User Reviews

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 .

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.

Written directly for the screen this horror film has a captivating and staggering story. Almost every scene from beginning till ending is full of action and tension sequences, which are done by good camera work. Its way of storytelling is very smooth. I watched it with subtitles; even though the script is very substantial, it isn't necessary to follow up each conversation. The dialogue and connection which Pablo and Malena established together magnetizes the full attention from the viewer, since their body language and gestures were complementary with the screenplay.

The story takes place in August 2001 in Argentina. Pablo and Malena, who are in their mid-20s', are siblings from a dysfunctional family. Their father whom Pablo never seen in his life before, is in coma. They visit him and Malena introduces him to Pablo. Malena has grown hatred for his father, for he served under Anti-Communist Dictatorship of the Argentinian army to quench the communist movement torturing thousands of innocents, instead of looking after his family. There is a huge question mark here: Why are all the communists introduced as innocents in this film?

The frightening fact here is that when Pablo and Malena think that their father is helpless in coma, he turns out to be more powerful than he was alive. His spirit continues to torture the restless souls of the dead innocents. He has written a detailed diary including how he tortured the families of communist vanguards when he was young. In return to his weakened body, he bargains with one or more daemons to continue on his dictatorship mission. One of the daemons in the look of a little girl finds this diary from where he hided away. Then Pablo, the curious and adventurous one of the siblings, gets this diary from that daemon, assuming that it was something the little girl lost. So the daemon begins to bugger around Pablo and Malena. The diary which has the curse of the daemon brings only trouble to them.

Aparecidos has the meaning for "Seen versus Disappeared". Who is seen is the Dictatorship regime runners, and who is disappeared is the slaughtered rebels against this regime. Soon, Pablo and Malena read the diary and start a journey to save the victims of the murderers. One of the communist vanguards ,who has never been captured by the police due to the lack of evidence, has been killed with his pregnant wife and little daughter in the hands of Pablo and Malena's father. Daemon completes the bargain with continuously torturing the wife and the daughter's souls.

When you feel like you accomplished something, you think that you must be happy and be proud. Then suddenly you realize that you didn't accomplish anything; the confusion in your mind and senses leads you realize the fact that you just decoded something hidden. That was Pablo's confusion in the movie. When he was explaining to her sister what he was really trying to do, he says that he was gone out of his mind and trying to save someone whoever is dead already. Every night at the same hour in the same motel in the same room, the same murder takes place involving the same dead corpses continuously for the last 20 years. Who are you going to save? Save a dead tonight. Amazing concept, isn't it?

Mystery with supernatural overtones about a brother and sister who go to sign off on the impending death of their father in a hospital. Complications almost instantly arise ("We were only suppose to sign papers, not see him" balks the girl). While traveling after signing the papers they discover discover an old diary and some pictures, things which tell the story of a serial killer, a killer that may still be operating. I've completely botched that and to be perfectly honest short of reading a straight synopsis there is no way, none, to really describe this film. Its a film that refuses to go in any direction except its own. It plays with reality, refuses to adhere to conventions and tells a story that only completely makes sense when you get to the end of it... and in my case its the sort of thing I know I need to see again to get a handle on. I have no idea if I liked it or not. I know that my insistence that the film be a certain something had me working against it. Thats not the way to enjoy this film, its something that you have to let take you where it wants to take you. Can I recommend it? Certainly if you're willing to let it go and do. I do like bits of it, and there are bits I'm not crazy about, but at the same time any film that makes me want to watch it again (even if its to work out what I just saw) is worth a shot.

If you are looking for the usual horror movie with plenty of blood and teenagers killing,this is not your cup of tea.This is not a mindless childish work ;there are two characters of flesh and blood and we get to know them quite well before the "horror "begins.More than a horror movie,it is a psychological drama as well as a political work:how hangmen get rid of people-who-do-not-properly-think " ,says the torturer ,how those commies who do not believe in God implore Him when their life is at stake!Pablo is an idealist ,his adventures are a transparent metaphor of how he wants to change history;his sister ,we learn it between her lines- knows from the start there is nothing to do for people from the past ;everything is illusion.The last pictures leave us only one hope :"let that never happen again!"

The movie displays a strong Amenabar influence ,but the screenplay ,marred by many plot holes ,lacks rigor.However,"Aparecidos" is a good example of serious adult horror movie

A real creep of a 20 year old guy and his long-suffering older sister set off on a road trip to their childhood home while their father lies brain dead on life support. The young man refuses to sign the contract to remove their father from life-support unless the sister agrees to the road trip.

Somehow, the guy finds a twenty year old diary behind the tire of their dad's old car. I guess like many people he's intrigued by the story and directs his sister to stay at this old hotel for a night. A murder took place there in 1980 (the film is set in 2001) and you know, he wants to explore this potentially haunted murder scene.

Except the murder happens again, that night, while they're staying there. This is where the movie gets incredibly stupid.

Brother and sister leave the hotel without notifying the front desk that there's a murder in the hotel. I guess you could attribute that to their fear and panic, but later they stop on the road to help the pregnant mother and child who got away. But while they're waving to the victims to join them in their car, the murderer shows up in his nasty old pick-up truck and apprehends them, including hitting the girl with the car.

At this point you'd think the siblings would go back to the hotel and get help, or call the police on their cell phones...instead they follow the murderer and the two victims to an old warehouse (that is exactly like it is in the old diary). They manage to get away, but not before seeing the woman and the girl tied up and getting dragged away by the killer.

The movie becomes unbearably unwatchable just a couple of scenes later, when they see the murderer's truck at a gas station and diner where they stop. Instead of screaming for help, the brother saves the little girl (but not the mom) and they drive away with her.

The murderer rams their car along the road chasing them down to retrieve the child, and conveniently there's another diner there with a bar. Do they ask for help this time? Nope. And the sister starts to call the police - but then stops worried that they'll be accused of kidnapping the little girl.

WHAT? Nobody freaking acts this way. It's so far beyond the regular horror movie bad decisions. People usually make bad decisions in horror movies because they are afraid, and people who are terrified don't think clearly (similarly to angry people). Also, often times people aren't at all prepared for what happens in a horror flick - it catches them by surprise. And that's realistic. It's not like serial killers or evil demons announce themselves before catching you unawares in your pajamas or high heels.

But none of these excuses can be applied to this bizarre movie. It may be symbolic and about Argentina, maybe it has to be watched in a particular sociological or political context, but as a horror movie it really sucks.

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.