La peau blanche

I don't know why, but I found this movie extremely enjoyable.

I had heard of this movie before, and I saw it on Encore Love on a Saturday night, and I got interested. I started watching, and I found myself being drawn in.

The basic story is about Thierry, a college student, meeting a red-head named Claire, whom he finds he has an odd infatuation with her, despite his dislike of pale women.

Soon, they begin dating, and conflicts arise between Claire and Thierry's roommate, Henri, who was recently attacked by a prostitute (sounds weird, I know). Henri becomes suspicious when Thierry starts acting differently due to his relationship, and Henri starts investigating. Soon, Henri and Thierry discover the truth about the new girlfriend and her family.

The plot is well thought out, and the characters express what the filmmaker wants them to express, whether it's to be likable or the most hated character in the movie. Claire starts out questionably shy, but I then found her to be a nice person, despite her withdrawals at first. Thierry and Henri are both portrayed excellently, as well as Henri's Aunt, who accurately acts as a knowledgeable person in all fields. Marquee, Claire's sister, is also portrayed perfectly, despite her being my least favorite character. She MAKES you hate her, while enticing you at the same time.

The colors are beautiful. The camera catches a wide palette of bright colors in the background, making you look all around. Bright blues are a prominent color, but there are beautiful yellows and reds, too.

Overall, the movie was flat out great. The ending was quaint and nice, the suspense scenes were just that: suspenseful, and the characters were portrayed perfectly. It isn't a movie I plan to go out and buy now, but if I were to see it on the TV again, I'd drop everything and try to watch it.

Highly Recommended.

This was somewhat of a surprise. I read the synopsis, so I had an idea, but I didn't expect any quality whatsoever. That was a huge element of the surprise; the performance and story quality. The execution was a bit choppy, and the racial theme was a bit off putting, but all in all, this was very well done.

A grad student discovers his distant, overly-white girlfriend has a few secrets. Secrets her mother will do anything to destroy.

This features some decent performances, a relatively unique story line, and a half-decent score. The dubbing is horrid, but I suppose it's difficult to sync French with English. This is a drama rather than an actioner, and is more suspense with horror elements than outright horror, so remember that if you decide to give this one a viewing.

All in all? This was very well done, considering lack of budget, and carries an innovative story I found entertaining. Perhaps you will, too.

It rates a 6.7/10 from...

the Fiend :.

Thierry Richard and his roommate Henri Dieudonné pick up a couple of hookers at a bar. Thierry hears a disturbance from Henri's room and finds him fighting with the girl. She has cut Henri's neck with a knife and jumps out of the window naked into the streets. Thierry falls in love with redhead Claire Lefrançois despite his genetic prejudice. He becomes obsessed which disturbs Henri. It's revealed that she has cancer, her sister Marquise is the one who attacked Henri, and her family consumes the life from their victims.

It's a French-Canadian indie. The anti-redhead rant is interesting. It's a fascinating start with the action in the hotel room. Then it turns into a long tease. It's a bit slow in the middle. This is all slightly different from the normal Hollywood horror genre. It's very much appreciated but it isn't all compelling.

While celebrating his anniversary with his black roommate and friend Henri Dieudonné (Frédéric Pierre) in a bar, Thierry Richard (Marc Paquet) is invited by Henri to a program with two hookers. They go to a motel, and Henri is attacked by his girl, being saved by Thierry. Later, Thierry meets the red-haired musician Claire Lefrançois (Marianne Farley), they have wild sex and he falls in love for her. But she tells him that she has a disease and she breaks with him. When Thierry meets Claire again, he finds how she may be cured.

I loved this Canadian movie. I started watching the DVD without any clue about the genre, and based on the beginning of the story, I thought it was a dramatic romance. However, when the secret of Claire and her family is disclosed, I realized that it is a very well developed low paced horror movie. This genre is my favorite, and I confess that the excellent screenplay of this movie is really an extremely original story. The acting is great, but there is confusion in the concept of succubus, which is basically a female demon that drains energy from men through sexual intercourse with minor variations in the definition. I have never read or heard anything about cannibalism associated to succubus. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Carne Branca" ("White Flesh")

I saw this back at the 2005 Palm Springs International Film Festival. It was one of the few late night screenings that they show on the weekend so I like going to late night movies and choose to attend this but I really didn't know much beforehand on what it was about. Had I a better idea of it's storyline and plot I probably would have skipped it but I'm glad that I didn't because it was actually a pretty good movie and I got into and went along for the ride. The film's Director/Producer/Writer Daniel Roby was on hand to introduce the film. This is not a big film but it has a good look to it and a modern take on an old storyline that works. Good casting in this movie. I would rate it a 7.5 out of a possible 10 and recommend it but not for everyone.