Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘The Abandoned’

Written by Scott Edwards

After getting a new job, your stomach is always filled with butterflies, especially on your first day. Having to be shown the ropes may seem tedious to some people, but it is essential to know what you are doing. Wanting to fit right in from the get-go is the plan, but it does not always work that way as your new co-workers might be completely different than your past ones, and you never know who you can talk to or who you are allowed to joke with. Getting to know your new building, your co-workers and especially your new kitchen is essential, since these are the things you will be forced to depend upon when the spit hits the fan.

Streak has arrived at her new job as a night time security guard at an abandoned apartment complex. Getting a quick tour from her boss, she gets a good look at the lay of the land and makes her way to the control center and meets her partner for the night, Cooper. After brief introductions, Cooper tells the young guard that she will be gone by the end of the week, since she is not made out for this kind of work, but knowing that she has to make it, for herself and her daughter, the job will be hers until she decides to leave. 

Getting fed up with Cooper’s commentary, Streak takes her first patrol around the building but gets trapped in the elevator. As Cooper is harassing her over the radio, Streak hears something strange outside of the car and thinks that there is someone else in the old building. While looking around and seeing how beautiful the rundown building really is, she is surprised that nobody has ever lived there. Cooper knows the history and lets her know that it was due to lack of funding and the building was never fully completed. Returning to her post after the first patrol, Streak finds out that some of the cameras are not working and decides to try and fix them to Cooper’s dismay. Proving the older guard wrong, Streak finds a locked door in the basement and believes that there is someone behind it. 

As a storm is moving in, Cooper and Streak get an uninvited guest when a homeless man comes banging on the door. Jim just needs a place to stay the night with his dog and promising to be no trouble, but he is a little bit off of his rocker. Streak returns to the locked door and is able to open it and enters the bowels of the old building and has a feeling that she will find someone living in it. Seeing things, she cannot believe, she gets trapped in the bunker and only Cooper can save her from certain death. Returning to her post once again, Streak pulls up the history of the building and finds out it was a medical ward and all of the orphaned kids were banished to the basement without help of any sort. Now knowing that there are ghosts in the basement, Streak needs to shut the door before they are able to take over the building, but Cooper has other ideas and does not believe what his rookie is telling him… at all.

This movie had me glued to the television after I saw who was playing Cooper. Then the interactions between Cooper and Streak were just fantastic and I could not believe how many daily conversations could be crammed into one night shift at this building. I really dug the history of the building and what happened in the basement so many years ago and how it really captured my imagination about what might happen to the characters if the ghosts got out. The ending however seemed to have gotten away from the filmmakers as you jump from rabbit hole to rabbit hole and see the same old things and pray that the movie does not end how you know it will. I am not a fan of double or triple twist endings, so this one felt pretty blah to me, but some people like that, so I will not try to steer them wrong. Stay Scared.

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