Reviewed by Melissa Garza
I was first introduced to the late Brittany Murphy as a teenager when I saw the film “Clueless.” It was a fun teenybopper movie which poked fun at the topics John Hughes movies took so seriously.
After that movie, with the exception of “Riding in Cars with Boys,” I really didn’t venture to see any of her other productions. None of her ‘girlie’ movies really appealed to me and by the time “Don’t Say a Word” reached DVD, I had heard so many awful things I steered clear.
Perusing through Blockbuster (one of the last in MA), I picked up Murphy’s last film “Abandoned” in the horror section. The premise was something right up my alley. Mary Walsh (Brittany Murphy) brings her boyfriend Kevin Peterson (Dean Cain) to the hospital for surgery. She waits for him to be released as they state it should be no more than a 2 hour procedure. Hours pass and she hears nothing. Worried she visits his room to find an empty bed. She asks a nurse where he is only to be told he was never there.
When hospital security doesn’t believe her story she calls the police. One officer Detective Franklin (Jay Pickett) happens to be there for a routine physical and takes the case. After finding a high dose of anti-depressants on her, he too thinks she may just be crazy. The hospital decides to hold her for 24 hours and have her seen by their psychiatrist who also believes her boyfriend was a fragment of her imagination.
After being left alone, she escapes down the corridors of the hospital trying to find out what’s going on. When she receives a phone call from Kevin who appears to be in danger and held hostage, she knows she isn’t crazy and continues the search hell-bent on finding him.
There are several major flaws with the movie. Inconsistencies and plot points that go nowhere is just one. For example, Mary contacts her best friend twice in the movie – once for help. Then, she is never heard from again. Detective Franklin advises that he is going to call his wife at the end of the movie as if he and Mary had a conversation about it before, yet throughout the movie she is left unmentioned. The movie itself seems to end 1 hour into it with the remaining pieces being flashbacks of scenes just watched. The entire production seems scattered and forced. As it was shot a mere 6 months prior to Murphy’s death it’s possible that her health contributed to the confusing scenes. She most certainly looked ill in the picture.
Flaws aside, there was a saving grace in the production. It was a fun picture with acceptable dialogue and talented actors. It would have been nice to see if Murphy had the capability to grow in her acting and become a leading lady.
Scared Stiff Rating: 6/10
