Sometimes it feels like horror just can’t be arsed to leave its own living room. Over the years there have been enough such films set indoors to fill several Ikea Benno DVD towers, including The Amityville Horror, Poltergeist, Evil Dead I & II and more recently both Paranormal Activity films. This new flick on the block though could put many of them to shame, in more ways than one.

In a rural part of Uruguay, Laura (Florencia Colucci) and her father (Gustavo Alonso) are making their way to a house that’s most definitely off of the beaten track. They’re there to help clear it out, as the owner Néstor (Abel Tripaldi) is keen to get it into good shape once again so he can sell it.

His last piece of advice to them both before he leaves them is to not go up stairs, as the tiles on the floor are in really bad shape.

Having spent some time getting there, Laura’s dad decides to take a nap. As he soon finds himself in the land of nod, Laura begins to hear things, and they sound like they're coming from upstairs.

It appears that they are not alone and whatever it is they’re currently rooming with, doesn’t want either of them going anywhere.

I'm no expert but even I can tell that this doesn't bode well for anyone.

Granted, the premise of the film sounds eerily familiar, but this directorial debut by Gustavo Hernández manages to impress on every level.

For one thing there’s its budget; it was made for only $6,000, which would probably just about cover the printing of the menus for the catering of the average Hollywood film. On top of that, it was filmed with a digital stills camera that you can pick up for less than £2,000 on Amazon, which is truly remarkable when you consider how good the film looks.

Director Hernández clearly likes challenges though, as they don’t stop there. Just to make things even more difficult for himself and his crew, he decides to shoot the thing all in one continuous take. Either he was completely mad, or just couldn’t afford an editor. Either way, it’s an incredible achievement, mainly because it works so well. Not so much in the fact that it’s only one take, but in the sense that after a while you don’t think about how clever it’s actually being. Logistically it must have been the biggest nightmare to undertake, but the director and his crew pull it off majestically.

One of the ways the film takes the focus away from its stylish visual palette is with an excellent soundtrack; it always supplements the images without ever dominating.

And considering the nature of the way the film was shot, Colucci gives an incredible performance; when the camera is constantly rolling, there really is no margin for errors. Sure, proper thespians do it nightly on stage, but to navigate through an enclosed film set, without making a mistake or fluffing a line as well as, you know, acting poopy scared throughout, is a truly remarkable feat. At one point it does feel rather like she's taking part in a Halloween special of Cash in the Attic, as she rummages around all the nick-nacks in the house, but even then there's a chilled air about her actions.

The fact that it's based on a true event that was alleged to have taken place in a small Uruguayan village in the 1940's only makes it all the more disturbing.

It would be easy to get slightly sidetracked by the gimmicky nature of the film, but the bottom line is Hernández has created one of the most atmospheric horror titles in years. And on half a shoestring at that.

If you're one who likes their frights, then you'll make yourself right at home with this one.