Frequenting the Cabell County Public library with my son to look for the latest Dogman or Investigators, we also like to check out their amazing selection of horror DVDs. For the longest time they had collected their horror for easy Halloween viewing, and it was very popular for those that knew they were separate from the other movie offerings. Alas, they have returned them to where they belong, but luckily still have the spine stickers available on the older stock. Newer horror movies might need to be investigated further than the spine to locate it as part of their horror collection.

But this is part of the fun. It brings back the memories of 8th Street Video Store (my local movie rental place) and eventually BlockBuster 10th street. If the main library doesn’t have the movie, they will borrow it from one of their other branches for free if I want to wait a few days, or I could drive to the branch that has it, much like my dad would drive to MovieMax(?) in Ceredo Plaza or take us to that one video rental place downtown that carried Evil Dead and had an extensive porn collection that wasn’t as curtained off as it should have been. I wasn’t aware of this part until I was much older and had my own account renting Woody Allen films for an English 102 class, but by that time there was the internet so I never went down that aisle.

Hell, the library even carries video games now so the connection to old school video stores is even more real. And the best part is: I DON’T HAVE TO PAY! You can even check out up to I think 10 movies at a time and one video game per account (which is totally reasonable).

But anyway, I’m rambling and if it’s one thing I know readers hate, it’s a blogger who goes on and on before they get to the shit you actually came to read. 

But this is a special review as it is the first in Quill and Leaf’s A to Z Horror: featuring movies in circulation at Cabell County Public Library.

Tonight’s feature film: Abandoned (2022) starring Emma Roberts and Michael Shannon and directed by Spencer Squire.

Emma Roberts has made a name for herself in horror projects and for good reason. She’s a great actress and every role I’ve seen her in, outside of Nancy Drew seems to have been written just for her.  Even when she is playing over the top caricatures and cliché tropes you believe it and accept it. 

In this film she portrays a woman who just had a child and is going through some postpartum depression and has a husband who is very inside his own head and not sympathetic to her mental health. They are house shopping and find the perfect home (for him at least) at a decent price point because it just so happens to be the site of a double homicide/suicide forty years prior, which we witness at the opening. 

Roberts shares some cockiness in make a deal for the house that made me as a horror fan know that she was going to regret saying those words. 

And she totally does as she starts diving further into the pits of depression. We also see that the husband is kind of paying attention and knows that he needs to be there for her, but also, I feel like he’s trying to run away. Like, everytime the baby cries he gives the child to his wife and goes somewhere. Like of course her depression isn’t getting better, there is a frequency being screamed that is preventing any respite. Overall, it gives off heavy Yellow Wallpaper vibes.

There’s also the mysterious neighbor played by Michael Shannon. He is our connection to the past and insight into the previous family (who was a mother who murdered her child and her father and then herself). I think we aren’t supposed to know that Michael Shannon is the woman’s other child that was “abandoned” when she did so, but it kind of foretells the third time we see him.

Visually the film is very subdued in its pallet. We get lots of dark and neutral textures like wood moulding, cribs, and curtains mixed with pale colors in lighting or wall paper or lampshades. It brings out the yellows to hit on that postpartum theme. I wouldn’t be surprised if people smarter than me haven’t already made the connection. It’s definitely not subtext the further you get into the film. And the further we accept her depression we start questioning if the haunting is real or if she’s hallucinating from stress and trauma and depression. 

Then there’s the question of Michael Shannon and his role. Aka, the incest sub plot. Which, I honestly feel like we could do with a lot less of. I also don’t understand the necessity except to make us understand what could be so horrible of a situation to do double homicide and suicide and leave behind a child. I want there to be something else. Why is there a supposed supernatural element going on? Make it connect with the sick pigs because that just seems to be added in to give the husband something to do and show how he kind of adds to all of the drama by also not admitting that maybe he needs help too and just kind of being a selfish person.

If you are hoping that act 3 is going to ramp up and answer all your questions, you are going to be severely disappointed. While things do ramp up with the tension and what seems to be our climax, we are only left with more questions. Honestly, I might have to rewatch the last 30 minutes again because we were setting up so many storylines, and then *BAM* depression cured and pregnant with possibly Michael Shannon’s baby?

I don’t know.

I enjoyed a lot about the beginning of this movie, but it just kind of fell flat in the end. A lot of themes and metaphors are clearly outlined and told to the viewer, and there are some really solid moments that warrant this not being a total waste. If it weren’t for the star power of Emma Roberts and Michael Shannon, this would be a pass. They are clearly where the budget was spent as it takes place in a single location easily built on a soundstage and there’s no recognizable music or special effects to really eat into the budget.

If you enjoy haunted house style movies and don’t mind an incest subplot, Emma Roberts and Michael Shannon do what best they can in a story that has more questions than answers. 

⭐️⭐️

Check it out from the Cabell County Public Library

https://cabellcounty.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/test

*THIS POST AND THE A to Z Horror REVIEWS ARE NOT PROVIDED, ENDORSED, or SPONSORED by Cabell County Public Library*