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), theother 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!

There's a moment in "Inside" when Beatrice Dalle's character, who is never named, is standing outside of pregnant Sarah's house. She is framed in the darkness, wearing a deep black overcoat and standing absolutely motionless. Sarah is screaming at her, telling her that she's called the police and that they're on the way. Dalle simply lights a cigarette and continues to stare into the room, even as Sarah begins to take flash pictures of her. The shot moves to the outside of the house and all the viewer hears is the "pfff...pfff pfff...pfff" of the flash firing. Its the horror that can be felt in that moment that defines what makes the pure, unrelenting terror that comes out of Inside that much different and more intense than anything that has been put on the American stage for years. The horror doesn't come from a killer suddenly jumping out from around a corner, there's no "oh, thank God its just a cat" moments, and no characters behave stupidly. The movie plays out as you would expect this nightmare to ever play out if any woman ever went as insane as Beatrice Dalle's character does, which allows the movie to play on a darkly nightmarish level that has been rarely achieved in cinema.The plot is simple enough and it is relatively easy to protect a review from spoilers. Sarah is a photojournalist who lost her husband in a car accident and has been left to carry her baby to term alone. And so on Christmas Eve she is planning to spend one more night are home and then travel quietly to the hospital the next day. And then a woman knocks as her door under the pretense of needing help with her car. We quickly learn that what she really want's is Sarah's baby, now, by any means necessary. The rest of the film plays out like an instance of violent domestic war which will leave bodies in its wake. It is one of the most gory things ever filmed and I firmly believe that it would earn an NC-17 rating if it were to be released in mainstream theaters stateside.The strength of the film comes from the strength of its acting and its commitment to logic (with one exception near the end, but it's forgivable). Beatrice Dalle, whose early work consisted of roles in which she played a sex bomb, demonstrates an unrelenting commitment to her character that makes me respect her more than most actresses in Hollywood for the reason that the character is so bold that she has put herself at risk to be typecast and this fact would scare away most actresses. And while Alysson Paradis does have to spend some of her role as Sarah crying and blubbering like an annoyingly stereotypical scary movie girl (she is severely injured for the majority of the movie, its forgivable), she reasons logically and does not take her situation lying down, she fights back with a vengeance. As much as I wish that I could speak on the specifics of this, this is a movie that needs to be experienced with a level of surprise. If you can handle the sheer level and intensity of realistic gore played over 90 minutes, then I assure you that this movie is worth your time. It will never lure you into a "pop out scare," but it will leave you deeply horrified.