Aparecidos (2007) Reviews

• Pretty good supernatural horror film concerning two brothers find a creepy diary about killings committed 20 years ago

  ma-cortes2015-07-14

  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 .

• A political horror film

  joelmp2011-09-02

  A sincere political horror film -- pretty much one of a kind -- that tries to highlight the tortuous past of Argentina's "missing" period. Unfortunately, the horror elements don't work too well, though there are some scares. The biggest fault is the protagonists acting even more implausibly than in your run of the mill Grade B horror flick. That said, the film effectively conjures the horror of the many disappeared in Argentina in that period. And I guess if you're making a film to condemn the torturers who ran Argentina at the time, having "Saw" like gruesomeness is understandable. The final shot of the film is truly haunting, but it's a long road getting there.

• APARECIDOS (dir. Paco Cabezas, 2007)

  suspiria562011-05-23

  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.

• Risky and different

  internationallyborn2010-01-15

  Let me start out by saying that I gave it a 7/10 due to the misleading "horror" movie this film is supposed to be(?). I don't know if the horror genre with this movie is the way to go. Another review calls it a "horror with a supernatural twist/thriller within a mystery", I'd leave out the horror part and say it describes it perfectly. That being said, I enjoyed it for the most part, as it was entertaining and had unexpected twists (with some old horror movie ingredients). It's a different way to tackle some social-political issues that have been left unresolved in Argentina. Very BOLD in terms of how the subject matter was dealt with (one of the other reasons I gave it a fairly high rating). I feel I need to clarify points, misunderstandings the movie may've caused others who've seen it: 1. There is NO mention of any political affiliation of the parents in the film. There is only a blatant assumption that they're communist by the doctor. You must take into account that in the 1976-1982 dictatorship, the communists weren't the only ones targeted. There were socialists, Christian-democrats, Peronists, unionists, liberals, activists (in general) etc. And anyone who had significant ties or any ties for that matter, or simply questioned the regime would be considered suspicious, not to mention a potential target. 2. Where is there in the film any hint of a communist vanguard and what lack of evidence? If you refer to the woman telling the Malena about her experiences and the fact that one of her friends disappeared because he went to a "marcha" (protest-march), please refer to point Nº1. 3.The movie was filmed in Argentina: The City of Buenos Aires and in the Patagonia. The Castilian "dialect" is rioplatense (spoken in Uruguay and Argentina). The end was the part that most impacted (me, at least) as the siblings were now able to see all the ghosts of the people who were "missing" (keep in mind in Spanish "missing" and "disappeared" in this case are the same word=desaparecido/s). Aparecidos= (the) Appeared. For this reason I felt the title was perfect and the ending not only appropriate, but surprising, non-conventional, in a very good way.

• Important political message buried in entertaining ghost story

  Ketzel2009-12-22

  Highly entertaining ghost story with many plot twists and turns. This film is unpredictable and offbeat. Ultimately, it is a plea to stop the torture and murder of civilians who suffer under repressive political regimes. This message should be applied equally to the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany, Communists in Argentina in 1981 or Iraqis in Guatanamo Bay in 2009. There are a few places in the film where it doesn't work well if you try to consider it logically, so don't look at it logically. Just follow the story where it wants to take you and you will be rewarded. I watched this because it was billed as a ghost story, but I enjoyed this film on so many other levels.