À l'intérieur

... although the ones that follow aren't that shallow.

What would you do, a stranger's coming after you, just a day before you birth, with a rather heavy girth; finds a way into your home, from room to room she walks and roams, like a demon after blood, of which there ends up quite a flood (or a torrent or a deluge, take your pick).

The fantastic Béatrice Dalle, who gave us one of the most outstanding performances of her career in the brilliant Betty Blue, gives us another intense interpretation, as a stalker/house breaker intent on causing chaos and carnage, while wreaking havoc and mayhem - which she achieves with some aplomb and more.

No doubt, Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury are skillful directors but what's way more dominant here is the visual experience. The team responsible for the lighting does an amazing job, perfectly complemented by cinematographer Laurent Barès, a name that will be worth paying attention to in the future. The real edge are the gore effects though. The make-up department simply outdoes itself, as far as I'm concerned, this is as good as it gets. Also the performances by the two leads don't leave any room for complaints. This truly is an exceptionally well executed movie.

Still, it didn't work for me. As a scriptwriter, director Bustillo leaves a lot to be desired. First off, the movie has next to no plot. The setup and the climax are suitable for a flick like this, but there is really not much in between, leaving you utterly uninterested in where this is going, or why it is not going anywhere at all, ever. Nor does Bustillo really try to produce any character development. The protagonist is a depressive, bad-tempered woman who doesn't care about anything (including the child in her womb, making it little more then a plot device for reduction of her mobility) and the fact that her agony is justified doesn't make her any more interesting as a lead either. The antagonist on the other hand has about one line of informative dialog all together. Nevertheless, the death toll is over the top as Bustillo mindlessly throws one puppet after the other into the blender to be slaughtered within minutes to seconds without ever giving us the slightest reason to shed a tear for them. They really are just sacks of blood wandering up and down a set of stairs before tearing open, spilling their content on the walls. If nothing else, this fact makes the movie feel like a film-school experiment concerning make-up effects.

Now watching the last shot, I can't deny, at this level, the visual experience does to some degree substitute for the lack of script. With all the gore, the seas of blood, the perfectly composed lighting and shots, the agonizing atmosphere and generally the direction itself the movie has a certain poesy about it, which probably was the directors goal.

Verdict.

If you are a rather sensitive person, the visceral stimulation might blow your mind and you won't care too much about a plot all together. If you are a fan of horror flicks, the movie really has the gore and some uniqueness going for it. "Experienced" audiences might feel a bit too much to be desired. Nevertheless, an interesting experience.

First thing: If you don't like blood or gore, stay far, far away from this. Also, don't watch this if you're pregnant. Really.

This is one hell of a horror movie, quite literally. What you need to know about this is that there's a pregnant woman in serious peril. And by peril, I mean, torture, gore, revenge, lots of blood, death and... scissors.

Like Irreversible, Sheitan, Ils and Maléfique, "Inside" is yet another proof that the best horror these days are coming from Europe (France, Spain and Germany specially). Filmed with what appears to be a micro-budget, most of the action occurs in a small, two-storey house. However, the talent of those involved with the film make this irrelevant.

One important thing about this film is that is very good at maintaining tension and suspense, something that very few gory movies do. You know you're watching something terrible, but you can't look away for curiosity's sake.

Many interesting details in the movie, such as the victim's house number, black cats and overall a feeling of dread and death. Worth watching twice for catching these pearls.

Anyway, as a last minute warning, THIS IS VERY violent and graphic. The ending was great and haunting, and with the exception of a scene or two that didn't really make sense and thus seemed somewhat out of place, this is a solid horror and fans of the genre won't be disappointed.

6/10

This is a movie about every mother's worst nightmare; the fear of having your baby taken from you. A relatively taboo subject, that get's tackled masterfully in this flick. I was thoroughly surprised at how intense and beautiful this movie was, given that it largely takes place inside a house. This film is disturbing, violent and bloody but it isn't without artistic value. This is extreme art house cinema, with lots of symbolism.

The high- and low-key settings is used beautifully and really draws in the viewer and encourages you to think about what you see, while forcing you to concentrate about every scene. The colors are used so excellently, so subtlety and yet not so subtlety if you know about movie symbolism. It directly affects your mood and sets the tone perfectly, along with the intense and sad music. This is a movie, that makes you feel something that you don't want to feel, but that it reminds you, that you are alive.

Even though I didn't understand a word they said (watched it without subtitles), I understood everything as it unfolded right before my eyes. That is no easy task to accomplish for a movie, spoken in a language you do not understand. After waiting many years to watch this film, simply because I thought the plot sounded incredibly generic, my only regret is that I can't unwatch it. Not that I thought it was too extreme, but simply because I haven't watched a movie yet that holds up to this amount of artistic value, and certainly not in the horror genre. I have watched a few art house cinema, but I thought they were boring. I have yet to watch any of the other movies from the New French Extremism, but I can't wait to get started.

This is not a movie for the faint of heart or pregnant women. But if you like extreme, thought provoking horror and films, that isn't extreme just for the sake of controversy, then you're gonna love this. I will definitely buy this movie to add to my collection sometime soon.

Of course I have seen films like MARTYRS, FRONTIER(S) and JACK KETCHUM'S THE GIRL NEXT DOOR but I have to say INSIDE was in a class by itself in terms of the ending, it was so bloody and violent I had trouble wrapping my head around what I just saw.

At first I wanted to hate the film and kick myself for buying it but later on I couldn't stop thinking about it, especially about the ending, very few films have had that effect on me, so in the end I thought maybe it was a good film, because I can't even remember the last film that had this particular effect on me, so I'll go ahead and say among all the graphic violence and all the intense moments there was actually a very unique experience.

If I could give good advice to all male horror fans, don't think of this as the ideal date movie, it might cause a few problems in your relationship.