Welcome to the Attic, Buenos Dias.

*MINOR PLOT SPOILERS*

One of the scariest movies I’ve watched in recent years has to be Atrocious (2011). It is a foreign horror film from Spain, complete with subtitles. Now I know what many of you will be thinking, ‘how can a movie be scary if you have to read it?’ Well, the good news is, when it comes to horror anyway, the subtitles really don’t matter all that much once it gets going.

In 2010, a brother and sister duo that investigates and films urban legends is forced to go away with their family for Easter. They are not pleased about the seemingly boring trip, as it will be to a country house that has been abandoned for 10 years. But Cristian and July decide to try and make the best of it by investigating a local legend in the woods by the house. The story goes that a young girl in a red dress once got lost in the labyrinth of woods, and was never seen again. They say that if you get lost in those woods at night, she appears to show you the way out.

Cristian and July, along with their parents and younger brother, Jose, arrive at the house. A friend of their father’s, Carlos, stops by to see them, and he tells the older kids more about the story of the little girl who helps those who get lost. Now that doesn’t sound too scary, but apparently there are many variations of this legend. Some say the vision of this little girl is no helpful spirit at all, but rather the devil himself tricking people.

Much to the chagrin of their parents, the siblings keep going out into the labyrinth. It is a manmade maze out in the country, and easy to get lost in. The kids are fascinated by the tales and film their investigation every step of the way. One night, Cristian wakes to the sound of what he thinks may be the little girl. He decides to set up one of their cameras from inside their bedroom, and film the gate outside to the woods. The footage reveals their dog furiously barking at this gate. The dog soon goes missing, so they head into the maze outside to look for him, despite their mother’s insistence not to.

They are horrified to find a long trail of fresh blood, and come across the dog’s collar on the ground. The trail leads them to a well, where they are crushed to find the dog at the bottom of it, dead. That night, the next to go missing is their little brother, Jose. The mother hysterically runs upstairs and begs the older kids to help her find the young boy. She runs into the labyrinth and disappears. Cristian and July run in after her, but get separated. This is when the movie really gets scary,

There is a slow build to this one, but I like that sometimes. This is a foreign horror movie after all, and I think most of them have a better idea of how to draw you in slowly, and then crank up the fear at just the right time. Not to mention that aside from the bit of blood you do see, this isn’t some over-the-top gore fest. My favorite aspect of this movie is where the story turns here. You truly don’t expect the outcome that you get, and it is by far more disturbing and unnerving than anything you may be anticipating. This is one of those “Bloody Disgusting Selects” films, and it doesn’t disappoint. For those of you that aren’t aware, Bloody Disgusting is THE horror source on the web. Their reviews are pretty much always spot on, and my favorite contributor is Mr. Disgusting himself. I don’t think I have ever read a review of his that I didn’t agree with.

At the time this article is written and published, Atrocious can be found on Hulu Plus to stream here, and I highly advise you take advantage of it while it’s available. You can also rent it on Amazon’s Instant Video service. I can’t recommend this movie enough. While it is another in the long line of found footage movies, it also takes a surprising twist, and it’s scary as hell when it does.

Have you seen this movie yet? Any thoughts on it? Please feel free to share your opinions on The Attic post on our Enthusiacs forum here!

Stay scared,
Dark Princess