In "Aterrados", we see different supernatural events taking place in the suburbs of an unnamed Buenos Aires town. The first eerie events occur inside the house of a young couple, who find their home invaded by a strange invisible presence. One night, the woman is violently attacked by this supernatural force, resulting in her death, for which her husband is later hold accountable. In a different place, a young boy meets a gruesome death after being hit by a bus, only to rise from the dead and return to his home in a state of decomposition. Finally, a young man desperately seeks professional help after being harassed by a ghost-like creature that wanders around his house during the night.
A police officer, a sheriff and two investigators of paranormal events step in to find out what the heck is going on with these cases, given that these strange events took place in different locations, but in the same block, which, clearly, cannot be a coincidence.
"Aterrados" is a film that gently makes the effort to give the audience a quality product and given the modest budget, this is very much appreciated. However, Demián Rugna, who both directed and wrote the film, fails to tie all the loose ends of what initially promises a somewhat polished story. While the second half provides a nice amount of gruesome imagery and some surprisingly decent special effects, the story falls short, by failing to provide solid answers to understand the paranormal events that take place in this particular area. The only explanation that we briefly get from one of the investigators is that water has something to do with this gruesome mess. Apparently, water contains microorganisms that connect the realms of the dead and the living. So, initially, only Walter's house is inhabited by supernatural entities and it is the source of all the tragic events that occur throughout the film (for example: the boy drinks water from an outdoor faucet, which eventually possesses him and the neighbor couple come in contact with the water, as a result of the home renovations done by Walter). Other than that, we don't really know what these supernatural entities are up to and we don't quite get an explanation regarding their nature. At some point, it is mentioned that these forces crave for blood, which provides them with a vampire-like quality, I suppose. Be that as it may, the explanations are unsatisfying. Is there a particular force, entity or presence responsible for everything that happened? Ghosts stories are usually annoyingly similar when it comes to give us a climax with an explanation regarding the supernatural events, but I would have gladly accepted a cliché over nothing. While some directors manage to get away with a convoluted story that doesn't tie all the lose ends, they provide a strong dream-like atmosphere that makes up for the messiness, which Rugna fails to provide in this particular film. In a film directed by Fulci, the stylish cinematography compensates the lack of a solid plot full of loose ends... Rugna cannot afford to do that, at least in this case.
Though I personally didn't care for it that much, "Aterrados" is not exactly a bad flick. It manages to stay away from any type of unintended hilarity and Rugna shows a lot of potential by creating genuinely disturbing moments of tension, which is crucial in a horror flick. The gruesome imagery, great photography and good camera work make this film worthy of, at least, a single watch (or maybe two, in case you want to make sure you didn't miss anything).
"Aterrados" is a film that gently makes the effort to give the audience a quality product and given the modest budget, this is very much appreciated. However, Demián Rugna, who both directed and wrote the film, fails to tie all the loose ends of what initially promises a somewhat polished story. While the second half provides a nice amount of gruesome imagery and some surprisingly decent special effects, the story falls short, by failing to provide solid answers to understand the paranormal events that take place in this particular area. The only explanation that we briefly get from one of the investigators is that water has something to do with this gruesome mess. Apparently, water contains microorganisms that connect the realms of the dead and the living. So, initially, only Walter's house is inhabited by supernatural entities and it is the source of all the tragic events that occur throughout the film (for example: the boy drinks water from an outdoor faucet, which eventually possesses him and the neighbor couple come in contact with the water, as a result of the home renovations done by Walter). Other than that, we don't really know what these supernatural entities are up to and we don't quite get an explanation regarding their nature. At some point, it is mentioned that these forces crave for blood, which provides them with a vampire-like quality, I suppose. Be that as it may, the explanations are unsatisfying. Is there a particular force, entity or presence responsible for everything that happened? Ghosts stories are usually annoyingly similar when it comes to give us a climax with an explanation regarding the supernatural events, but I would have gladly accepted a cliché over nothing. While some directors manage to get away with a convoluted story that doesn't tie all the lose ends, they provide a strong dream-like atmosphere that makes up for the messiness, which Rugna fails to provide in this particular film. In a film directed by Fulci, the stylish cinematography compensates the lack of a solid plot full of loose ends... Rugna cannot afford to do that, at least in this case.
Though I personally didn't care for it that much, "Aterrados" is not exactly a bad flick. It manages to stay away from any type of unintended hilarity and Rugna shows a lot of potential by creating genuinely disturbing moments of tension, which is crucial in a horror flick. The gruesome imagery, great photography and good camera work make this film worthy of, at least, a single watch (or maybe two, in case you want to make sure you didn't miss anything).