Livide

Livide is a French horror film i the style of The Orphanage, in that it has just as much heart and fantasy as it does horror. A young woman begins working as a nurse and sees a number of elderly and sick patients. One in particular catches her eye, an old woman in a coma, who it is said, has a treasure hidden on the grounds. The young nurse and her boyfriend, along with a friend, decide to find the treasure. They break into the house but get more than they bargained for. The film builds up a meticulous but thoughtful pace, bringing us slowly into the world of this house at night. The fiilm keeps the horror at a distance at first, with loud noises from upstairs etc. Once it kicks off the gore is grotesque, but used sparingly, making it even more effective. Some of the visuals are of pure fantasy and even though they are at first horrifying, Maury and Bustillo soon use them poetically. A floating vampire girl in the sunlight, a wind-up corpse etc. All scary at first, become even more disturbing as they reach us on an emotional level. I felt the film tries to do too much in the third act. It tries to give us horror and fantasy, backstory in flashbacks, kills, and exposition, to the point it got a bit muddled. Kills were suddenly followed by long jumps into the past. The film does best when it shows its story visually, which thankfully, it chooses to do most of the time. Great performances, stunning visuals, a unique feel, and a mature handling of difficult themes makes this a worthwhile horror.

From the directors of À l'intérieur (2007) this is their follow-up. Inside as it was called outside France was know as one of the holy gory french flicks so everybody was expecting the next Inside but it isn't.

One way I was glad that they didn't made a copy of Inside but on the other hand I was sad that this isn't one of French gore flicks. Still it's an excellent movie. I agree, I had difficulties with the end but regardless that fact I rather enjoyed this creepy flick which still has it's gory moments.

Lucy (Chloé Coulloud)has her first day as in-house caregiver. Everything goes well until she is asked not to follow inside the house of Mrs Jessel (Marie-Claude Pietragalla)but curiosity killed the cat and she does enter the house only to see an old which look-a- like woman laying in bed. On her neck a chain with a key. Going back home Lucy met her lover and his boyfriend William (Félix Moati) and Ben (Jérémy Kapone). Both not having a lot of money and Lucy telling of the key and the treasure connecting to end they enter the house. From there on this normal flick turns into a slow building creepy flick until the extreme gore comes in. The acting was okay but again it's the effects used for the gore (no CGI) that makes it all worth watching.

Being a bit of a supernatural thing some will turn it off after a while but keep waiting until Mrs Jessel wakes up out of her coma. A rather good surprise and I would recommend it to gorehounds but be warned, it isn't like the holy French goreflicks.

Gore 2,5/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 4/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

The sexy Chloé Coulloud plays Lucy, a world weary girl in her late teens troubled by the death of her mother. On the first day of her latest dead end job as a care-worker her irritating boss Wilson, played by Catherin Jacob, takes Lucy to a creepy old house and introduces her to a comatose patient named Jessel. Lucy learns that Jessel was once a renowned dance instructor who's daughter, Anna, died at a young age. Wilson hints at the family wealth and teases Lucy with rumours of treasure hidden somewhere in the mansion.

When Lucy's relays the story to dead-beat boyfriend William he persuades her and his brother Ben to accompany him to the house that night with the aim of finding the treasure.

Livid is both haunting and horrific in equal measure. Scenes are dimly lit, taking place almost exclusively at night and where the only source of light is a torch or flickering bulb. The Gothic mansion is a perfect set piece for the unfolding treasure hunt and much of the imagery presented within the peeling facade of its ancient walls will linger in your memory long after the film is finished. The photogenic Coulloud is perfect as the dazed female protagonist, her sultry eyes, permanent pout and expressive yet somehow dormant features will have your attention in every one of her scenes.

The first 80% of the movie is a wonderful addition to the haunted house genre, featuring some of the creepiest moments I've seen in a film of this type in a long time. Unfortunately, the story loses its way toward the end, uncertain how and where to finish, and wraps up with a series of ambiguous metaphors before spiralling out of control into full fairytale mode and throwing all previous suspension of disbelief down the can.

Despite this disappointment, the majority is well worth a watch, guaranteed to give you chills and have you on the edge of your seat. It's hard to inject this kind of blanket horror into a film and for the effort and achievement Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury deserve full credit. More, however, should definitely have been invested in a conclusion more befitting the rest of the film.

This one was for sure a mixed bag, but a lot of the pros pushed me to excuse some of the cons.

This was a spooky and atmospheric one for sure... and I quite enjoyed how it kept surprising me. At each turn I found myself experiencing something I wasn't expecting. Very much gives off the vibe of your basic haunted house horror, however, it surprises you.

My biggest issue was with the execution of the story... the story itself is not where my problem resides. I really quite liked the story, or at least, as much as I could get from it. It ended up being a bit clunky, rushed and undercooked. All of the exposition happened quite quickly towards the end and it left you with a lot of questions. I wish some of the beginning filler would have been cut leaving more time for elaboration, providing for a more well rounded, comprehensive story overall. I also was not in love with the score and some of the editing choices... gave it this odd "made for TV" feel. All of this while keeping in mind it is over 10 years old.

Regardless of the story being a bit half baked and confusing, the foundation was certainly there and provided just enough to have something really cool, spooky and fun on your hands. The acting was solid throughout, nothing amazing, nothing distracting. I was quite surprised and impressed by the special effects and choices that went along with them. Super effective throughout and really amped up the creep factor.

All in all this was quite a pleasant surprise that kept me guessing and led me places I was not expecting. Giving this a 6.5 and want to round up, however some of the confusion and plot holes lead me to round down. Would definitely recommend.

You may know the filmmaker from the movie Inside. If you expect this to be the same OTT movie, then you better stay clear of it, because it isn't. This movie is more of a fairy tale (if you want to call it that, because it still is horror). While it's often obvious where this is going, you still wonder about the motivations of the characters and their actions.

Then again, we are used to worse. The actors are good enough to pull you through it. The ending might swing some people towards the negative or positive side (depending on which side they were before). I think it's a thing you can't see entirely coming at you (at least that's what I think about it).