Yet another film with a semi-decent idea marred by shockingly awful execution. Understood what 'Abducted' (aka. 'L.A. Slasher') was trying to do, for me it just didn't work and is as bad as the rating and previous negative reviewer says it is (not everybody will agree and that's fine).
Got that 'Abducted' was aiming to show how badly people act in reality shows (and there is a lot of truth to that) and how annoying they can be (again true, every reality show has at least one detestable contestant, often for controversy reasons). For me, 'Abducted' took it way too far. Am not sure whether it was the intent to have the victims so obnoxious that you are rooting for their deaths or at least to the extent it takes it, but not in a while have a whole cast of characters in any film seen recently been this terribly written or hateable.
Just as bad is that 'Abducted' completely fails to make one root for the villain, which one would kind of expect when you hate the victims so much. One with quite good potential, but he manages to be one of the most annoying and least sinister villains in the whole of psychoville. Andy Dick was just completely wrong for the role and that one is laughing in embarrassment rather than getting chills at his acting is not a good.
Eric Roberts is wooden and looks uninterested, while Misha Barton looks as though she had just escaped from a drugs rehabilitation centre (apologies if anybody finds this distasteful, just my thoughts while watching). Dave Bautista and Danny Trejo are completely wasted with very little to do, and the rest of the cast have even less other than act as obnoxious as possible.
'Abducted' looks terrible. And not just in spurts, we are talking about second one right up to the ridiculous finish. Everything just looks so chaotic and like a visual eyesore. In terms of audio, it adds absolutely nothing and often at odds with what little atmosphere there is.
The very few times it's coherent, the script is completely unnatural and the amount of cheese, illogic and dumbness borders on unbearable. The film is very sluggishly paced, the direction even more so and the story execution is a disaster all on its own. Even more incomprehensible than the script, it is choppy, dull, ridiculous and with no tension or suspense whatsoever. Even when giving 'Abducted' a fair chance, staying awake is a chore and the want to bail becomes stronger and stronger as the film wears on.
All in all, terrible in every way. 1/10 Bethany Cox
