Alléluia

Fabrice du Welz's film 'Alleluia' could be described as a hybrid true-story/horror/comedy film, and you don't get many of those. A lonely woman hooks up with a con-man: in theory, they'll make their fortune together, but his business is the seduction of his victims (indeed, that was how he met his partner) but she is pathologically jealous of each of their supposed marks. Cue some brutal scenes, and some quite imaginative, effective and genuinely portrayals of what it is like both inside and outside of her head. As for him, he shrugs his shoulders each time a con-trick ends in an unwanted early bloodbath, and moves onto the next target. It's clever, but the protagonists are so crazed, and so devoid of anything resembling a conventional moral compass, that it's hard to feel too sympathetic or involved. But the disastrous duo are at least fresh on our screens, like Bonnie and Clyde in the hall of mirrors.

This is yet another remake of the Honeymoon Killers. It is very loosely based on the infamous Martha Beck and Raymond Fernandez lonely hearts murderers. The real life killers would answer ads and Ray would seduce widows with Beck posing as his sister. They would take the money and run after killing the old ladies. This Belgian version changes the tale dramatically with the pair seducing younger women. The acting is good but I was not thrilled with the story line. I recommend The Honeymoon Killers as a much better movie. Tony Lobianco and Shirley Stoler are perfectly cast as the murderous pair.

This is quite a raw film. I'm going to say little so to avoid the main shocks. It kind of twists the genre a little as we see one woman fall in love obsessively with an amoral man out to cheat woman out of money. He has a voracious sexual appetite, and this is a major arc in this film, but how does he and his new lover balance it all out.

It's dark, it's highly violent and very cynical. It's as much horror as it is a thriller. You won't be leaving this film with a spring in your step.

The acting is fabulous by our main leads (actually by everyone in it), and they really unsettle you. The camera work is claustrophobic and dark, avoiding anything flashy. It adds to the suffering nature of the film.

This isn't for everyone, you will need a strong stomach for this one. If you are interested in dark extreme cinema, then this could be for your. For the rest, I'd say you better check out what exactly it is before you go in, as I wouldn't be surprised if you walk out during the movie.

Inspired by a real couple, this rather ghastly horror depicts the lives of "Michel" (Laurent Lucas) and "Gloria" (Lola Dueñas). Initially they just hookup for some unbridled passion. Now he has an habit of imitating the Black Widow spider when he's done, but she manages to convince him that she would make for a far better procurement assistant. What now ensues are an increasingly graphic and outlandish series of crimes as a selection of vulnerable women fall prey to their antics. What nobody quite plans for, though, is that jealousy is going to rear it's ugly head. She is falling in love, he is not. A clash is looming, and a bloody and violent one at that. It starts off strongly this, with a degree of palpable menace that is intriguing to watch. Sadly, though, neither the acting nor the writing can sustain the sense of threat and the scenarios become a little too predictable, melodramatic even. By the last twenty minutes, the hysteria begins to grate and I sort of lost interest. At times there is some potently grim humour, and do keep an eye on the superior performance from Héléna Noguerra as "Solange" but otherwise, this is all just a bit underwhelming.

Like the titles says the movie is the Belgian version of Ripstein's Profundo carmesí (Deep red) with more or less minor differences. Still worth watching but nothing extraordinarily original if you have watched Ripstein's bizarre and grotesque 1996 movie.