An investigative reporter works to solve the mystery behind a mysterious man who has been buying houses where tragedies have occurred. In the end Sam distraught with the death of Nick. I may have to rewatch this movie with all these new theories! I love that feeling I get after watching a film when I realize that they were distracting me the entire time. Maybe the trailer will convince you one way or the other to watch it or not. Wasn’t the look on Nick’s face kind of creepy when he introduced Kelly to “Jeremiah” at the pool? Anderson’s performance belongs in another era, and not in a good way. It’s an architect’s dream hobby mixed with Satan’s own interior decorating, yet we’re never granted access to the horrors that pulsate from room to room. Who killed the father ? Nick doesn’t actually exist in reality. Julia and Declan have to investigate the murder, then the room disappearance, then her past, then Jebediah, and so on and so on. (2) the interview by the police woman is real; however, Sam recreates it to fit the narrative that he has run away with Nick; (3) the people who shoot Nick are wearing overalls, not police clothing which would be unlikely, and I think Sam is slowly stripping away his imaginary constructs by killing off Nick. This makes for an incredibly chatty movie because there is so much to explain, often in conversations or soliloquies long enough to prompt a wrist-turning look at your watch. Guess it’s however you see it, “The Strange Ones”: Too Enigmatic for it’s own Good. I think he’s in love with Nick (Jealous of the girl, devastated when he dies) even if I think he’s treated like an imaginary friend. Julia is distraught, but follows a string of clues that lead to Crone’s backwoods beehive for ghosts. More certain though, ABATTOIR lies well beneath the talent Bousman boasted a decade ago. In any other context I would not have liked this movie but the thought provoking, first person narrative, and bouncing about in Sam’s imagination made it a movie I would recommend. I haven’t gotten it all figured out yet…but one idea i’m working on is more of a battling with sin/self condemnation theory: Sam killed his father THAT we know. “Abattoir” is one of those films that’s 90% exposition, which shouldn’t be too much of a surprise coming from the man who directed three lesser “Saw” sequels, but it’s still so depressing to watch a movie that needs character and atmosphere but offers only plot. The film makers, writers and ESPECIALLY the two main actors did a superb job. And Nick is not Sam. No, Sam is not Nick. Thank you for sharing your review T.H. And on that list we’ll have some fun movies that are LIKE The Strange Ones, but are NOT The Strange Ones. Maybe the mantra of the movie is exactly how Nick made it through life after his experiences with his own father and that’s why it’s passed on to Sam. But the role itself, the character. Twisting one of my favorite lines from the movie, I leave you with this: “Heaven is built of many rooms, come see the Hell he built with so many more.”, The Curse of Audrey Earnshaw has won over critics and fans alike and now I …, The Secrets We Keep is unlike any other film I’ve seen this year and most …. ;). As Sam runs he stumbles onto some kids at a summer camp type place (if anyone knows what this camp is all about, I would love to know more… because wow. Wasn’t he out of the camp by then staying at that girls house? House On Haunted Hill (original AND remake). I think there is a mild suggestion of something sicker you didn’t consider or mention, and it’s at the top of the list to me as to why I wouldn’t recommend the movie. Sam was so screwed up, he caused Nick to be killed. And so Nick killed Robert, and ran off with Sam. Sam was being abused by his real father and Nick cared for him like a father. It's simply too hard to follow to be genuinely compelling. His son was becoming a person he couldn’t relate to, or control. Abattoir poses such a savage, provocative haunted house concept, but much like Brad Peyton’s Incarnate, this re-modeled genre construct is wasted on plodding execution that squanders any inherent excitement. Crone convinces the people of New English that they can rebuild the town through sin and sacrifice by creating a living miracle in the form of a monument. The assembly is broken up by the sheriff, who kicks Julia and Grady out of New English. Alex was even so clever as to alter is grammer in writing to make himself appear to be even more of a victim. The plot is unsteady and inconsistent because Sam is unsteady and inconsistent. Getting back to that binary critical assessment, it should be made clear that enough positive things cannot be said of the impressive efforts everyone puts on the screen. Besides, Sam is leading everything, he’s lying a lot, he makes up his own reality. Julia deduces that Amanda was meant to die that day, but that was when their father escaped with them and left Allie behind. Unfortunately, Bousman's new feature ABATTOIR, scripted by first-time scribe Christopher Monfette, is no real rebounding effort, as the film takes a mildly inspired premise and executes it pretty poorly. I came out of the cave, I had changed. So Sam is not Nick. I admire there willingness to take this challenge and make a film that can have 6 perceptions. What did you guys think of this movie… those of you that made it through anyway. Because we cannot obviously just turn off the horrors of our past. But Sam’s father is never around because he works the night shift. Kinda agree with Chris up to the point of Sam in the lake. It actually is a very good movie, I am just not a fan of the answers the movie gives… but overall, it really was very well done. I like atmospheric. They’re two different people, but due to trauma (from his father or from Nick), he can’t keep the events or the timeline very straight in his head. Two references that you can’t miss: -1- MATRIX: “there is no spoon” -> “there is no cup” -2- MATRIX: “the black cat” is the SIGN of a déjà vu. Bespoke Movie Recommendations – #3, Heather Hammers’ New I Still Love You Rendition, Interview with Infinity Chamber and Pandorum’s Travis Milloy, Persuasive Writing and a Conversation with an IMAX EVP, 2018 Christmas Gifts for Geeks and the Like, Gallo Sculptures Merge Humans And Animals In Clever Ways, https://www.thoughtco.com/alex-and-derek-king-972684, Six Possible Theories to explain the movie The Endless to you, Korean Movie The Believer Ending Explained, Sam is regularly sexually abused by said random neighbors, Sam’s mind splinters, and he begins referring to himself as Nick, Nick grows, and his father is considering a new job out of state, Nick goes on the run, back to his childhood haunts, He’s caught in the cave in a shootout and dies, His younger self mentally explores the world around him as he dies, And as Nick dies, Sam commits suicide in the road.