Please note that this review is for the Argentinian horror film Terrified and not 2016 American slasher Terrifier.

Aura Films

As part of their year-long film festival of Neo-noir and foreign horror movies, yesterday Film Geeks San Diego presented Terrified by Argentinian writer/director Demian Rugna. Expanded from a short film inspired by the director’s nightmare of something under the bed, Terrified follows a sequence of seemingly unconnected supernatural occurrences in a quiet neighborhood of an Argentinian city. Told from different points of view and from different points within the story’s timeline, though without chapter markers as in the recent Weapons, Terrified skillfully weaves the separate threads together with the use of a team of paranormal investigators, experienced and mature persons who turn out to be wholly unprepared for the nature and scope of the neighborhood’s troubles. The film ends with only vague answers to the hauntings and deaths, making the supernatural threats more intense by not giving the audience a pat reason and set of rules that would return balance to the universe.

I quite enjoyed Terrified, finding it a film that, while it presented truly horrifying images and sequences, at its heart it has a connection with humanity and community. The festival actually presented a double feature of Argentinian horror movies yesterday. The second feature was a zombie comedy. However, because it was shot on consumer-grade video with handheld cameras, it threatened to ignite a migraine, and I left shortly after it started.

Terrified is currently available on streaming and video on demand.