Au rendez-vous de la mort joyeuse

Where was this one hiding? A French art horror film about poltergeists that really delivers the goods on most fronts, even though it's apparent the budget isn't the highest.

A French family (chain-smoking mother, annoying child, hard-working father, moody teenage girl) move into a huge creepy mansion and almost right away strange things begin to happen. The teenage girl draws a picture of the mansion that looks a lot different than it actually is. A tin of paint falls over in the kitchen. The boy's toys are broken by someone unseen. During the night most of the windows in the building are violently destroyed by an unknown presence throwing stones. The family are baffled and think the locals have something against them...that is until a table rises up into the air, smashes its way into the house, and destroys a room.

In fact, we the audience are clued in on what's happening more than the family, because there's something strange going on with daughter Sophie. At first it seems that she's some kind of telekinetic-type, but it all could be something more to do with something in the house that's either using her or possessing her. It's never really made clear anyway, but by the way Sophie's reflection seems to be moving when Sophie isn't, something aint right.

Eventually, when a lecherous visitor gets attacked by kitchen appliances after commenting on Sophie 'starting to become a woman', a television crew are called in to document the weird goings on, with the family moving out for a while. Initially, the crew don't find anything particularly strange happening, save for some old rope left in the boy's bed, but when Sophie reappears, having hitchhiked all the way back there, soundman Gerard Depardieu goes into a trance and plunges his hand into a pan of soup...French onion soup of course!

Other things happen but it's not fair to recount every scare scene in case you actually want to go out and watch the thing. It's like the Robert Wise film The Haunting with regards to all the paranormal stuff centred around one person, and like that film doesn't rely on gore to get the chills in. In fact, there's bit of this film have turned up in other horror fiction, especially the 'ball' bit from The Changeling, and really especially Stephen King's work, like the telekinetic girl's house destroyed by stones in the book Carrie, or the sexual ghost coming on to a guy then revealing itself as something horrible in The Shining! There's also a lot of similarities between Salem's Lot and Mario Bava's Black Sabbath while I'm on the subject, and the spider/baby thing from Spider Labyrinth turns up in the Dark Tower books. Don't tell me he doesn't watch these things - he fully admitted getting the idea for the Dark Tower from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly!

Back to the film - A couple of sudden deaths come out of nowhere near the end, and you do have a Haunting-like ending...or no ending at all...it is a French art film after all. I guess it's in how you interpret it. Very good though. That's I'm seeking them all out - to find films like this. Recommended!

I saw this movie in its German version on TV when I was about 19 yrs old. The time to watch a movie (which you do not know absolutely), especially a horror movie, was optimal - as it was late at night. I did not have any idea that the TV broadcast such a disturbing film ever and expected just any entertainment but... Goodness, I was shaken with horror and probably did hardly sleep that night, at least left the lights on to have a short nap. This movie may prove slow and yet inflicts the deepest surprise with horror far beyond the Hollywood makings. It is a genius film, absolutely underestimated and obviously hard to get or even see. Since 30 (!!!) years I have tried to get hold of it since but did not succeed. Worth watching absolutely!

This is a clunky and rather slow, but mildly interesting French take on the family moves into a haunted house genre. The special effects which largely consist of furniture sliding around are strickly sub-Exorcist, but the film has a few quirky touches which keep the proceedings from being too predictable. Worth a look, if only because French horror films are such a rarity, but this doesn't hold a candle to the similarly themed The Haunting.

An extraordinary first film from Juan Bunuel, son of Luis, and if if does not completely succeed it is certainly a very bold effort. A variation on the old dark house film, the creepy and violent otherness here is of the poltergeist variety, and very violent and creepy it is. Lots of children here and one young girl (the daughter) who may be the main cause of things going very big bump in the night, and the day. This central character is played most convincingly and beautifully by leading model of the time, Yasmine Dahm. Her performance is perfect but the director does not seem to have given the same attention to all and some of the acting seems rather hammy, even a young Gerard Depardieu seems to be over acting, but then, dare I say, this would not be the last time for that! There are several dark sequences and I feel i might have scored this higher had it been a better print.

Directing debut for Juan Bunuel, son of revered filmmaker Luis Bunuel, is a disturbing but hollow, unsatisfying thriller about a haunted house in the French countryside. Married couple with two kids move into the dilapidated manor, and are rather slow to discover there are spirits afoot and they want the humans out. Film wasn't exhibited Stateside for years, though one can imagine Steven Spielberg seeing this and getting the idea for his production "Poltergeist"; the films share similar story points, though this one has no humorous undermining. Some spooky moments and a haunting finale can't really make it worthwhile. Ultimately, it's just a little too heavy and dense. *1/2 from ****