Terrified (2017)

Terrified

• I hadn’t heard of this until I saw a clip of it on Instagram, which I scrolled past very quickly to avoid spoilers (I’m glad I did). So I added it to my watchlist and here I am two days later, enjoying it very much. There haven’t been a lot of foreign horror films that I’m not a fan of, and this one sits near the top of the list as being the most memorable. I obviously won’t give too much away, but what I think the film does best is take an extremely common and extremely used horror topic, and make it unique and unforgettable. It’s literally nothing other than just supernatural beings making things go crazy. But it’s got effective jump scares and it spins the beings in a way that makes you question everything. Even though it’s obviously fiction, it’s really making me question how we perceive reality. Not actually, but it kind of is. Anyways, the story is super simple and takes a direct approach to horror, while still diving into psychological horror as well as physical. It was a great blend of both. It was shot very well and kept me on my toes, with a specific jumpscare that you absolutely know is about to happen, but still completely catches you off guard. I would put it up there with the iconic jump scare from ‘Jaws’ and ‘Insidious’. The acting was pretty solid all around, but nothing out of the ordinary that you haven’t seen before. Finally, and the highlight of the film for me, is how good the sound and score was. Maybe it’s just because I had it turned up really loud, but the sound design really helps push the anxiety, and the score was very string heavy, and it reminded me a lot of ‘Insidious’. It was booming and pops up when it needs to, while laying low in the more dialogue driven moments. Overall, this is a great film that I think would be enjoyed by all horror fans. This film is officially Berry Approved, so go watch it now!