Satã

French shocker Sheitan is, against all odds and expectations, some kind of demented - and utterly disreputable - masterpiece: the scariest, most uninhibited movie of the year, and also perhaps the funniest.

It's by some way the best picture I've seen since A History of Violence: I was really blown away by its punkish energy, unpredictability and confidence; most of all, I loved the way director Kim Chapiron (who I'd never heard of before) mixes horror and humour. So many movies try that balancing-act and come a cropper: Chapiron makes it look easy. She (or is it a he?) also puts the wildly overpraised Haut Tension and Calvaire very firmly in their place: Sheitan resembles both pictures in many ways, but is much their superior in terms of ambition, execution and sheer balls-to-the-wall chutzpah.

It's a picture I knew nothing about before arriving in Amsterdam (for the Fantastic Film Festival) and spotting it in the catalogue: the presence in the cast of Vincent Cassel and Monica Bellucci caught my eye, but I went in fearing the worst - anticipated a flashily hollow exercise in exploitational style a la Jan Kounen's dire Dobermann (Kounen is, as it turns out, thanked in the end credits), reckoned I might well exit after 30 minutes if it didn't grab my attention. New after five minutes I was going to be in my seat for the duration: hyperkinetic nightclub opening sets the tone/pace/look (much hand-held camera-work, rapidfire editing, up-close-and-personal shots of the youthful protagonists).

Main characters are three pals of varying degrees of boorishness: Olivier Barthelemy as knucklehead Bart, who rapidly gets into a daft dancefloor fight and is smashed over the head with a wine bottle; Ladj Ly and Nicolas Le Phat Tan as Thai - this latter pair relatively sensible and restrained in comparison with their lecherous, thuggish mate. When Bart is ejected from the premises, the trio head off (at reckless speed) in Ladj's car, along with barmaid Yasmine (Leila Bekhti) and another copine, Eve (Roxane Mesquida). After careering through the city streets, the five (accompanied by Bart's dog Tyson) head for the countryside and the farmhouse where Eve's parents supposedly reside. No sign of the folks: instead it's maniacally grinning farmhand/housekeeper Joseph (a near-unrecognisable Vincent Cassel) who provides an extremely hearty welcome. It doesn't take too long for all hell to break loose - perhaps literally, 'Sheitan' being the Persian word for Satan...

Like most of the best films, the less you know about Sheitan beforehand, the better: and any synopsis can't really hope to capture what makes the picture so exhilaratingly effective. Best seen in a crowded cinema - ideally after a drink or two - this is a genuinely disturbing, genuinely hilarious rock-the-house crowdpleaser. Too extreme and jittery for some, no doubt - but how terrific it is to stumble across a film bursting with so much wildness and life. A no-holds-barred rural Gothic: touches of Jeepers Creepers here and there, a bit of Cabin Fever - with Barthelemy's Bart a Gallic cousin of James DeBello's pricelessly doltish Bert from the latter.

And while Chapiron's direction and script (co-written with Christian Chapiron) are, of course, crucial, special mention must be made of Barthelemy, without whom Sheitan might not even work at all. His performance as the hapless Bart - whose sullen idiocy is punished in truly extravagant style - represents astonishing work. Bart is notably unintelligent, relentlessly unsympathetic: unredeemed and very probably unredeemable - a considerable challenge for any actor, never mind one making his first feature-film. But in Barthelemy's hands he becomes a compelling, utterly convincing three-dimensional creation - a startling intrusion of cloddish reality into what is otherwise a mind-bending journey into the surreal and the grotesque.

Co-producer Vincent Cassel gave his handsome star Vincent Cassel (son of the late international star Jean-Pierre) a chance to essay the colorful character role of the repulsive gardener Joseph. Watching him mugging about in a scruffy-haired, ugly-toothed make-up provides most of the fun that is to be had from this peculiar but largely disagreeable diabolical French horror flick; there is little I hate more than the sight of young people waving their arms around in that silly 'hip-hop' fashion and, unfortunately, there is a lot of that going on in the first half of the film…but I must say that watching Cassel's baffled reaction to it was very amusing! Anyhow, three youngsters (each of a distinct race and creed) get in trouble during a Christmas Eve on the town until a beautiful girl (Roxane Mesquida of 2001's FAT GIRL fame) they meet in a disco invites them to spend the night at her farm on the outskirts; there they meet Joseph, his equally unattractive and very pregnant wife, a mentally-challenged relative, the town slut and several of her lusty pretenders. While there is not much gore to be had during the 94-minute running-time, the film-makers decided to substitute that with some disgusting visuals instead: a free-for-all nude swim in the hot waters of a cave; Joseph licking his pregnant's wife tummy; the latter breaking water in the corridor at the climax; an all-important eye-gouging and, worst of all, a completely irrelevant flashback to one of the youngster's one-night stand with (again) an unattractive girl in a tent where her private regions are represented as a table replete with unappetizing food! The events depicted in the film could well be a nightmare being experienced by that same unlucky youngster after being beaten up at the discotheque…or the would-be Satanic rituals revolving around the birth of Cassel's child might really be happening – but, frankly, one never cares enough about any of the characters to spend much time afterwards on sorting it all out. For what it is worth, Cassel's real-life wife Monica Bellucci appears briefly as a female vampire in the black-and-white film-within-a-film being shown on TV at one point!

This movie was hilarious! I loved the characters in this film all with their own goofy, perverted and dumbass college aged personalities. It seemed to me that I laughed throughout most of the film but there was still enough gore and horror to keep me interested in the horror side of it.

Another thing I can say about this movie was there was a lot of "WTF!" moments. I also have to add that this movie has the nastiest description of a woman's private parts I have ever heard and still shake my head in disgust and amusement at it even days later.

I don't want to go into it too much but this movie has become high up on my list for movies I would recommend to people. It is politically incorrect and has constant references to racism, but its more to add to the uneducated hillbilly type character that plays in the movie.

If you haven't seen this, watch it. It is one of the funniest horror films I have ever seen.

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I really enjoyed this film when I saw the showing at FrightFest '06. Although not a "great movie" in the traditional sense it is absolutely hilarious!

Take human traffic and add a splash of the family from House of a 1000 corpses and then you have this film! ! ! I can honestly say that this film is worth watching just for the relationship between Joseph and Bart. If you want to watch a film with some messed up characters and truly funny scenes with a horror undertone then watch this mad French movie!

P.s. Watch for the "Red Rocket" scene in the grotto, anyone that has seen South Park should get that ! ! !

Are you curious about the dark underbelly of the French country side? Vincent Cassel, once again proves his chameleon talents, from the hard-boiled skinhead (La Haine) to the sophisticated adult brat (Ocean's 12), by playing the role of an extremely disturbing and mysterious peasant. The rest of the cast is made up of brand-new, but highly talented actors. The decor is very carefully composed and you might find yourself looking around for extra creepy details.

The action opens in a nightclub, a normal enough setting for a holiday night, and the strange stifling atmosphere, which is truly the best element of the film, settles in right from the start. They decide to set off to one of the girl's country house for the night

The language itself is very funny, colourful, quick and witty.Expect to learn a good few french swear words and expressions.

It is a very interesting first film, filled with original shots and editing. Definitely worth a look.

Planing on visiting Paris? Be careful, the village in the film is only an hour away. Don't wander off...