Who would have thought that France would be the main producer of quality gore movies in the early 21st century? While Hollywood blindly stumbles on, churning out dull remakes and pointless sequels, our French brethren have been releasing some outstanding examples of how horror should be done. 2002s Irreversible and 2003s Haute Tension arguably upped the stakes for what was acceptable to be shown on-screen, whilst 2007s Frontièr(s) and 2008s Martyrs overwhelmed audiences with relentless brutality in the case of the former, and an almost progressive style of filmmaking in the case of the latter. How does Inside compare to these modern masterpieces? It actually falls somewhere between the last two, showcasing bludgeoning violence nailed to an intense ride of a story, all nicely wrapped up in some of the most atmospheric filmmaking since John Carpenter had an idea about murdering babysitters. It is difficult to say a lot about the plot without giving too much away but the basic premise is pretty simple - an expectant mother named Sarah (Alysson Paradis) and her husband are involved in a car crash that kills the husband. On Christmas Eve Sarah has a last scan before she is due to give birth the following day and returns home where she will be collected the next morning by her boss, Jean-Pierre (François-Régis Marchasson), and taken to the hospital. That evening there is a knock at the door and a woman's voice asks to use the phone but when Sarah refuses to open the door and tries to call the visitor's bluff, the woman (Béatrice Dalle) reveals that she knows Sarah is alone in the house and tries to get in, initiating a game of cat-and-mouse with Sarah fighting for her and her baby's lives against a seemingly unstoppable lunatic. With more than a passing nod to the slasher movies of the late '70s/early '80s, Inside is certainly an atmospheric film; the use of shadows and lighting is pure John Carpenter, whilst the terror-filled performances of the two main leads is startlingly realistic. Directors Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury obviously know their stuff, as although there is nothing new in the style of filming and it all looks fairly familiar, the creeping dread element is rarely done to this level of excellence. It is the subtle touches that are as important to the overall feel of the movie as well as the violence - the scene after the police have left and Sarah wakes up on the sofa is one of the creepiest cinematic moments of recent times. There are other subtleties that are thrown in - the baby being due on Christmas Day, Sarah giving Jean-Pierre a set of house keys, the police not being readily available due to riots in the nearby city, etc. - that, although in retrospect seem obvious, give the movie a sort of psychological edge similar to, say, The Silence of the Lambs or even The Sixth Sense, where there are lots of little visual and aural touches that may not appear to add much to the plot at the time, but when the movie is reaching its climax they all make sense and give the audience as much of a thrill as any scenes of action or brutality. Of course, most people are going to want to see this because of the gore, and there is plenty of it, especially as the movie reaches its disturbing end. Although not as intelligent a film as Martyrs, Inside is certainly more stimulating on the brain than the gratuitous gore and violence of Frontièr(s), and what the audience gets to witness are some of the most realistic and sickening acts of savagery to have ever been seen in the movies. Unlike Martyrs, though, the ending isn't completely without resolution and the final shot, although not what one could call happy, certainly stays etched into the brain. As far as negatives go the main point that resonates is the fact that Sarah is a fairly unlikable character at the beginning of the movie. Maybe a deliberate move by Bustillo, who wrote the story, to make more of a contrast between a grieving mother-to-be who may not care about her baby as much as she should and the vulnerable victim who will go all out to protect her unborn child, as she is later on, but whatever the reason, she doesn't come across as a character you can relate to. And although this is a movie that will test the mettle of the most hardened gore freaks, it probably won't linger in your thoughts in the same way that Martyrs' transgressive story does. Overall, Inside is dark, creepy, bloody, disturbing and shocking. It is well made and well acted, the story and gore effects kept within the barriers of realism and it is very uneasy to watch. However, the most disturbing thing about it is not the gore - if these were taken out the movie would still be effective, although maybe not as much - but rather the idea of what is happening. Young, sex-mad teens getting stalked by faceless zombie killers with axes and machetes makes audiences laugh, as do chainsaw-wielding rednecks and gypsy curses, but when the victim is a pregnant woman and the monster somebody who, from the outside, appears normal but harbours a dark desire that they will stop at nothing to satisfy, then disturbing is certainly the right word; the events in this movie could happen, and probably have, and that is the really scary thing. Distributor: Momentum Pictures
BBFC Classification: 18 Directors: Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury Starring: Alysson Paradis, Jean-Baptiste Tabourin, Claude Lulé, Béatrice Dalle, Nathalie Roussel, François-Régis Marchasson Special Features: The Making of Inside documentary. UK Release Date: 12th October 2009
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