A few years back, when the words 'Japanese' and 'Horror' were said in the same sentence, ears would rise and interest would immediately peak. Now, replace 'Japanese' with 'French' and the reaction will still be the same. A l'interieur (aka Inside) co-directed by first timers Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury. It is hard to believe that these two men could create a debut that is this good, this intense, this...ferociously insane bloodbath. Think of Alexandre Aja's 2003 horror 'Haute Tension' (which was also a brutal but excellent slasher) mixed with Halloween and toss in Dario Argento's style (particularly from 'Tenebrae') and you have Inside.
Bustillo does not bother with a story that is in-depth or very large for that matter. In fact, it is rather simple: Sarah (Alysson Paradis) is a young photographer who recently lost her boyfriend in a car crash and she is still grieving over her loss. It is now Christmas and she is alone and expecting a baby the next day. On Christmas Eve she is visited by a Woman in Black (Béatrice Dalle) who wants to get inside the house for reasons unknown. However, soon enough, she is in the house and her goal becomes crystal clear. She is after Sarah's baby and she will do anything to get it...absolutely anything.
There are many techniques that make this film as good as it is. First and foremost, the setting. The majority of the film is set in Sarah's house, furthermore, most of this is in her bathroom. This makes for some extremely intense moments and real feelings of claustrophobia. Also, the two leading ladies give such powerful performances which really assists in getting us to feel what they feel and think what they think. Sarah's determination to survive and fight back is realistic and gives the movie a powerful vibe and theme of a mother's love for her unborn child. La femme (the Woman in Black) is comparable to The Shape (Michael Myers) from John Carpenter's 1978 slasher classic 'Halloween.' For the first 20 minutes she appears as a silhouette, not speaking, just standing and watching. Creepy and chilling are just two words which describe her in the first part of the movie.
Now onto the parts of the movie discussed the most...the copious amounts of blood. And let me tell you, once the blood starts to flow it never stops. From the moment we see our first drop the movie moves at such a breakneck pace it is hard to keep up. I was literally on the edge of my seat while watching these parts, that is how intense they were. Not only that, but the gore was so realistic and brutal at times I found myself covering my eyes (which I rarely do in any film). Blood sprays, crotches are stabbed, throats are slashed, faces are burnt and heads explode. The finale is soaked in blood and features one of the most depressing, disturbing and gruesome endings I have seen. No one will be able to leave the movie feeling well...I felt emotionally drained and ill. Movies rarely do that to me.
Ignoring some lapses in logic and a fairly bland revelation (not really a twist), Bustillo and Maury have created a refreshingly brilliant horror movie that proves that: horror is not dead and that the French are now producing the best horror movies seen in many years.
4/5
Bustillo does not bother with a story that is in-depth or very large for that matter. In fact, it is rather simple: Sarah (Alysson Paradis) is a young photographer who recently lost her boyfriend in a car crash and she is still grieving over her loss. It is now Christmas and she is alone and expecting a baby the next day. On Christmas Eve she is visited by a Woman in Black (Béatrice Dalle) who wants to get inside the house for reasons unknown. However, soon enough, she is in the house and her goal becomes crystal clear. She is after Sarah's baby and she will do anything to get it...absolutely anything.
There are many techniques that make this film as good as it is. First and foremost, the setting. The majority of the film is set in Sarah's house, furthermore, most of this is in her bathroom. This makes for some extremely intense moments and real feelings of claustrophobia. Also, the two leading ladies give such powerful performances which really assists in getting us to feel what they feel and think what they think. Sarah's determination to survive and fight back is realistic and gives the movie a powerful vibe and theme of a mother's love for her unborn child. La femme (the Woman in Black) is comparable to The Shape (Michael Myers) from John Carpenter's 1978 slasher classic 'Halloween.' For the first 20 minutes she appears as a silhouette, not speaking, just standing and watching. Creepy and chilling are just two words which describe her in the first part of the movie.
Now onto the parts of the movie discussed the most...the copious amounts of blood. And let me tell you, once the blood starts to flow it never stops. From the moment we see our first drop the movie moves at such a breakneck pace it is hard to keep up. I was literally on the edge of my seat while watching these parts, that is how intense they were. Not only that, but the gore was so realistic and brutal at times I found myself covering my eyes (which I rarely do in any film). Blood sprays, crotches are stabbed, throats are slashed, faces are burnt and heads explode. The finale is soaked in blood and features one of the most depressing, disturbing and gruesome endings I have seen. No one will be able to leave the movie feeling well...I felt emotionally drained and ill. Movies rarely do that to me.
Ignoring some lapses in logic and a fairly bland revelation (not really a twist), Bustillo and Maury have created a refreshingly brilliant horror movie that proves that: horror is not dead and that the French are now producing the best horror movies seen in many years.
4/5