For this one I decided to check the only title on Shudder's 101 Scariest Movie Moments Of All Time that I hadn't seen. As luck would have it, it starts with the letter T.
Two professors and a cop investigate strange occurrences in a Buenos Aries neighbourhood.
As I was expecting, this one was quite a banger. Taken at face value, it would be indistinguishable from the mainstream Hollywood dreck in this vein - it's probably why I didn't watch it until now - and that's a shame because Demián Rugna has the chops to make this type of material sing.
Terrified is not only a matter of quality, but quantity. With a movie like this, you are happy if you get one or two really good set pieces or striking visuals, but this movie has a bag full of tricks. There's not only that terrific example of restraint in that scene at the kitchen table that they talk about in the 101, but a few other really clever scares that beautifully use misdirection. I did jump more than once.
This movie utilizes a narrative of inescapable dread much like Ju-on: The Grudge. It is not just haunting a person or a house, but everyone it comes in contact with. Additionally, we never truly understand the origin or motivation of the presence and that makes it all the more nihilistic.
Terrified is every bit as spooky and assured as its North American counterparts and currently available on Shudder so don't sleep on it!
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