Inside

'À l'intérieur' pulls off a surprising feat: it manages to take a concept that is, by its' very premise, provocative, and make it remarkably uninvolving. It performs this reverse alchemy by an unrelenting series of missteps, in both minor details and choices that the characters make, or don't make. Every time you get close to being sucked in by the action, you are suddenly ripped out of it by something that draws attention to the contrivance and implausibility.

Having said that, I still enjoyed the film due to the performance of the two leads and the remarkable, atmospheric direction. In fact, all of the actors were fine, doing their best with what they had to work with. In the end, this is a gore-fest, and at that the creators succeeded in spades.

I can't recommend this to anyone looking for an involving story or the kind of suspense that demands that you lose yourself in the film, but if you're looking for an 82 minute ride through a great looking charnel house, you could do a lot worse.

A mother-to-be is menaced by a strange woman who traps her inside her own house. What does the stranger want? Why, her unborn baby, of course. This film received a great deal of praise from the horror community, but when I watched it shortly after it's U.S. DVD release, I didn't think it was worthy of any of it. Since I blind bought it back then, I figured I might as well give it another chance. Alas, this film didn't improve at all upon my second viewing. French horror seems to be all the rage among fellow genre fans these days, but where films like Haute Tension and Martyrs succeed at being more than envelope-pushing for the sheer hell of it, Inside fails miserably.

I'm a fan of Béatrice Dalle. She's fantastic in 37°2 le matin, and her menacing performance is easily the best thing about this film. To be frank, it's the only thing this mess has going for it. Alysson Paradis is the victim, but pregnant or not, the film didn't give me much of a reason to invest in her character. Clearly, this kills any potential suspense factor. Another suspense vacuum is the rampant idiocy on display here, most notably from the police. A cop's two partners just disappeared into a dark house where gunshots emanated from. Am I to believe that the moron would head into the house with his latest arrest handcuffed to his wrist, all without calling for backup? Then there's the thing with the circuit breaker, and it's just absurd. I also didn't care for the inside shots of the baby at all. I thought it was an awful idea, made all the more annoying by the obvious CGI and ridiculous expressions the baby would make. Was I supposed to be disturbed whenever this popped up? If anything, it was amusing that the directors thought this would work in any way, shape or form.

Now, onto the film's sole reason for existing... The gore effects are wet and brutal. They're not always convincing, but they're very graphic. And that's all there is to Inside. Honestly, this thing is basically just one big excuse for pushing the envelope with gore effects and attempted shock factor. There is no depth, no suspense, no scares... It's a revolting bore. I'm surprised by how well-liked it is. This belongs at the bottom of the barrel with other French drivel such as Sheitan and Frontière(s). The only true horror that comes from watching this is realizing that something so bad is actually being praised to the heavens.

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

... 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.

I'll try to make it short without spoilers.

Movie is fast paced, brutal, bloody, violent and gory as hell. Recently I write review for another brutal movie from France - Frontiers and told how gory it was. Well this movie on my surprise is even bigger gorefest.

Delle is perfect as psycho stalking woman. You don't know who she is, but you know that whenever she shows up, it's not a good thing. During the movie you can see her madness and you can pray that it doesn't happen to you, but at the end you can feel some sympathy for her and understand why she started all that bloody rampage.

This movie is will keep you on the edge of the seat from the beginning to the end. It's not just brutal it's also very creepy. Hollywood filmmakers should learn how to make a good horror movie from this one. This is a pure horror masterpiece that we've been waiting for years to come. I was hoping if this would get cult classic status but as I see it now, it's already instant classic since it rocked every goddamn horror fan.

Recommended to every horror fan, this is MUST see, but try to get UNRATED version. I've seen rated version and it was already gory, now I'm looking for unrated version.

To all other people who are not familiar with this kind of movie and to those who are not horror fans, keep telling yourself "It's only a movie, it's only a movie... "