Starring Anastasia Hille Directed by Nacho Cerda U.S. Box Office: $1,255,000 Rated R

Originally part of After Dark Horrorfest's 8 Films to Die For in 2007, The Abandoned was named the Fan Favorite of the festival, earning it much wider release after the fact than it would have normally received. A Russian woman living in the States returns to her native homeland to settle her family's affairs, having just been contacted even though her parents died over 40 years ago. Upon arriving, she quickly discovers that a furious supernatural infestation plagues the family farm, and she has only a few days to discover the truth about what happened there before she loses her sanity and/or her life.

And I mean honestly. This is what real horror is, and that's not an exaggeration. The atmosphere alone qualifies it for the genre; from the moment she arrives in the woods surrounding the farm, you know something is terribly wrong, and you can't shake the feeling that this woman is going to find out the hard way. The whole thing has a pervasive eerieness to it that I can't quite explain, and that's before peoples' spectral doubles start showing up in closets, blank-eyed but clearly watching your every move.

It doesn't over-rely on gore and takes itself ominously seriously. I can recommend The Abandoned to anyone who can appreciate the feeling of sinking down in your seat, hoping not to be seen by Whatever's Out There.