Livide

I saw "Livid" at the FrightFest in London a few days ago and had neither particularly high nor low expectations before the film started. When the credits began to roll 88 minutes later the final result was similar to my opinion of Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury's directorial debut in 2007 with "Inside" – it was good but flawed. However, any comparisons of the two films end here as they are on the opposing sides of the same genre and very different in their own right.

The plot evolves around a young woman named Lucy who is beginning her training as an in-house caregiver. During her visit to an unattended old woman who is in a cerebral coma and living in an isolated, looming mansion, she discovers that years earlier she had allegedly placed a large treasure within one of its many locked rooms. As Lucy returns home the viewer learns of her struggles which are both financial and emotional due to a recent loss. Soon after she is persuaded to return to the house by her boyfriend and his brother in search for the supposed treasure and, in doing so, this is where their lives begin to go rapidly downhill…

Firstly, I'll start with the good elements of "Livid." The cinematography and visuals are absolutely beautiful and really make it a pleasurable viewing experience, especially when combined with the pulsing, brooding score of the film. The actress who plays Lucy is fantastic in her starring role, playing a likable character but with genuine depth, and there are no complaints to be made about the supporting cast. Furthermore, and probably the most importantly – the film is absolutely terrifying at times. This was primarily psychological but also aided by some fantastic imagery.

Regarding the weaker parts of the movie, I felt that the first two thirds of the film are substantially better than the final third. This is because, to put it simply, the film does not seem to know which genre it wants to be. The transaction it makes when switching is not a particularly smooth one. Because of this, many gaping plot holes are left open and at times it is a struggle to make sense of what exactly is going on. Another issue with "Livid" was that the filmmakers seemed too dependent on "jump" scares which cheapened the movie and often ruined both the tension and flow. Finally, I think the very ending was much sillier than intended.

So whilst I had my issues with "Livid" I still believe that the strength of the positives more than compensates for the negative aspects, and that overall this is a genuinely good movie. I would recommend this to any horror (or even fantasy) fan. Considering the graphic nature of their previous film, it was interesting seeing the filmmakers experiment with such a different approach to the genre. And all in all, I believe it was successful.

7/10

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.

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).

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.

Inside is possibly my favourite horror film of all time. I've not seen a horror film that matches its thrilling intensity and roller-coaster ride feeling, apart from maybe the final third of Black Swan (which isn't really horror). So you can imagine my excitement when Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury (the writers and directors of Inside) announced that they were doing another horror film. I got even more excited when I heard the plot, and got really excited when I saw some down right beautiful images ie. The bloody girl floating. As you can imagine, I'm now really, really excited. I see the trailer which makes me more excited but then the reviews come in... The reviews aren't too good. All of them say it's nothing like Inside, and all of them very mixed, telling me to bring my expectations down to rock bottom and that's what I did (although still incredibly excited) and Livid didn't disappoint.

The fact that the duo abandon the whole Inside theme all together and do something completely different with a slow, creeping, fairytale horror film just makes me respect them more. This shows that they're not one hit wonders and they do absolutely understand our beloved genre. I'd be more disappointed if they did an inferior rip-off of Inside. Livid just goes to show how versatile this couple are (not that I'm suggested they are an actual couple. just a friendly duo! Although there is nothing wrong with them being a couple of course.) Livid shows off their directing skills beautifully as they've created a magnificently-crafted horror film that can sit proudly amongst the other French greats.

Obviously it will have to sit a few notches below Inside and others such as Martyrs and The Ordeal, because of course Livid is not a patch on Inside, but what is? Livid creates a wonderfully haunting atmosphere from the word go. It begins with some fantastic shots around a beach (including a severed head!) and grave-yard ehich really draws you in to the story. We're then introduced to a beautiful French lady called Lucie who's driving around with a sarcastic house-to-house carer and it's her first day on the job. We get to know each of their characters well and then things officially start when Lucie's introduced to a comatose old woman who supposedly has a treasure hidden somewhere and of course her and her somewhat idiotic friends decide to break in and steal it! Bad idea.

There's a nightmarish quality that resonates all the way through Livid. The film is rich with atmosphere and imagery, giving it a fairytale vibe with its exaggerated and almost Tim Burton-esque production design. Livid has been made with such care and it really shows through! There's an almost choking atmoshpere when the group first break into the old woman's house, as it's all very oppressive with gaudy wallpaper and a rickety house design. There is also an undeniable creepy atmosphere and a feeling of something not being right. The first meeting of the ballerina girl is pretty chilling and the film is full of beautiful imagery that will likely stay with you for days.

Livid is a horror throw-back. Back to those hammer horror days where horror films relied on atmosphere, rather than gore. However, that's not to say that there isn't some gore in Livid! Although it obviously isn't as extreme as Inside's unholy amount of blood, there are a lot of cringey moments! My only problems with Livid is that it did feel a little slow at times, which is fine for building up the atmosphere, however I think that it was building it up for too long at times. Also, I would've liked more character development on Lucie's friends, they just looked like they were there to be killed off! However, Livid isn't a slasher film, in fact it offers some rather terrific twists along the way.

Livid tries to trick you with its old-school scares such as the dolls head moving, which is in fact done incredibly well! However, some original scares do suddenly start to come and they are very creepy. I could feel the panic of the group when they realised they couldn't get out this old mansion, with a creepy old woman on the top floor! There are also some rather brutal and inventive kills. I can see some people getting confused with its dream-scape-like atmosphere, but just think of it as a Dario Argento film or Mulholland Drive. The film is made to look like a nightmare, that's why things can turn surreal, and characters make perplexing decisions. P.s. I would've liked Beatrice Dalle to have been in it more, she was more of a nod to fans of Inside, but I think she could've played a bigger role. She was in it for all of 10 seconds!

Livid goes up another notch in my book when it starts to bring in some gorgeous flash-backs that really do feel like a fairytale (although one not to be telling your kiddies!) That's when the plot really starts to thicken and things become very interesting and rather juicy! There's a wonderful finale, beautifully filmed and I didn't find the ending that infuriating like some people, just try not to take it too literally! So I did actually really like Livid despite the mixed feedback. It's a refreshing change to have a well-made haunted house movie, although it is French, thus obviously going to be good! Whilst Livid won't attack you emotionally like Inside or Martyrs, it will give you a solid horror film, with an interesting narrative and some beautiful cinematography and directing. I shall eagerly await Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury's next horror film. But for now I'll just feed off of these two gems!