The French have pretty much proved themselves to be the kings of modern horror cinema over the course of this decade. Films such as Malefique, In My Skin and Inside show what the French can do; and as a result of these films, I generally go into any modern French horror expecting great things. Sheitan is yet another excellent French horror film that works thanks to its untypical approach, mysterious atmosphere and great lead performance by Vincent Cassel. The plot focuses on a group of friends that exit a disco late one night after a fight that resulted in one of them taking a bottle in the face. They hook up with a girl called Eve; who suggests that they escape to her house in the country. They get to the farmhouse and are greeted by a bunch of goats and the strange housekeeper, who takes a strange sort of liking to one of the boys. The group enjoys themselves at the house and spend most of their time trying to get the girls into bed; but soon it becomes apparent that something is wrong with the housekeeper...
The way that the plot moves really is the best thing about this film. It's all held together very loosely and the plot itself has free reign basically to go wherever it wants; and this results in a film that constantly feels fresh and inventive as you never really know where it is going to go next. The film relies on its characters to move the story forward and they are a colourful bunch; the housekeeper and the boy he 'befriends' in particular share an interesting relationship. The way that the film plays out is very strange for a Satanic horror film as despite some symbolism and discussions of religion during the film; there's not a great deal in the way of hints that the film even is Satanic horror. Vincent Cassel's character is the real standout of the film in terms of the performances; and he truly succeeds in creating an extremely intriguing horror villain that is interesting and detestable in equal measures. The film does begin to crumble somewhat towards the end and I was really worried that we were going to get a Switchblade Romance-style cop out ending, but luckily it gets corrected in time and the conclusion is a shocker. Overall, Sheitan is an excellent movie and one that will surely improve with subsequent viewings. Recommended!
The way that the plot moves really is the best thing about this film. It's all held together very loosely and the plot itself has free reign basically to go wherever it wants; and this results in a film that constantly feels fresh and inventive as you never really know where it is going to go next. The film relies on its characters to move the story forward and they are a colourful bunch; the housekeeper and the boy he 'befriends' in particular share an interesting relationship. The way that the film plays out is very strange for a Satanic horror film as despite some symbolism and discussions of religion during the film; there's not a great deal in the way of hints that the film even is Satanic horror. Vincent Cassel's character is the real standout of the film in terms of the performances; and he truly succeeds in creating an extremely intriguing horror villain that is interesting and detestable in equal measures. The film does begin to crumble somewhat towards the end and I was really worried that we were going to get a Switchblade Romance-style cop out ending, but luckily it gets corrected in time and the conclusion is a shocker. Overall, Sheitan is an excellent movie and one that will surely improve with subsequent viewings. Recommended!