Pseudo-documentaries can be an interesting narrative structure to convey a story. It automatically heightens the realism and enables creative use of camera placement, whether it be interviews or handheld footage. Justifying the utilisation of this structure fully depends on the subject matter, it has to be captivating enough to make you want to know more and pay attention to the interviews. This however, was utterly boring and far too predictable. Chronicling the events of an institute, hoping to prove supernatural psychic abilities exist, and how they deal with their most proficient case study which may turn out to be more paranormal than first anticipated. It's a horror, it's visible on the poster and included in the trailer, so it comes as no spoiler that Judith, the case in question, is actually possessed. Independently written and directed by Sparling, it's a shame he follows typical horror tropes and conformities by substituting an intelligent concept for an uninspired plot. Demonic possessions are practically in every horror film of the last decade, they are always depicted similarly and thus consequently become predictable. Exploring the abilities of telekinesis, pyrokinesis and other psychic abnormalities in itself makes for a frightening watch. Sparling already had the foundations laid out. Yet, he places lethargic bricks, one after the other, and cements them with an utterly boring mixture. This really was a tedious experience with very little happening on screen. The security cameras, considering this was supposed to be in the early 70s, were so advanced that they were able to capture audio to precisely inject loud jump scares. Really? You're not fooling anyone. The documentarian format serves no purpose aside from an interesting segment regarding the military desiring to weaponise Judith. However, this is immediately negated when they decide to invite the local priest over for an exorcism. Yes, I'm done. "Boringly dull and fundamentally uninteresting", put that in your documentary!

These movie deserves to be rated 10 out of 10 .... it is so scary and I am hardly to be impressed ... on the other hand this movie doesn't show us what is this dark entity and how it possessed her and how easy after she was recovered they set her free and they assumed that doctor Henry was dead did they really looked for him or they just killed him because he has known too much and why the institute was closed after that. The producer should make another part of this movie to clarify what was this entity.The last thing I doubt is if this movie was based on a true event. Why was Dr.Henry was the only one to be possessed and I didn't get it what about the officer that was connected to the TV what was they wanted to do.

The subject matter is interesting. The movie is very well paced. This (the pacing) is the absolute best thing about this movie. Since it is about research on telekinesis and stuff, it is very smart to pace it slow, so that the viewer gets time to adapt. We don't want to be thrown straight into a fantastical universe, at least not if it is to be realistic. So for that I applaud this movie. The acting is pretty decent for the most part, too. And it being found footage, isn't such a drag as it could have been. It's rather realistically made, some of the time. But then it just never gets really cool. It is a little boring at times, and there is this one CG-blood scene in there that is just horrible. And it is such a short scene, why could they not make sure it looked better!? I will never understand stuff like that.So to sum up, the pacing is good at first, then it gets a little boring, and then it goes down hill. At the end I was kind of happy it was over. Even though it was the opening movie on Frightfest 2015. Bummer.

Frankly I am very fond of horror movies especially those involving demonic possessions based on true stories. Well 'The Atticus Institute' certainly falls in that genre. The best thing that I liked about this movie was the way in which the story was told, shot more like a documentary, depicting events using recorded footage's. In addition there were certain events in the movie which are based on true stories.The movie starts at a slow pace but in a unique way uses some of the characters to narrate the incidents that occurred in 1976 at a paranormal institute. This film takes its time to build the tension and suspense but it does so masterfully that in the end you are left wandering what you are watching is not really happening.A film is only as good as the cast, which made me wonder how difficult it was to play the Judith Winstead's character. But hats off to Rya Kihlstedt (Judith Winstead), she was absolutely marvelous from the beginning to the end. The movie is written and directed by Chris Sparling who also directed movies like Buried. The Atticus Institute also has some really scary scenes with the demonic possession display shot to perfection.Overall I can say 'The Atticus Institute' is a movie that in a unique way provides a lot of suspense. Initially one can find the movie a bit slow but I can assure you as the movie moves forward it will captivate your imagination making it hard to believe that what you are watching is not real. I really enjoyed watching this movie so will rate it 7/10.