories and Etc. There was so much amazing about this movie but when you add overly long scenes of someone annoyingly breathing super close into a mic and a camera shaking and running so much you cant even see what's going on it absolutely kills anything good and creepy about the movie.

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Terror on the loose closer than you think

[mdnobles19 · 28 October 2011]

Despite that it treads very familiar territory and doesn't really bring anything that fresh to the found footage genre it still remains as formidable than ever. The film starts off pretty much like The Blair Witch Project introducing us to ordinary people who are documenting their research on figuring out an old legend but soon get attacked by an unknown force or being and things turn from normal to terrifying. This film is uber creepy with an fantastic atmospheric setting that will send chills to your bones and intense suspense that will have you grabbing you seat as well as believable performances from the likable leads that makes the whole ordeal that more effective and downright disturbing. It was scary but doesn't have a lot of nonstop jolts like the Paranormal Activity series but the intensity is their and the fear of the unknown and the big reveal at the end was clever and shocking and gave it an even more sinister tone that will get under your skin but still expected something bigger and different but liked the direction it took which was a different change of pace. The violence in this film though basically off screen is brutal and twisted once revealed after the fact and is the things of nightmares. Overall I wouldn't say it's with the top dogs of the found footage genre but I liked it a little bit more than the very disappointing Paranormal Activity 3 and I liked the direction it took more and this one was just more unsettling and better executed and a more disturbing story. Worth a look just don't expect something with tons of jump scares just more shock value. 6.3 out of 10

This is bad, really bad

[aslan-demirors · 1/10 · 24 July 2011]

I love the movies from first person view, i.e. someone holding the camera. Unfortionally this movie is one and a half hour of terror, terror of my time. This must be the worst movie ever. The problem with this movie is that nothing really happens. I had to fast forward the whole movie, or was close to not seeing at all. To make this kind of movie scary the watcher has to be afraid of what is coming. But the characters is just running around with a shaky camera, so if you have problem with dizziness don't watch this movie. If you want to see a really scary movie, see REC instead, also in Spanish. There is also an American version, that has a lower rate, but I think they are almost the same. Or see Paranormal activity. The story goes slow there too, but much more happens, which will capture the viewers interest.

Another Garbage Made with Hand-Held Camera

[claudio_carvalho · 1/10 · 24 July 2011]

Cristian and his sister July travel from Madrid to Sitges, El Garraf, to spend the Holy Week with their parents and their little brother in an old house of their family. They learn the legend of Melinda, a girl wearing a red dress that gets lost in the labyrinth nearby the house and helps people that also get lost in the spot. When they arrive, Carlos, who is a friend of their parents, visits the Quitanilla family and tells that there are different versions of the legend. July and Cristian uses two hand-held camera to visit the labyrinth and investigate the mystery of Melinda. One night, their brother José vanishes and something evil happens with the family.

"Atrocious" is another garbage made with hand-held camera. This crap is among the worse films that I have ever seen and I am not going to spend my leisure time writing about it. My vote is one (awful).

Title (Brazil): "O Misterioso Assassinato de uma Família" ("The Mysterious Murder of a Family")

Not as bad as some found footage movies, but did not live up to it's potential.

[tstaruch · 6/10 · 3 July 2014]

I am a fan of found footage films because if they are done right, they can be very scary. "Atrocious" definitely has some tense, scary moments but basically you're always waiting for something that never happens. Tension is one thing, but you need a payoff at some point.

My main problem with this film is that it falls victim to the same problem that many other found footage films have. Which is, why in the world would you be holding on to a camera at that particular moment? You're running, likely for your life, and you're actually thinking about capturing the moment? I am willing to let a lot of things go when I watch a movie, but this just bothers me every time.

Secondly, it seems that the writers and director were unsure as to what to do with the plot. Is this the story of a terrifying urban legend, or is it something else? Overall, I think it's worth a look, mainly because you're only investing a little over an hour of your time, but don't expect anything amazing.

Screw the haters this was great, Spain proves they're strong with hand-camera horrors

[Chaosmetal69 · 9/10 · 26 September 2011]

First off to the reviewer complaining that it was too long the whole thing was an hour and 10 minutes! Have some patience It's one of the shortest movies i've ever watched!

This movie is about a family that owns a house out in the countryside of Spain. There is a legend involving the maze that is attached to their house. However the kids who are curious types are forbidden from their father from going in there.

Being a huge fan of hand camera horrors I was eager to discover this little gem. It's short and to the point before you know it. I have seen various ones such as Noroi, rec, etc, i am a veteran in this vein so take it from me it's good!

The thing I liked the most about it was it was very realistic feeling and very intense and creepy and at one point when they're in the woods I checked how much time was left on the movie cause i was anticipating a scare in one scene and I rarely do that with movies unless they're scary

Bottom line is, if you like hand camera horrors, realistic scenes and tense feelings with goose bumps watch this now and enjoy it! you won't be disappointed.

People on IMDb tend to rate hand camera horrors really low for some reason but I think most people that review and hate on them don't actually like that "genre"

To create a great environment for this type of movie: turn the lights out, watch on a big screen, and by yourself its only 70 minutes who cares if you're alone. I guarantee you if you set that formula up for yourself you'll be wide awake after like I am.

Not that bad POV movie

[BloedEnMelk · 6/10 · 20 January 2012]

Despite the mostly negative reviews, Atrocious is actually not thát bad. I enjoyed it more than I expected, maybe because my expectations were low.

The good: The setting was pretty good, I loved the house and the labyrinth (sigh, I wish I lived in such a place) and though it started out a bit dull and has it's predictable bits, there are a few enjoyable creepy moments. I was pretty happy to see that the end was not what I expected, and better than what I did expect. An other good thing is the brutality shown through the police photo's. You don't see anything really happen, but at the end the police files combined with the basement video make up for that and fill in the hole your imagination was still left with.

The bad: It's not a movie to watch when you suffer from motion sickness. I do have a sensitive stomach for movements and I thought it was only just bearable. That's one of the weaknesses of many 'Found Footage' movies, the shaky camera-work is just too much overdone. OK, when you are running you won't ever have a steady shot, but in the beginning of the movie one would expect at least a bit more of a steady hand. So that was actually pretty annoying. An other bad is that some bits are just too long, without anything happening, which makes you want to reach for the fast-forward button. There was too much darkness, and too much running through the night (yep, darkness, and night vision which shows nothing but trees). One last bad thing is the subtitling. I am not sure if I just had a bad version, but my, did it suck. All Spanish cursing was translated as 'drugs' which gives you a fair idea of the skills of the people who did the subbing.

I'm a bit left in the dark (pardon me the bad pun) when it comes to rating this movie. It has a lot of flaws, but the ending does make up for it, and I have seen worse Found Footage movies (like Paranormal Activity). Anyway, my advise would be to set your expectations low, and then you might even enjoy it like I did.

Annoying characters, bad performances, terrible camera shake

[elleodelagente · 2/10 · 26 May 2014]

I usually don't write reviews but I wanted to warn anyone that may be planning to watch this movie.

A 5 in this type of movies is not that bad, so I decided to watch it, knowing it wasn't going to be great, but I was in for some cheap thrills.

Truth is, this movie is terrible. The characters are annoying, the only thing they do is shout and freak out and shout, even about their everyday things. The main character is a scumbag...there I said it. It's impossible to empathize with any of these characters.

But they are not the usual level of annoying (for this type of movie), they have take it to the next level. Apparently it was the debut for some of these kids and they needed to let all their emotions out.

No need to mention that the story is bland. That's not so important I guess, since this movies are all about atmosphere and not really intricate plot twists.

The worst part though, is the camera shakes. They tried to make it believable by adding twice the shake (and zoom) as in the usual found footage movies. I don't need to tell you that the results are the worst I have ever seen. It's hard (if not impossible) to know what's going on, at some point I thought this movie was going to give me a seizure.

Conclusion: be warned, don't waste your time, this movie isn't worth 5 minutes of your time even if someone pays you to watch it.

the title says it all . . .

[naraeol · 1/10 · 12 November 2017]

Such a nice location, the house as well as the outsides, and this is all they came up with . . .

I ended up skipping through it at some point because it didn't just bore me, but actually made me mad. The last 15 minutes don't warrant for an hour of pure senseless boredom. If they were trying to build up tension, they failed . . .

If you actually want to sit through this, make sure you get a dubbed version - I now know how aggravating I find the Spanish language.

Really not good

[dutchirishmyfatherwasfromwales · 2/10 · 7 April 2022]

This film has really nothing going for it. These found footage films often deliver because the viewer is so close to the action. This film however often times feels comical, theateically over the top so that you do not get any real feeling of fear or dread plus nothing really happens.....so they fail on building tension and do not deliver scares. That is a bad resumee of a horror film.

Crap

[llosa-josue · 1/10 · 1 February 2020]

It os ridicolous from the very beginning to the end. Nobody can understand why the two siblings have to film constantly everything they see. Even in the most horrible situations they keep filming. It is a stupidity.

one of the weakest of all the found-footage movie

[atinder · 2/10 · 19 December 2011]

There not much I can say about this, I did not like it at all.

Yes, this yet another Found footage horror movie but this time it's of Spain.

The story is focuses on the case of a brother and sister who investigate a local urban myth , while on holiday, resulting in strange occurrences at the family's summer house.

The most of the movies is about walking few Maze and nothing happens at all, there were no suspense or atmosphere in any of the movie.

The acting is movie, Well you guessed it, It was really bad and what makes worse, you can stand, one single character in this movie

By the end, I was not really paying too much attention to movie as I just wanted the movie to end, there was a plot twist at the end, Which I didn't really understand at all.

With all bad stuff out the way, there maybe just one good I can say this movie, That some of scene in the very dark cellar, can be a little creepy.

BeCause of that One scene, I am going to Give this movie 2 out of 10

OK film, but not for the price of admission.

[spoilingfilms · 6/10 · 21 August 2011]

The film had very good potential to be a solid scare, however the distributor decided to wrap this movie into a Paranormal Activity type hype. Releasing the movie in limited screens and available for midnight showings,even the font used in the film was Paranormal Activity related. However they tried to wrap this present with Paranormal Activity paper, it was not close to what the mentioned film was. Instead you get a very quickly paced, poorly made mess. Picture if you will if your baby brother was giving a camera, he was told to run around in circles breathing very heavily close to the mic. That's what you get in Atrocious, the only reason I give it a five is because it had a twist ending that threw me off.

Motion sickness

[ferdmalenfant · 1/10 · 14 October 2020]

This movie was so annoying to watch. The hand held camera work was so bad, like watching a pirated copy of a blockbuster without a good script, good actors or editing. Save yourself the grief I endured right up to the ending.

interesting

[nightwatch4773 · 5/10 · 12 March 2013]

Spanish entry into the found footage sub genre is a pretty chilling ride but it just takes forever to get going. At least the payoff is worth it not like rubbish found footage films like Episode 50 and the Bucks County Massacre where nothing happens. Atrocious is well shot and there are likable characters on board. add to the macabre decor the Spanish language with English subtitles and viola you have a good entry in the found footage genre. I can't give this more than the average mark of five just because it almost puts you into a coma until the last 15 minutes. Nowhere near as good as Evil things, the tunnel or paranormal entity but still nonetheless not bad.

Looks Good, But Just Has Nothing Happening

[gavin6942 · 4/10 · 12 October 2012]

The Quintanilla family was found dead and recorded evidence was discovered by the police. Then, a production company acquires the confidential material and edits it into a horror movie.

Obviously, this is a "Blair Witch Project" knockoff. Kids investigating an urban legend in the woods after interviewing a local who knows something about it. I should not even have to say it, but I feel like not saying it would be letting them off the hook for their derivative story.

However, unlike the Blair Witch, there is pretty much no way anyone would believe this was really a pair of kids with cameras. We have to ask, why do they always have cameras? Even when just sitting around, the cameras are on. When they are being chased, and probably have better things to do than worry about filming, the cameras are on. And the quality of the filming just looks too good.

I will give them credit for a really clever original twist (which I shall not reveal). This could have been just another ghost story with hand-held cameras, but they made it something more. Maybe they should not have... but it works, in my opinion.

Really could've been great, but wasted opportunity

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 6/10 · 29 October 2012]

After arriving at their family's mansion home in the wilderness, a guy and his friends decide to investigate the local legend of a ghostly woman in the area only to come upon something far more sinister than any legend.

This here managed to be quite a troubling effort, more so for the potential on display rather than the actual results. The fact that this one starts off with a rather creepy ghostly mystery is pretty nice, with a simple-enough folk-tale that could've been started in any small town in the world has a nice way to go about getting it's start, and with the creepy house and woodland setting where this takes place, it has a creepy, chilling vibe that's found in most of these ghostly haunting films. As well, some of the scenes are quite creepy, with the death of the dog, the attack on the sister in the gazebo and finally the house stalking provide this with some generally enjoyable scenes that can generate some nice shocks. However, there's several things that undermine this, not the least of which is the found-footage angle this employs, which means that a lot of the scenes captured never really should have because trying to hold a video camera up to capture them during such moments is quite ludicrous, unless it happens to them you can't see anything so a lot of time is spent running from something we can't see and thus nothing happens, and then the final reel is so insanely stupid it knocks a lot off the film right off the bat. It's also so short that hardly anything happens as well, a product of the camera style and as well really hurts this one, a shame with the potential offered.

Rated R: Violence, Language and violence-against-animals.

Spooky Spanish found footage horror

[victoryismineblast · 8/10 · 18 January 2014]

Two teenagers on vacation with their younger brother and parents bring cameras to their summer house in Spain in the hopes of catching some paranormal footage. They decide to explore the supposedly haunted labyrinthine series of paths in the densely wooded area adjacent to their house.

Strange things start happening, and a disappearance sets a chain of horrific events in motion.

The nighttime sequences in the heavily forested areas are claustrophobic and ominous, with a Blair Witch type feeling of dread as to what's out there in the dark.

The last half hour of this one is horrific at times and very frightening. One of the things I liked about this movie is that unlike a lot of other found footage entries nowadays, it didn't leave everything ambiguous at the end. I've enjoyed a lot of the open ended ones, but it's nice to have some variety.

Spain has given the world quite a bounty of well made horror films, and this one is no exception.

Another great horror movie from Spain!

[Movie_Master_Swe · 9/10 · 27 June 2012]

Okey so I sat there all alone in the late night after work just finished watching Rec 2 and felt a need for another movie in the same genre. I searched the whole net when i suddenly stumbled upon this great movie. I didn't have so high thoughts about it when i saw the trailer but i gave it a try. First half of the movie is brilliant, you really get to know the intense story and start to fear of what to come and you get to really know the people in the movie, and when the horror finally begins..omg I was so scared!

When i saw the IMDb sore 4.9 i felt i had to do something! I gave it a 9 in the genre of horror. Its not on my top 20 list of greatest movies ever but in the genre horror it is number 1 without a doubt!

It gets to you, it eats you up from inside and make you wanna scream, its so intense i had to pause it for five minutes and catch my breath.

I loved this movie and I know you will love it to.

see it if you dare ;)

Actually a great mystery

[viciouslyincompetent · 8/10 · 30 June 2012]

While watching Atrocious, my expectations were low - probably because I have been desensitised by the slew of found footage horror movies that have cropped up in the last 10 years starting with the Blair Witch project and culminating with the Paranormal Activity trilogy. I am certainly a fan of the genre - Rec 1 & 2 (Spanish version) are two of the best examples of this type of film.

Rest assured however that even though this film is quite slow most of the way through with unpacking the story and the camera work is extremely shaky the overall experience is entirely worthwhile - it will make you feel suitably foolish (as I did) for having made assumptions about what kind of a movie you were watching.

Good things come to those who wait, and I am eager to see more from a genuinely smart horror auteur like Mr. Luna.

the best pov horror movie that looks real

[xveseljakx · 9/10 · 22 July 2018]

Hello all first i would like to explain you why is this movie looks so real ,couse there is no fake ghosts like in paranormal activity,It has the same atmosphere like the blair witch project nothing happens till the end and that is reality.Similar movie is as above so below nothing till the end and that is masterpiece storyline.

So this movie is one of the best made with pov camera along blair witch.And once again the point is waiting and waiting and than boom not just jumping from the seat all of the time and slashing the people in film.the point is story not gore.

At least my recommendation is Asian horror movies with pov cams lot more scarier and realistic than US movies.

A Spanish hidden gem

[blaineyuan0204 · 8/10 · 30 December 2017]

Spain has proved its aptitude for found footage films with magnum opus such as the REC franchise. This time it didn't disappoint, either.

Atrocious is centered on a pair of siblings who are bent on uncovering the secrets behind the weird happenings around their family's vacation home. Admittedly it lacks the gore factors and intense action sequences representative of the REC franchise, and instead focuses on a more mundane approach. Yet, the end result is arguably as hair-raising as, if not more thrilling than, its precursor. The location of the vacation house is so well-chosen that its creepiness and isolatedness add to the scare factors of this movie. Those two actors playing the siblings gave believable performances as a real-life brother and sister duo whose curiosities may get way out of hand. And to top it all off, the most outstanding selling point of Atrocious lies within its final reveal, which I'm fairly sure is nearly impossible for most viewers to figure out beforehand, and which I guarantee will scramble most viewers' minds on a spiritual level.

As to the grivance that the woods scenes stretch too long, I would say different strokes for different folks. For me it was right up my alley. I was practially at the edge of my seat as those sequences unfolded, biting my nails worrying about anything sinister should jump out at any moment. Plus they definitely add to the "realness" of those "found footages".

In a nutshell, Atrocious is another found footage masterpiece put together by talented Spanish filmmakers and I recommend anyone interested in this sub-genre give it a try.