La peau blanche

I've seen this mystery-thriller-drama-horror flick at the FantasyFilmFest. We meet Thierry, who doesn't like red hairy women until Claire comes into his life. He falls in love with her, but (of course) something is wrong. Something is wrong with her family. Thierry's room-mate Henri is watching how Thierry is changing. He tries to warn him, but Thierry doesn't care... LA PEAU BLANCHE is located in Montreal and has some nice shots. This is no "lets take the knife and kill someone"-thing, LPB is more silent and spooky. If you liked GINGER SNAPS 1, this movie could be right at home in front of your TV with chips and beer.

The title of this film doesn't give you a clue as to what it wants to tell. "White Skin" opens with a conversation between two friends, Thierry and Henri (yeah, those of you who know me will know that I am grinning at this - Arsenal's star player is called Thierry Henry, but no, it doesn't make any inference here), they're talking about being coloured (Henri is black, Theirry is white), and touch on racism.

This film doesn't pretend that it's not preaching about this topic, but at times when they talk about it, you can't seem to help but think the filmmakers are trying, though without success, to deliver some kind of message across. Peppered throughout the show are conversations that touch upon skin colour, race, "The Original Man", etc.

But looking at the theatrical poster, one might be fooled into thinking it's an out and out horror film about new vampires. It isn't.

For those who dove head-on into this film, it'll be kinda confusing at first, as the narrative at times doesn't seem to lead anywhere. The first 5 minutes shows the chums engaging with hookers, and all hell breaks loose when Henri is stabbed with a knife by one of the prostitutes. It is also within this 5 minutes that we learn of Thierry's dislike for brunettes (again, not that it is a major plot point or adds to the narrative). However, he finds himself being drawn towards a brunette called Claire in his University, whom he fist laid eyes on when she was busking at the underground metro.

They become bed buddies, and although Thierry wants more than sex in a relationship, Claire seemed to be satisfied with the state of things - kind of a role reversal here. She's hiding something from him, and it's not until the last third of the film that we realize what it is, and it's not cancer as originally thought. Sticking to my concept of reviewing, I shall not dwell into the plot from this point on, as it'll lead to major spoilers.

This show positions itself more as a thriller and not your outright horror show with ugly monsters, musical crescendos, loud bangs at right moments and blood splattering all over. We are left with wondering what the big secret is, but the slow pace of the film makes it quite a stretch in a theatre seat. Many subplots go undeveloped, or gets lagged as a red herring. Things go full circle when the chums get figuratively haunted by the prostitute who stabbed Henri.

This is recommended for one of those lazy weekends when you really got nothing else better to do. So set your expectations right, and don't expect too many memorable scenes from this movie, though it is compensated by a relatively good looking cast.

Oh my God, Eric Cartman was right! I remember seeing an episode of "South Park" in which Cartman single-handedly wanted to perform some sort of genocide against red-haired kids because he proclaims them to be pure evil. With just a slight bit of lunatic imagination this low-budgeted but nonetheless artistic Canadian thriller more or less confirm the 'wicked redhead'-concept, as the red hair and titular pale skin are outward characteristics for the so-called "Succubus". These are female demons that use their sexy appearances and steaming libidos to seduce men and then subsequently feed on their flesh during the act of intercourse. For some strange reason, Succubi are regretfully underused in horror films nowadays (back in the rancid 60's and 70's they formed often recurring characters in sleazy European B-flicks) but "White Skin" is a very admirable and innovative new film with a few clever twists. Literature student Thierry has a congenital aversion – almost like a phobia – towards girls with red hair and pale skins. His sentiments even increase when his roommate and best friend Henri gets bitten in the throat by a redhead prostitute during a nightly escapade that nearly causes a racial conflict. Completely unexpected, Thierry then falls head over heels in love with the introvert and extremely pale skinned Claire. She's a strange and mysterious girl but Thierry gladly neglects his school work and social life in favor of her, much to the discontent of Henri. Thierry even guards Claire's hospital bed when she falls victim to a vicious case of skin cancer, but then he gradually discovers she and particularly her family have a much more terrifying condition than cancer. Director/Co-writer Daniel Roby is extremely sparing with clues during the first hour of the film and literally surrounds Claire's character with an aura of mystery and oddly enticing morbidity. The protagonists' vivid encounter with a blood-sucking redhead during the opening sequences somewhat gave an idea of what to expect, but still you keep having the impression they could go anywhere with the story. The pace is rather slow, but admittedly that is better to illustrate the growing bond between the two unusual lovers as well as in order to build up towards an offbeat and relatively shocking climax. "White Skin" isn't a gory movie and probably moves far too slow to impress the fans of recent horror stuff like "Saw IV" and "30 Days of Night", but it's definitely recommended to people with an interest in story –and atmosphere driven thrillers. The fairly unknown Canadian cast does a good job. Lead guy Marc Paquet looks a bit like the older sibling of Daniel Radcliffe and the younger one of Tobey Maguire, but apparently this nerdish type of appearance works splendidly. Marianne Farley, as Claire, and particularly Jessica Malka as her insatiable younger sister Marquise are bewitching in the female leads.

This was somewhat of a surprise. I read the synopsis, so I had an idea, but I didn't expect any quality whatsoever. That was a huge element of the surprise; the performance and story quality. The execution was a bit choppy, and the racial theme was a bit off putting, but all in all, this was very well done.

A grad student discovers his distant, overly-white girlfriend has a few secrets. Secrets her mother will do anything to destroy.

This features some decent performances, a relatively unique story line, and a half-decent score. The dubbing is horrid, but I suppose it's difficult to sync French with English. This is a drama rather than an actioner, and is more suspense with horror elements than outright horror, so remember that if you decide to give this one a viewing.

All in all? This was very well done, considering lack of budget, and carries an innovative story I found entertaining. Perhaps you will, too.

It rates a 6.7/10 from...

the Fiend :.

Thierry Richard and his roommate Henri Dieudonné pick up a couple of hookers at a bar. Thierry hears a disturbance from Henri's room and finds him fighting with the girl. She has cut Henri's neck with a knife and jumps out of the window naked into the streets. Thierry falls in love with redhead Claire Lefrançois despite his genetic prejudice. He becomes obsessed which disturbs Henri. It's revealed that she has cancer, her sister Marquise is the one who attacked Henri, and her family consumes the life from their victims.

It's a French-Canadian indie. The anti-redhead rant is interesting. It's a fascinating start with the action in the hotel room. Then it turns into a long tease. It's a bit slow in the middle. This is all slightly different from the normal Hollywood horror genre. It's very much appreciated but it isn't all compelling.