So...err...I saw this...movie and...I don't...know...it...there was...I think Inside (2007) broke my brain. It's another one of those movies that I can't really say I "enjoyed", but then again I kind of loved it....or should I say, I suppose, that I was completely riveted and completely horrified. Kind of literally like this, for a good sixty minutes:
I was surprised, when it was over, when I realized that I'd only closed my eyes and looked away once.It's a simple film- Sarah (Alysson Paradis) is home alone and very pregnant. A woman (Beatrice Dalle) breaks into Sarah's house because she really wants that baby. It's not perfect, but the small problems don't undermine Inside's power even a smidge- there are a couple of logic quibbles, but technically the film is exquisite and near flawless.
I don't really want to say anything about it, except that yes...it's every bit as brutal, violent, bloody, and hardcore as you've heard it is. It's outrageous, but it never feels exploitative or...lawd love a tired phrase..."torture porn"-y. In the end, it's an experience you don't get at the movies very often- something that really hits you on a gut level...something that grabs you by the ya-ya sisterhood and won't let go.
I heartily recommend this film, unless you're extremely squeamish or...you know...you have an aversion to overly explicit violence. It's odd, because usually I'd throw myself into those camps, but here I am. I loved it. I think.
How 'bout that Beatrice Dalle, huh? Damn.
Dalle was one scary French lady. It seemed like a very bloody fairy tale to me.
ReplyDeleteHardcore is right. That last image, dear lord. Probably the best extreme horror film of recent years, a must see for all readers here, I'd say.
ReplyDeleteBwana turned me on to this one. When I told him, "this movie hates faces," he responded, "This movie hates everything." Well said.
ReplyDeleteI'm not the squeamish type, but this nasty bugger had me freaking the eff out! It's probably the best horror movie I've seen in 10 years.
I loved this too -- which seems to make it all the stranger that I didn't like that other recent piece of French extreme horror, Martyrs.
ReplyDeleteGreat review! Count me in as a fan . . . in fact, I think INSIDE might just end up on my Top Ten Favorite Horror Films of All Time List. Time will tell, of course -- and if not, it'll be damn close.
ReplyDeleteFantastic movie. IMO, "La Femme" might just be the scariest movie villain since . . . hell, possibly since Michael Myers in John Carpenter's original HALLOWEEN.
J.N.
http://www.james-newman.com
I actually hated this film. Pointless violence, in my opinion. Completely unbelievable, especially when the cops show up. If you want great gore, check out Braindead instead.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. INSIDE totally raped my sanity. I loved it.
ReplyDeleteFantastic edge of your seat experience. Brutal in the most positive aspect of the word.
ReplyDeleteThis movie was constantly on the brink of sliding into bad taste and cynical genre conventions, but it never did.
ReplyDeleteThey showed "Eyes without a face" on TCM a few weeks ago, and there were moments that could have really come off as gratuitous or schlocky in an Anglo production. When it comes to films, ya gotta hand it to the French. They're just so danged stylish.
Sarah (Alysson Paradis) is home alone and very pregnant. A woman (Beatrice Dalle) breaks into Sarah's house because she really wants that baby.
ReplyDeleteOh man, who the hell comes up with this stuff?
I must see this.
i loved this movie. beatrice dalle is incredible.
ReplyDelete'inside' is not very realistic; it's a movie that asks you to accept the world it creates. if you can't do that, it's not going to work for you.
have you seen dalle in 'trouble every day'? vincent gallo co-stars. though it's not as succesfull as 'inside', it's terrific, and it features two scenes that are guaranteed to have
you squirming in discomfort. i can't fathom why 'trouble every day' doesn't have more of a following in north america.
Very very very very very very very very very very very very effed up movie. Loved it!
ReplyDeleteA Fantastic Film!!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear that you enjoyed it! :-)
J
Sick movie! Good movie? Not so sure about that. But it's definetly a sick must see movie!
ReplyDeleteThat zombie dude towards the end needs to go though....
The idea of watching this movie scares me a little bit. But I'll watch it anyway, I guess.
ReplyDeleteDave S: I'd made a note about Trouble Every Day when I looked up Dalle's filmography. That's how intriguing she is: I'll sit through a Vincent Gallo flick to see more of her!
ReplyDeletestacie: i'm with you on the gallo thing. i mean, why was the bunny brown anyway? why not pink? white? something clean!!!
ReplyDeletei got my copy of 'trouble every day' through www.hkflix.com. man, when dalle starts doing this weird little chomping thing in 'trouble' it freaked me out. yay, dalle. go, betty blue!
Definitely check out Dalle in Betty Blue--just an ok movie bit she plays a crazy, unbelievably sexy chick who loves to have lots of sex with her smitten, hapless boyfriend--in a totally French way, of course...
ReplyDeleteGod, I'm kicking myself in the nut for still not buying this flick on DVD, plus it's only like 10 dlls, maybe i'll give me an advance birthday present be4 the year ends?
ReplyDeleteThis movie is rad rad rad. See my two reviews here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.fusedfilm.com/2010/01/unhinged-movie-review-a-l-interieur-inside/
http://babyjanehudson.wordpress.com/2009/03/27/and-yet-one-more-reason-to-never-ever-have-a-baby/
I have revisited this film now, and I thought I would re-comment now that I have some... err... perspective. I think it loses some potency with repeat viewing. I'm no longer in complete awe of it. And it doesn't seem as brutal now that I've seen it ten times.
ReplyDeleteBut I will say that I now find it to be much more than a simple horror film. I think it's actually a film that is about the Christ/Antichrist dynamic.
Let's think this through. Christ was born on Christmas (obviously), and the idea is that the antichrist would then be born on the day before Christmas, and Sarah's child, which would be born on Christmas to a woman who is, ostensibly good, is in fact, born to a woman who is evil on Christmas Eve. The Woman in Black (who we know to be the woman from the accident) is someone who has "fallen" at Sarah's hands. The Woman in Black could represent Satan and Sarah represent God. You see where I'm going.
I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that I am reaching. Well, it's a French film, dudes. I'm supposed to reach. That's what French films are for.
I just like that this film is the gift that keeps on giving.
Also, it's another movie to add to the list of movies to watch every Christmas.