From my not too wide experience with French Horror films (basically Martyrs and The Inside) I've learnt that they could be quite sick. Malefique isn't so much sick as it is disturbing and slightly depressing. It's not your ordinary everyday Horror film, but it does have it's Horror-like disturbing moments and aspects of the story. It's also the first Horror film I've ever seen that takes place in a prison.
I can't say much about the screenplay and script as I don't speak the language, but the story was pretty average and all that original. Some prisoners find an old journal that used to belong to another prisoner, and deals with occult black magick. The audience is told the tale of their everyday routine as cons, then the changes it and they undergo upon finding the book and attempting to decipher it. The cinematography is also quite ordinary, with few scenes shot as seen from a video camera, like in a found-footage/mockumentary film. The impressive bit is that the entire film takes place almost solely in a prison cell (except for two short scenes, one in the visiting room and one at the prison office), so it's basically single location. I always like seeing how directors face the single location challenge, and in this case Eric Valette has done well.
As probably said before, what really makes this film is the characters, who are bizarre to the point of being fantastic and unrealistic at the same time as being as realistic and compelling as they come. Protagonist/Antagonist Carrère (Gérald Laroche) used to run a company and it's implied that he "took some shortcuts", probably financial ones. He's almost obsessed with being bailed out so he could be with his son. There's Marcus (Clovis Cornillac), a brute force character who likes to use his strength to get what he wants. He's also a very masculine drag- queen with breasts, make-up and everything that is obsessed with working out and keeping fit so he could escape by climbing the prison wall with 50 kg on his back. The 50 kg refer to Pâquerette (Dimitri Rataud), a funny demented retard who behaves like a hyperactive 5 year old, Marcus's protégé and my favorite character, excellent acting performance by Rataud. And then there's Lassalle (Philippe Laudenbach), a seemingly harmless elderly fellow, not quite obvious if very smart or insane, or both. The dynamics between the characters, who share the cell, is what keeps the film going and the audience enthralled to the screen.
All in all, the story, ending and small plot-twist are good, but not excellent. There's never a dull moment, but it's not the story that makes this film worthy, nor even the acting. It's, as mentioned, the characters and their dynamics. I'd highly recommend this film to anyone who's had their share of Horror films and wouldn't mind seeing something a little different, a little new, and while not a masterpiece - very impressive in my opinion!
I can't say much about the screenplay and script as I don't speak the language, but the story was pretty average and all that original. Some prisoners find an old journal that used to belong to another prisoner, and deals with occult black magick. The audience is told the tale of their everyday routine as cons, then the changes it and they undergo upon finding the book and attempting to decipher it. The cinematography is also quite ordinary, with few scenes shot as seen from a video camera, like in a found-footage/mockumentary film. The impressive bit is that the entire film takes place almost solely in a prison cell (except for two short scenes, one in the visiting room and one at the prison office), so it's basically single location. I always like seeing how directors face the single location challenge, and in this case Eric Valette has done well.
As probably said before, what really makes this film is the characters, who are bizarre to the point of being fantastic and unrealistic at the same time as being as realistic and compelling as they come. Protagonist/Antagonist Carrère (Gérald Laroche) used to run a company and it's implied that he "took some shortcuts", probably financial ones. He's almost obsessed with being bailed out so he could be with his son. There's Marcus (Clovis Cornillac), a brute force character who likes to use his strength to get what he wants. He's also a very masculine drag- queen with breasts, make-up and everything that is obsessed with working out and keeping fit so he could escape by climbing the prison wall with 50 kg on his back. The 50 kg refer to Pâquerette (Dimitri Rataud), a funny demented retard who behaves like a hyperactive 5 year old, Marcus's protégé and my favorite character, excellent acting performance by Rataud. And then there's Lassalle (Philippe Laudenbach), a seemingly harmless elderly fellow, not quite obvious if very smart or insane, or both. The dynamics between the characters, who share the cell, is what keeps the film going and the audience enthralled to the screen.
All in all, the story, ending and small plot-twist are good, but not excellent. There's never a dull moment, but it's not the story that makes this film worthy, nor even the acting. It's, as mentioned, the characters and their dynamics. I'd highly recommend this film to anyone who's had their share of Horror films and wouldn't mind seeing something a little different, a little new, and while not a masterpiece - very impressive in my opinion!