aka À l'intérieur
Prior to seeing INSIDE, I was very anxious to check it out due it's great word-of-mouth. I wasn't disappointed, but I don't think I enjoyed it as much as some other folks. It's not a bad horror movie, not at all--compared to the horror films being shat out in the states, it's downright genius--but I didn't enjoy it as much as some other French horror flicks as of late, namely FRONTIERE(S) and HAUTE TENSION--the word "enjoy" being key. I like a little fun in my horror films, and INSIDE just seemed to be fueled with anger, which I'm sure is how it was supposed to feel.
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The film starts with a car crash. In one car is a pregnant woman and her husband, who gets killed in the accident--we never see the driver of the other car. Fast forward a few months (X-mas eve), the woman, Sarah, is day away from giving birth, and she plans on having a quiet night alone at her home (understandably not in the holdiay mood). That night she gets a knock at the door, it's a woman claiming she has had a car accident, and needs to use the phone. Sarah refuses to let her in, claiming her husband is upstairs sleeping. The woman calls her on the lie, and also knows Sarah's name--this freaks Sarah out and the woman goes away, only to show up at the back sliding door. Sarah calls the cops, they show up some time later, and scope out the house and find nothing. They say they will keep an eye on the house through the night, then they leave. Sure enough the woman comes back, and manages to break in while Sarah is sleeping--one of my worst fears, by the way, is waking up to someone (a stranger) watching me--like the scariest scene in PHANTASM--wait I'm getting sidetracked...
Anyways, Sarah wakes up just in time to fight off the woman and make a dash for the bathroom with has a latch lock. The woman tries to break in with all her fury, but to no avail--she's no Jason Vorhees, just a psycho bitch, and we all know psycho bitches have their ways of getting what they want, and this psycho bitch wants Sarah's baby--she wants to cut it right out of her with a big ass pair of scissors! The woman puts Sarah through one of hell of a night, to say the least, but what would the movie be if it was just Sarah, and the woman struggling it out through the whole night? Where's the victime count? That problem is solved when some more people/victims show up at the house, including Sarah's mom, a friend and some more cops--much blood is splattered, but the woman will not let anybody stand in the way of her ultimate goal. If you're wondering why the woman is so hell bent on stealing Sarah's unborn child, don't worry, all is revealed in due time--no spoilers here.
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It's not like I'm one to shy away from disturbing and depressing films--I liked FUNNY GAMES(!), I just may not have been in the right mindset when I watched INSIDE. The fact that I'm a father and only three years ago my wife went through a pregnancy may play a role in my feelings--but maybe not, maybe I was just in a mood. Don't get me wrong--the film is a fucking great horror film, it delivers in so many ways. Like the other French horror films I mentioned, it does have it's share of horror cliches, but also like those films--the cliches are done right, and they don't hurt the film at all. I hate people who can't suspend their level disbelief when they watch horror films--always needing justification, and answers for every move the characters make--just let it go already.
Béatrice Dalle plays the woman or La femme and she is the movie. She's no contemporary beauty, but damn I thought she was sexy--front teeth gap and all. Alysson Paradis plays Sarah, and I thought she did all right, nothing spectacular--but it was indeed a tough role with a lot of emotion. I don't think this is the last time we'll see either of these actresses, especially Dalle.
First time directors, Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury do a hell of a job here. The film looks great--stark and cold, but great. There are a few forgivable scenes of CGI, but at least they are short. The "womb cam" was a bit much and not needed--yes, there's a baby inside her, I get it. Not to mention it looked like that creepy dancing baby from that awful show, Ally McBeal. The music was subtle, but intense--sounding kind of like studio outtakes from a Nine Inch Nails recording session or some other industrial band. All in all it's just a well made and effective horror film. There's no doubt about it, the new wave of horror has been spawned in France, saddly it's just a matter of time before this all grows stale, but I'm enjoying the ride.
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Also, I couldn't help but be reminded of another great slasher film I saw last year which also featured a woman as the villain, and that's CARVED: THE SLIT-MOUTHED WOMAN, from Japan. Not only does it feature a female villain, but she also goes after her victims with a large pair of scissors. Seeing as these movies both came out last year, I'm not sure if one had an influence on the other.
So for the most part, INSIDE does live up to the hype--and that is refreshing. I would recommend it to any die hard horror fans, but I wouldn't recommend it to any women who are currently or recently pregnant or planning on being pregnant anytime soon, unless the thought of your baby being viciuously ripped out of your womb doesn't bother you, then I say go for it.
INSIDE trailer