Ils (2006)

Directors:

David Moreau
Xavier Palud

Writers:

David Moreau (writer)
Xavier Palud (writer)

Release Date:

17 August 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

The film that terrified Europe has come to America

Plot:

Lucas and Clementine live peacefully in their isolated country house, but one night they wake up to strange noise... they're not alone... and a group of hooded assailants begin to terrorize them throughout the night.

Plot Keywords:

Stranger | Couple | Mother Daughter Relationship | Country House | Night Fighting

Cast

Olivia Bonamy	...	Clémentine
Michaël Cohen	...	Lucas
Adriana Mocca	...	Ilona (as Adriana Moca)
Maria Roman	...	Sanda
Camelia Maxim	...	Maria
Alexandru Boghiu	...	L'enfant
Emanuel Stefanuc	...	Adolescent n°1
Horia Ioan	...	Adolescent n°2
Stefan Cornic	...	Adolescent n°3
George Iulian	...	Adolescent n°4

Also Known As:

Ils - Them (UK)
Them (USA)

MPAA:

Rated R for some violence and terror.

Runtime:

France:77 min

Country:

France | Romania

Language:

French | Romanian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

South Korea:15 | UK:15 | Netherlands:16 | USA:R | France:-12 (with warning) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Japan:R-15 | Germany:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Italy:VM14 | Finland:K-15

Filming Locations:

Bucharest, Romania

Company:

Eskwad

Trivia:

While claiming to be based on events, the characters in Ils are all fictional. The "true story" in which the film was based upon involved an Austrian couple that was murdered by three teenagers in their vacation home in The Czech Republic. The number of killers, action set-pieces, and follow-up information at the end of the film were all fabricated by the filmmakers.

Goofs:

Continuity: Right after Clementine removes the piece of glass from Lucas' leg, there are repeated shots of the bedroom door as the intruders try to get in. During one such shot the handle that had just busted off reappears, intact. In the next shot of the door the handle is once again missing.

Quotes:

Child: We just want to play with you... won't you play with us?

Tense as hell...

...but in the end you realize this is something you'll only watch once or perhaps twice. It's a perfect cinema experience however.

The sound work works really well in a theater. There is clearly a very eager and talented sound designer and editor responsible for creating most of the tension. Every single creak and footstep is perfectly placed for the best scares. The plot is the "weakest" part, but it's nothing you'll care about. The best thing is that it mercifully steers clear of all "jump" scenes we know and hate from American scary movies.

After the first act, lightning starts to come in more and more and almost replaces sound as the tension-maker. This is also done extremely well. Actually, this is probably one of the most well- made horror movies in a long time. Everything plays out perfectly; lightning, sound, camera-work(modern, but not annoyingly so) editing and cinematography.

Definitely worth watching for the technical aspects alone, but more so for the tension and the scares.