The filmmakers behind Abandoned have been promoting their new horror movie with the line “The Screams Are Real,” and the […]
The filmmakers behind Abandoned have been promoting their new horror movie with the line “The Screams Are Real,” and the way they made it helps explain why. The independently funded production turned a former prison complex into a live theatrical environment, sending its actors through long, continuous takes with practical effects and partially redacted scripts keeping them uncertain about what was coming next.
Directed by Joby Stephens, Abandoned follows two urban explorers chasing a viral video to save their struggling channel and friendship. Their search takes them inside a derelict facility with a history of sinister experiments, where they become trapped as that history begins to manifest as evil.
Grace Gallagher and Cameron Wight star as explorers Jess and Adam, alongside Sofie Dossi and Ashlee Montague. Stephens wrote the film with Joe Bird and Andrew Daniel.
Watch the teaser below.
According to production details shared with Dread Central, the team stayed on location during filming and built a full 360-degree environment that could change around the performers as they explored it in real time. Keeping portions of the scripts hidden meant the actors didn’t have every scare mapped out in advance.
The filmmakers describe Abandoned as a found footage hybrid, with more traditionally shot sequences bookending the handheld portion of the story. The idea was to combine cinematic horror with the raw immediacy that made those early found footage movies so effective.
