Everything happens for a reason. Some of you know this; some of you refuse to accept it. Perhaps a viewing of Claudia La Bianca’s The Abode will convince you of it. I mean, you got supernatural killer pirates in it? What else do you need?
Your official invite is here when Dark Star Pictures releases Claudia La Bianca’s cross-generational supernatural killer pirate horror movie The Abode this July on digital and DVD.
Opening with a tribal call for war along the Florida coast in the 1800s, The Abode offers its bloody alms with promise as Redbeard the Pirate is knifed in the neck by a native; the next victim is a native woman and she is beheaded in a shower of blood. But the captured native, Talako, soon becomes the focus of Redbeard’s wife. She’s got jungle fever! When she is caught with him, the merciless pirate orders for him to be burned alive at the stake.
Witnessing Talako's execution, Redbeard's wife Lara takes her own life. Talako's spirit never ascends and haunts anyone who comes near the old house. Almost 300 years later, Lara and Talako meet face to face once again. Is it even possible?!
Keeping things lush and palpable in the 20-minute opening, Cinematographer Oscar Vazquez fills the lens with a story which is worthy of that 300-year conclusion. The lens here in this opening is properly detailed, lit, and never hints at the modern day, which follows when we make the jump to Miami some 300 years later as Lara is welcomed to the world . . . once again.
Another jump in time takes us to a 12-year-old Lara. She is not well and attempts to kill her parents. And her drawings are not much better. Something is wrong here and no one really knows why she is obsessed with drawing “indians” and terrifying monsters. The psychologist thinks these episodes are part of a psychotic disorder, but is not sure of the disorder. But these episodes aren’t going away. 
Written by Andre Alves and Nick Smith and directed by Claudia La Bianca, The Abode hints at generational supernatural lines between relatives and doubles-down on that as Lara refuses to accept her father and her shrink seems to be under the influence of the nuns in her own heritage which tried to save Redbeard’s wife, which is now EXACTLY who Lara looks like as a young adult.
Starring Ariadna Gonzalez Medina, Montana Cypress, Karmel Bortoleti, and Chris Darsow, The Abode puts romance vibes front and center even if the pacing is a bit slower than it needs to be as it sets that stage. Some of you will hang on and the mystery, as it unfolds, is worth the trip . . . as strange as it becomes because the past seems to live on through the events in the present thanks to a stay at the haunted house where Talako was killed.
While some of the performances need a bit more work, The Abode opens up as it welcomes the supernatural and does surprise as its true intentions are made clear. Unfortunately, it takes about 30-minutes to arrive at the haunt fest, but the story does deliver as its ghostly romance merges into the present with interesting results!
From Dark Star Pictures, The Abode will be available July 11, 2023 on digital and on DVD July 18, 2023. Everything happens for a reason, right?
MPAA Rating: Unrated.
Runtime:
Director: Claudia La Bianca
Writer: Andre Alves; Nick Smith
Cast: Karmel Bortoleti; Montana Cypress; Ariadna Gonzalez Medina
Genre: Horror
Tagline: When History Reawakens.
Memorable Movie Quote:
Distributor: Dark Star Pictures
Official Site:
Release Date: July 11, 2023 on digital
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: July 18, 2023
Synopsis: In the 1800s, a young, handsome native American named Talako is caught with the wife of a merciless pirate known as Redbeard, who then orders for him to be burned alive at the stake. Witnessing Talako's execution, Redbeard's wife Lara hangs herself. Talako's spirit never ascends and haunts anyone who comes near the old house. Almost 300 years later, Lara and Talako meet face to face and learn that everything happens for a reason.
