User reviews

'Abattoir' drew me into seeing it, with a cool poster/cover, an intriguing and quite creative premise and as someone with a general appreciation for horror. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there, made me though apprehensive.

It is sadly however yet another film seen recently, hence some reiteration because the exact same strengths and flaws are here present in those films, that to me was very weak, its worst elements being pretty awful, with a lot more wrong than right. 'Abattoir' is not great, or good, has a fair share of problems (fairly big ones too) and doesn't do enough with its potential, which was hardly small. There are however a few decent, even good, qualities in 'Abattoir'.

Lets start with the positives. The scenery is atmospheric, likewise with the very nice way it's shot. The music is suitably spooky and quirky and doesn't distract at all from the atmosphere, while not exactly enhancing it.

Found too that 'Abattoir' started off fairly promisingly with a few effectively spooky moments.

However, the story does feel over-stretched and some of it feels vague, under-explained in the last third where the film especially became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less scary it got. Too many characters are too sketchy and with nowhere near enough to make one want to endear to them. Their irritating and illogical decision making and behaviours insult the intelligence. Making the film feel bland and forgettable with not enough heart put into it. The acting is also terrible, particularly from the lead actress.

Dialogue can be stilted and rambling while the pace is uneven, dragging in a lot of the second half and never is it exciting. Found too many the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the supposedly creepy atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness and the lack of tension and suspense. A lot of the film completely fails to make sense, both in underdeveloped plot elements and often nonsensical and confusing character motivations. The last third badly sags in momentum and the atmosphere completely falls flat.

In conclusion, very weak but not unwatchable. 3/10 Bethany Cox

In the end this is a confused and tedious movie. One of the main problems is the casting of the two leads who aren't very good. Jessica Lowndes diction is poor and her acting is wooden while Joe Anderson struggles to convince as a cop. The best acting comes from Dayton Callie & Lin Shaye, older hands that manage to cope with the script.

It does look pretty good and the haunted house is quite cool but overall this doesn't really work.

I like the idea of this movie which I considered quite original. Also the story has the potential to make this as a very good movie. But unfortunately, it the journey is ruined by the execution.

The Good The idea is quite good. Not some haunted family or teenagers running around.

The Bad Casting of the main protagonists: no chemistry and (sorry) the main actor's acting is not convincing at all. She looks blank when presented with an ultra scenic ghost house in the middle of no where, in which normal people will be amazed, fearful, run away or anything. Maybe the green screen is a just a big green screen so she cannot imagine what she should see. The scenes are also boring and at many times feels too slow. Some dialogs are too wordy trying to be poetic, but in the end only confuse audience. This is not Penny Dreadful series conversations.

Summary Hope they can remake this movie into a better one.

2.5 / 10.

The acting of the main actress was totally unimpressive to me. The plot of the film had potential, but it was very slow and became more and more uninteresting. Also the story has a lot of holes and it all ends without the explanation I have been waiting for throughout the film. I am definitely disappointed.

+1 Star for the hook at the very beginning. They made it sound like it was going to be cool.

+1 Star For Dayton Callie and Lin Shaye 's contributions to the film

-1 Star For the Pointless Convoluted Mess the movie became the last 1/3 of the movie.

I didn't hate this movie but I certainly didn't love it either. The plot really degenerated into not much of anything at the end. It just had so little to make you feel any concern for the plight of the main characters. I think that just really made it feel like...an empty 'House' at the end.

-1 Star for that dissatisfied feeling at the end.

The good:

Some gorgeous set design and interesting photography. Dayton Callie is splendid as the "villain." Some of the special effects are quite entertaining. Jessica Lowndes is very striking.

The bad:

Jessica Lowndes' acting is rather wooden, but Meryl Streep couldn't save this script.

If there was a script. The plot is utterly incomprehensible.

Heed the advice given regarding the haunted forest: Stay very far away!

This subject of this movie peaked my interest. A diabolic old man that collects murder scenes from houses, a cult of followers, a small dark nameless town. There are a lot of ideas and themes here to like. The acting is decent and the film looks good but seems to fall short for me. Somehow we just don't get a solid delivery. This should have been the type of movie that was just up my avenue but it came off too far-fetched even for my supernatural horror movie tastes. It's far above much of the sub-standard horror out there and has good production values but it's not a keeper. I'd recommend it for those interested and who enjoy something different but keep your expectations on the low end.

And this is true in almost every regard. You can start with the costume design (very classy, very noir) throughout to the set design. If I were to rate those things, the movie would receive a much higher vote from me. Beautifully shot (though it'd be tough to catch a bad side in regards of Jessica Lowndes) and edited, the technical aspect is in place so to speak.

But when it comes to the story and the characters, the movie has quite a few flaws. And while you will notice many at the beginning (it actually has a strong start), it will get apparent later on. Especially during the final set piece, it's one of those cases where you want to kill the characters yourself. For one, so it will be over quick and also to make sure they won't survive this (because ... you know they don't deserve to). It's just such a shame and a lot of talent going to waste ...

I seriously wish there was a way to give negative numbers.

This movie was awful. Nothing made sense.

No consistency, and dragged on and on. You see the older woman from the Insidious movies and get excited thinking wow, this looks pretty good!!//NOPE! The main character although pretty to look at, was annoying. She dressed like a 50s pin up girl, drove an old car, making you wonder what year was this movie supposed to take place / yet had a smartphone on her car dashboard. The "villain" of the movie and the connections to her and the story made no sense and had no consistency. Save yourself some time and don't even think about watching this horrible excuse of a movie.

The plot is decent.

The lead characters are idiots. That made the movie almost unbearable.

Lin Shaye made this film palpable.

The mystery portion of this film would have been more powerful if it were NOT science fiction.

i liked this film very much, my fellow IMDb reviewers, for what it is.

Let me start with the things i liked; fantastic photography. excellent casting - an amazing collection of interesting characters, simply looking at them is interesting. the acting, i thought it was pretty solid on all counts, including the supporting actors(yeah, i did like the lead too). the pacing, the writing .. i pretty much liked everything about this film, from a production point of view.

(you can see from my review history that i do not, in fact, work for the production company)

the story ... is bad.

i second the fact that having a film half 50s noir and half modern is unsettling, but with a little suspension of disbelief you can get past that rather easily. the only real fault here is the weak story, and the miserable ending. i like the various situations that develop, and yet there isn't really a main theme to keep me interested.

but, i've seen better films fail much worse than Abbattoir.

ignore the weak point, and focus on how well this film is made, visually, and you will enjoy it, IF you enjoy classic cinema.

honest vote, 7/10. I'm looking forward to the next work by the director.

I got to see this film at several film festivals and highly recommend it! Abattoir is a very unique and special movie that I am so happy was made. Its not your run of the mill slasher horror and its not your average, generic studio film. You can tell the director wanted to make a film that gives audiences more to chew on and a real mystery to follow. The script is nearly written in prose, with passages of dialogue that hark back to the noir detective movies of the 1940s and 1950s, which I love.

The cinematography is also very special, by one of my favorite DPs who shot "Oculus," bringing forth saturated yet contrasted colors and a gorgeous color palette (it is Darren's best filmed movie).

However, its the performances that really sell it for me. Dayton Callie in the role of Jebediah Crone is masterful. His persona on screen is mesmerizing and his dialogue in this film is rich with metaphor and color. I absolutely love where he goes with his character and what we see from his character is not expected!

Jessica Lowndes playing Julia is fantastic. She brings both strength and real emotion to her character and that jumps off the screen. I love that she embraced her role not as a damsel in distress, but rather blends determination and vulnerability in her work.

Joe Anderson plays the perfect detective, with dashes of Bogart and Sinatra at the core. He has the perfect swagger, and I really enjoyed buying into his relationship with Julia.

But my favorite role is Allie, played by the amazing Lin Shaye. She always brings depth and dimension to her characters (have you seen her in "The Signal"), and in Abattoir, Lin plays Allie perfectly. Quirky, yet stern and veiled so you cant believe the twists and turns.

The movie does have a long second act, as there is lots of story and character. I can also see why if your not paying attention or are watching this film with people who are not paying attention, a lot of the nuance can be missed. But the payoff is huge and once your inside the Abattoir, the film stands apart from anything else out there in the horror, thriller, mystery genre or otherwise.

This film is also such a cool premise with an amazing ending that was even more enjoyable the second time I saw it. There were bits and pieces I caught on the second viewing, that missed the first time around. I hope you love it as much as me.

Right 👉 on happy 😊 new year. Watched abattoir, and found that it was a very good horror movie 🎦. A lot of people gave it low ratings, but for two pounds fifty pence, I enjoyed it.

Newspaper reporter Julia Talben (Jessica Lowndes) is tired of doing stale real estate stories. Her sister Amanda's entire family is massacred. Julia and police detective Declan Grady find a blood-drenched Richard Renshaw inside the house. Renshaw surrenders but Julia finds no easy answers. Somebody quickly buys the house and the crime scene is mysteriously ripped out. It's one of many murder rooms collected over the years by Jebediah Crone (Dayton Callie).

This is trying very hard to be a brutal noir. Any bright joy is stripped out of the frame. Even daylight looks bleak. While I appreciate the attempt, it is not all together successful. It struggles visually with the lower budget and weak directing. The intentional lifelessness leaves the movie lifeless. It looks more cheap than stylized. As a horror, there is nothing to be had until the last part with the rooms. Simple jump scares are beyond this movie. Crone doesn't even appear for the first half. This fails on a very basic level.