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HORROR 101: THE A-LIST OF HORROR FILMS AND MONSTER MOVIES  VOL 1

(2007)
Directed by David Moreau & Xavier Palud
Starring Olivia Bonamy, Michael Cohen, Adriana Mocca, Maria Roman, Camelia Maxim

There’s been a lot of hype going around about this French film.  Sometimes that’s a good thing.  And sometimes it’s not so good.  With a lot of pre-hype, the film has a lot to live up to.  The biggest problem I had with it was it lives up to the hype….until the end.

It’s really hard to review this film without giving away some spoilers.  We usually try not to do this, but I really want to explain why I had a problem with it, and can only do that by talking about the ending.  So….if you have not seen it, and do not want to know about it, then you can keep reading until you see the line break and we tell you to stop.

Let’s start with the basis of the movie.  Once again, it’s very simple.  A young couple are awoken in the middle of the night by some noises from outside their home.  They can see hooded figures running around out there.  And then somehow they get into the house.  The film does a great job building suspense.  Any time you’re dealing with a home invasion, its one fear that everyone can relate to, or at least put themselves in that same situation, whether it be in their home or apartment, small town or big city.  It’s a basic and generic fear that can really hit….home (pun fully intended).  They also play on some other very basic scare tactics.  They work since everyone watching can relate to it.  So while it is effective, I wouldn't call it the most original.  But it does get the jumpy feeling across, so I guess it really doesn't matter does it?

At first we never really get a good look at our invaders, we’re not sure what the couple is up against.  So you’re imagination can run a bit, trying to figure out who or what they are, what their motive might be, and just what they want.  Then when we start to see some of them, we’re still not really what to think because we’re really expecting something more, or at least something else.

 Okay….Spoiler time.  Stop reading here if you don’t want to know about the ending.

Still with us?  Okay, here’s the deal.  After spending the entire movie building up some great suspense and tension, when we finally find out that “them” are just a bunch of adolescent kids out for a good time, I found that extremely disappointing.  At the end, we see them running to catch a bus, after spending the night terrorizing (and apparently murdering) this couple, like it was some sort of a game.  Talk about a sucker punch.  I guess I just expected a little bit more impact of an ending than just a bunch of hooligans.

Now, one could make the argument that since it was just some young kids, that it could make it even scarier, bringing in the reality or “it could really happen” thinking in.  Sure, I’ll give you that.  And I think, after thinking about the film for a couple of days, it can have a reality check.  Especially with all the whack-jobs out there.  But for me, I just felt that after spending the first hour of the film building this great tension of not really knowing who or what these attackers were, when we do find out, that it just didn’t have the payoff.  I think if you know from the start who “them” is, it takes away all of the tension since you’re basically thinking to yourself, “It’s a bunch of kids…..just beat the crap out of them!”

The film was released here in the states by Dark Sky Films, and as usual, they did a great job with the release.  The film looks really nice, especially since it was shot digitally.  The disc comes with a making-of featurette, which goes into some pretty good details on the film.  The directors and the main two actors talk about their part in the film.  I will give credit to Olivia Bonamy, the female lead, since she really went through the ringer on this film.

This would be a tough recommendation for us.  Sure the first part of the movie is pretty good if you’re looking for some suspense.  But since the ending really let me down, it kind of left a bad taste in my mouth, which is the last thing you remember about it.