Terrified is an Argentinian horror film from 2017. It came recommended as having some incredible scares, and it does, at times.

The open sequence is great. After his wife complains about hearing voices in the plumbing of their cottage, a man goes over to their next-door neighbor to complain about other noises. When he comes back, he finds a horrifying scene in his bathroom that I won’t ruin for you.

A lot happens in the movies, and there’s no real main character. Rather, we have a small area of haunted or cursed homes that eventually comes under the investigation of paranormal experts. (Very reminiscent of “Poltergeist” if you think about it.) 

The movie starts with a jolt, then kind of settles for a bit for until the latter half of the second act. Then it kicks in again. 

Jump scares rarely get me, but this one had a couple that gave me the tinglies. Well done.

In its tense moments, the movie has you scouring every inch of the screen looking for… something.

Amidst the creepiness were a few entertaining jokes. Also, an unusual amount of older characters; I’d say the average age is over fifty. That’s something different.

Does the plot make sense? In the broad strokes, yes. I had to go online to get people’s takes and “Terrified” does seem to generate some confusion about what’s really going on in these houses (I spied a Lovecraft vibe). But who needs everything explained to them?

I give it a strong recommendation.

(Here’s a funny tidbit. The cover image for the movie is apparently considered so gruesome that I had to turn off Google’s “safe search” feature to see it.)