Inside (À l’intérieur), a stunningly violent French thriller from filmmakers Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, sets the standard (at least from what I’ve scene) for on-screen death and punishment. Listen — I’m no horror junkie — it’s the one genre I’ve seen the least from, but every once in a while I hear about a foreign language effort that supposedly pushes the envelope and Holy Shit does this movie do that. This is a mercifully short (75 minutes) but unrelentingly brutal horror-thriller that utilizes fantastic digital cinematography and brilliant sound effects to create one of the craziest, nastiest, bloodiest cinematic home-invasions ever put on film.
The set-up is simple. A pregnant woman named Sarah (Alysson Paradis), who has just recovered from a devastating and life altering car-wreck where you see portions of the accident from the POV of a fetus in the womb, is home alone on Christmas eve on the probable last night of her pregnancy. A strange woman knocks on her door and asks if she can use the phone as she’s been in an accident. The woman, never named in the film but played with icy, intense devotion by Beatrice Dalle in an astonishing performance, seems to know a little about Sarah, and before long, she has broken her way into Sarah’s house. The general air of mystery helps to propel the slim narrative, with twists being doled out in the final moments that cement the generally believable depravity of the film’s strikingly nihilistic scenario.
What ensues is a vicious fight to the death between Sarah and the mysterious psychopath, with cops and other innocents making their way into the house at various points in the film, but never making it out. The directorial craft and technique of Maury and Bustillo cannot be ignored; they are phenomenally talented at mounting cinematic dread and maintaining a hugely creepy atmosphere, and their level of stylized filmic sadism is something to behold. IF – and ONLY if — you have a strong stomach for blood and gore. Really strong. There’s no question that this is one of the bloodiest movies I’ve ever seen, and while I normally steer clear of genre fare such as this, I couldn’t resist viewing it a while back as people had told me it would raise the hair along my neck. It did. And then some. The performances from Paradis and Dalle, are, in a word, exhausting, both emotionally and physically. Throwing themselves around the house and with the inherently vulnerable Paradis in emotional turmoil for almost an hour straight, the dedication to their parts deserves commendation.
But while the film is technically fantastic and the gore handled in a very up-front and realistic fashion, what purpose does the film serve overall? Many mentions are made throughout the film to the 2007 riots in France, but any ideas of social critique are absent in the story. Instead, what we’re subjected to is a film with brass balls, a movie that punishes its characters and the audience for the sheer thrill of it. And trust me, unless you’re a student of New French Extremity, you’ve probably never seen ANYTHING like this. Most amazing are the subjective “from-the-womb” shots that Maury and Bustillo cut too while the pregnant Sarah fights for her life — terrifying and unforgettable. I doubt I’ll ever watch it again but I’m glad (in some sort of sick and deranged way) I got a chance to see what many people feel is one of the best horror movies in recent years.
Podcasting Them Softly 