Ellos

What a pleasant surprise this film was. It literally drips with suspense from the opening scenes, right up to the last few minutes. I had my hand close to my face for much of it, just waiting for the shocks. I'm a big fan of French cinema and this kind of movie will show you why... attention to detail, natural acting and not afraid to divert from the mainstream. It builds beautifully, is directed by two craftsmen in their art and the performances from the two main actors are very natural and just excellent. Great premise and the fact that it's based on true events only adds to the creep factor. Fits perfectly in to it's short running time of 77 minutes. Great unexpected conclusion. Best french film of it's type since High Tension. Why can't there be more like this superb masterclass in suspense????

My God! "Ils" or "Them" reminds me of "Spoorloos" (The Vanishing - Dutch Title). But wait a minute. "Ils" is not a copycat nor its contents are equal to "Spoorloos". I am talking about the tense, the suspense and the frightful atmosphere this movie delivers to you.

The movie runs thru a hour and ten minutes always packed with great thrilling cinematography that could take you into a breathless awe. "Ils" don't have a great plot but it's not two minutes of suspense here and there... it's a whole hour of constant excitement of anticipation of an approaching climax! The acting is very good, very credible and natural. (Congratulations Olivia Bonamy and Michael Cohen because you guys connect "trés bien" on the screen).

The story is about a french couple living in a rural mansion in the outskirts of Bucuresti, Romania, that one night are surprised by some bizarre visitors that start to terrorize them. But who are really THEM? That's what we gonna find at the end and that's what it makes it more desirable to go see David Moreau's/Xavier Paludo's "Ils".

If you plan to see gore, forget it. Nevertheless this flick surpasses the goriest movie around. It was based on a true event and this makes it more scary and unpredictable.

Definitely a truly horror/thriller movie plot. Unmissable.

This movie is a mystery-horror hybrid, and one of the best at maintaining tension and suspense. Definitely not recommended for those with heart problems - honest, this had my heart racing. No special effects or big budget necessary, this movie is simple but told from the point of view of the victims as well as 'their' POV, and this keeps the movie interesting and makes it a different entry in the horror genere.

Much like Run Lola Run, "Ils" is effective, yet it is clear that is more of an exercise in style (that works very well) than any attempt to truly innovate. I can't help but wonder that this movie could have been awesome with a different, more intricate plot. But since it claims it's based on true facts, it does a good job of telling the story with a twist and putting us in the place of the two main characters. There isn't much gore at all, which is a good thing and works in favour of the movie's atmosphere.

And the ending... well, let's just say it was a big surprise for me. Just try not to read any spoilers about this movie, don't assume anything beforehand and you're set.

You should know that this movie is a horror movie. But even if you didn't know going in or renting this, you would certainly get that from the first minutes. And you will also get, that this is not the slasher horror movie that became a fashion (chic) the last few years, but a down and dirty (although that's more towards the second half of the movie) old school horror movie. And that means it's all about the suspense.

And the road to get there. Think about other (suspensful) horror classics and you will see that some of them had not that many scares at the beginning, but instead build/created the characters for us. This is what happens here too ... and the end really left me with a chill!!

...but in the end you realize this is something you'll only watch once or perhaps twice. It's a perfect cinema experience however.

The sound work works really well in a theater. There is clearly a very eager and talented sound designer and editor responsible for creating most of the tension. Every single creak and footstep is perfectly placed for the best scares. The plot is the "weakest" part, but it's nothing you'll care about. The best thing is that it mercifully steers clear of all "jump" scenes we know and hate from American scary movies.

After the first act, lightning starts to come in more and more and almost replaces sound as the tension-maker. This is also done extremely well. Actually, this is probably one of the most well- made horror movies in a long time. Everything plays out perfectly; lightning, sound, camera-work(modern, but not annoyingly so) editing and cinematography.

Definitely worth watching for the technical aspects alone, but more so for the tension and the scares.