Inside (Unrated)

Some time ago I read in a German horror movie magazine about INSIDE (or A l'INTERIEUR in French). The reviewer commented how extreme and tough to watch this film was even for him as seasoned horror vet. I have to agree with the reviewer in this magazine. INSIDE is unbelieveably sick and gory for a mainstream horror film. Newspaper photographer Sarah is far advanced in pregnancy, but depressed nonetheless, as her husband was killed in a car crash some months ago. She is about to spend a lonely Christmas Eve at home, when a black clad woman threatens her. Sarah calls the police, who can find no trace of the female intruder. The cops leave and Sarah goes to sleep. Her nightmare is only just beginning, as the black clad intruder returns, hell bent to cut Sarah's baby out of her womb... I will not go into more detail here, but only assure you that it is highly unlikely that you will get to watch an equally gory and disturbing film anytime soon. The movie is sooo sick it beggars belief. And I am an avid fan of horror and gore, of extreme movies of all kind. The pregnancy of Sarah adds enormous to the unpleasantness. We even get to see the agony of the fetus in the womb! I have not seen something like that before! And rarely have I seen such insane bloodshed in a film... INSIDE is no cheapo direct-to-video trash, where rivers of blood should make up for basement production values and gross splatter special effects are laughable due to lack of funds. No way. INSIDE is a decently budgeted film with top league actors. Beatrice DALLE who plays the vicous killer is an accomplished actress with starring credits in lots of arthouse movies. She may not be a household name in the United States, but DALLE is well known in Europe. As for the final plot twist and the female killer's identity and motivation (I won't give it away, so don't worry!) I have to say that it did not really surprise me and I am sure that most viewers will expect something of its kind. Cinematography and score are exceptional and add enormous to the grim athmosphere. The fact that almost the entire movie (except for the lethal car accident and a few scenes in the hospital at the beginning) takes place in Sarah's house (in just a couple of rooms to be precise) give a tense feeling of hopelessness. The close quarters are very cleverly utilized for maximum shock effect. INSIDE also has some political subtext (if you will), as there are references to the recent mass riots; the cops who return to Sarah's house to check on her, come with an arrested rioter in tow. Not just in this regard INSIDE reminds one of FRONTIER(S), the other extreme French horror film (which also has a pregnant heroine!). As for special features there is the trailer, which sells the film well, and a making-of. The latter runs about 50 minutes or so. I found it very interesting. Beatrice DALLE, Alysson PARADIS and other actors comment on their respective roles and the shot. Both DALLE and PARADIS come across as very likeable women, who had much fun during filming. Much attention is given to the special effects and how they were accomplished. Almost all of the F/X were physical (makeup, props, etc), thankfully there is very very little of the damned computer effects (just a CGI enhanced shot in the head). This great terror movie comes with the highest recommendation. One last comment: If you like INSIDE, you have to check out the other recent French terror flick, FRONTIER(S) ! It is more conventional and slightly less gory than INSIDE, and while FRONTIER(S) is not exactly a feel good movie either it is not the relentless nihilistic descent into hell like INSIDE. (I still prefer FRONTIER(S).) Anyway, fans of extreme horror need both!

I suppose I'll start the praise mildly by saying that this is probably the greatest horror film of the new century(Session 9, High Tension, and The Descent being it's only real competition)... to which you reply, "horror since 2000 has been terrible anyway so big deal." Okay then, what if I said that this is one of the greatest horror films... ever? Got your attention now I bet! Inside is the latest in a line of French horror movies that have provided the goods(the aforementioned High Tension, Them, and the upcoming Frontiers are a few) that American directors should take note of(instead they're too busy searching out their next film to remake and slap a PG-13 rating on). The premise here is a simple yet incredibly intense one; a pregnant woman very near expectancy, alone on a rainy night, with a madwoman who will stop at nothing to take her unborn baby from her. The who, how, and why just add to the unrelenting experience... but not before the buckets of blood rain down! The gorehounds out there will be far from dissapointed, in fact, our lead suffers a brutal attack from a BIG pair of scissors to get the film rolling nicely... leaving a nasty looking gash across her mouth and face for the rest of the film. Nearly every moment of bloodshed pushes the envelope of not only "good taste" but also brutality(the way it should be). The icing on the cake comes in the form of excellent direction that provides tension as well as some really cool effects(most notably what they do with sound during the kills). Frightening, gory, and disturbing are all words that fit this movie perfectly, and in the recent horror genre don't find themselves being used as much as most of us would like them to be. Make no mistake, this is far from "fun" horror... there are no sly in-jokes or moments of levity... this is the scene from The Exorcist where Regen uses a crucifix to do the unthinkable to herself, just spread into an hour and a half. In other words, it's an instant classic that no horror fan should miss(and it gets Dimension Extreme off the hook for a lot of the trash that they have dropped on our laps prior). *VIEWERS BEWARE* I heard that the cut of the film that Blockbuster is renting out is edited down by an unbelievable 7 whole minutes so steer clear of that version!

Tenía mis dudas no solo de la conversión a bluray o de la posible censura en la actualidad, sino en general de la trama y estructura de la película viniendo de cosas como Martyrs (2008), o de Haute tension (2003), o de Frontière(s) (2007), pero la verdad cumple y cumple cabalmente el guión, música, actuaciones y trama. De verdad una obra de arte y una maravilla. En cuando al bluray perfecta remasterización, solo no incluye extras o bonus, pero que yo recuerde el DVD tampoco tenía nada de eso. Recomendado no puede faltar en la colección.

Disturbing and perfect movie

Film francese di qualche anno fa (2007) un vero pugno nello stomaco: un delirio di sangue e dolore, probabilmente uno degli horror più estremi e brutali di sempre, se avete visto MARTYRS, bé siamo in quelle zone oscure. Trama semplicissima e funzionale alla storia: una donna al quinto mese di gravidanza causa un incidente automobilistico da cui esce ferita ma viva, 4 mesi dopo é pronta per partorire, ma la notte prima di raggiungere l'ospedale....SUCCEDE DI TUTTO! Non dico altro! Audio in francese, sottotitoli in inglese. Voto 8

何の変哲もない穏やかなハイスクール生活。 バックミュージックにはボン・ジョヴィ系のポップロックが流れ、 多感な年頃のおバカなハイティーンの頭の中は下らない噂話や、性的妄想だらけ。 そんなある日、やっと訪れた恋人と２人きりの一夜、そこに忍び寄る不気味な影。 ………中略……… 気が付けば、たまたま運悪く遭遇したモンスター級の殺人鬼に、次々と血祭りに あげられるバカップル達。 はいはい、それで一番最後まで生き延びて逆襲しちゃうのが、以外にも地味系の 一見目立たない優等生タイプの女の子だったりする。 「まぁ、此れはこれである意味、黄金パターンが成り立っていて解っちゃいても 見たくなるってやつなんだけどなぁ〜」 「もっとこ〜ストレートにぞぞぞぉぉ〜！とくるヤツが見たいんだよなぁ〜」 と、嘆いているホラー愛好家にお勧めなのが、この一本。 ダラダラと長たらしい前置きや、勿体付け一切なしの脳天直撃型ホラーだ。 では、一般的に観客が最も「怖い！ 恐ろしい！」と感じるホラー映画に必要な 要素（一例）をザッと挙げてみると…… １．恐怖へと誘うシチュエーション（舞台設定、状況設定） ２．演出によるリアリティー（信憑性） ３．効果的なライティング（照明の強弱、陰影の加減や全体的な色調） ４．スリリングなカメラワーク ５．音響効果による雰囲気作り（効果音、インスト曲など） ６．特殊メイク、CGのクオリティー ７．俳優陣の演技力 ……となる訳だが、本作にはこれら７つの要素すべてが高水準で確立されていると 感じられた。 引きと寄りのタイミングが絶妙な、緊迫感あるカメラワーク。 黄色を基調とした陰影バランスの見事なライティング効果。 特にジャパニーズホラーライクなジメッとした空気感の中で、暗闇に見え隠れする 狂気の残像や、対照的に乾いたクリアな蛍光灯の光が、無惨な傷跡をクッキリと 照らす等のメリハリの効いた演出の妙。 トクトクと鼓動が高鳴り、ピンポイントで鳴り響く効果音もスリリングなシーンを 盛り上げ、臨場感を増すのに一役買っている。 特殊メイクでは、血のりの固まり始めと流れ出して間もない部分の緻密な表現が、 より本物らしさと恐怖感を生み出している。 シチュエーションはリアリティーの面に於いては、部分的にやや盛り過ぎな感は 否めないが、昨今の不可解な犯罪事情や、未知の脳内構造を考慮に入れると 必ずしも有り得ないとは言い難い。 そして、唐突にも思える展開の末に、明かされる惨劇の真相。 ストーリーや人物設定に関しては一切触れないが、主演女優２人の熱演は圧巻の一言。 鬼気迫る迫真の演技で作品を引き立たせている。 このように、飽くまでも一本のホラー映画としては高評価な本作ではあるが、 中盤以降の残酷描写には、目を背けたくなるシーンが少なくないのも事実。 特に女性にとっては「耐え難いのでは？」と思わせる不条理な描写も存在するため、 自称 “鋼鉄のホラーマニア“ 以外の方は、其れなりの御覚悟を。 UK PAL版は、勿論、ノーモザイクのオリジナル仕様。 メイキング映像では監督のモーリー＆バスティロによる製作秘話、特殊メイクの現場や、 主演女優のアリソン・パラディとベアトリス・ダルの素顔も垣間見え、見応えのある 特典になっている。 日本版は、意味不明な邦題（屋敷女）と地味なジャケットデザインのせいで、今一つ 注目され難くなっているが、単なる “血みどろスプラッター” で片付けるには、 余りにも惜しいフレンチホラーの逸品。 ぜひお試しを。

Inside has surely got to be one of the finest horror movies of our time.A film that has it all;tension,drama,emotion and two outstanding performances by Beatrice Dalle and Alysson Paradis.I love the score for the film aswell.The gentle,melancholy piano(which we hear when Sarah is looking at pictures of her dead husband)is haunting and effectively understated.It perfectly underpins the characters' sadness.I also really like the strange,swirling soundscapes in the beginning of the film,these give a feeling of unease and help add to the building tension and claustrophobic atmosphere. It takes an incredible amount of talent to effectively weave emotion and sympathy into a film as harsh and violent as Inside.It is a credit to not only the directors but the performances aswell.Indeed,only the French seem to be able to strike this balance between touching melodrama and genuinely horrific imagery.This is never more evident than in the closing scene of the movie(a scene which,if executed differently,could have amounted to nothing more than a graphic shock-sequence).Thanks to the starkly realistic performance of Alysson Paradis,this becomes a truly disturbing and upsetting scene(and elevates the sequence above and beyond a mere shock-tactic,like the baby scene in "A Serbian Film" for example).All the background music/sound effects stop and we are left with only her desperate,harrowing screams of agony.It is a lengthy,graphic and near-unbearable scene which sends a shiver up your spine and has often moved me to tears(the only other gruelling scene I can compare it to,is the first child killing in the Spanish film,"In A Glass Cage"). Obviously,the graphic and confrontational nature of the movie will deter many potential viewers,which is a shame because this is such an accomplished piece of work and much more than just another gruesome horror film,to me it is equal parts drama and thriller aswell.A masterpiece of modern cinema that handles it's daring subject matter with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer!It is a tense,gripping and frightening experience and a very close contender for my favourite "extreme" film of all time.