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42 out of 56 people found the following review useful: One of the most shocking and effective horror films I have ever seen., 7 December 2008 Author: tonymurphylee from USA
For several many years, the French have been putting out unusual horror movies. Les Diaboliques(1955) was one of the most notable examples. Recently, French horror films have been all about extremities. Calvaire(The Ordeal) dealt with sexual misunderstanding, bodily torture, and dementia and the most extreme cases of disturbed behavior in order to build tension, horror, suspense, and even twisted dark humor. Haute Tension(High Tension) was an homage to the early films of Wes Craven, adapted for the 21st Century. It was initially rated NC-17 by the MPAA and, while I personally didn't care for it and found it silly, it was hailed by fans of horror as a return to the early days of splatter shock cinema. Sheitan(2006) was a return to backwoods horror combined with horrific elements of Satanism. Recently, Frontier(s) was a successful European extreme version of torture porn American films such as sAw and Hostal that catered to the audience's bloodlust by delivering the gore in a way that those films failed to. Now, we have INSIDE. All I can say is that this film proves that it is the French that are making some of the most demented films. After watching this, I truly wondered whether the French people had or had not gone completely insane. This is one of the few horror films I have seen that just does everything right. It deserves to be put with the original Dawn of the Dead, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Rosemary's Baby, and The Shining as one of the scariest films ever made. It is also one of the most polarizing and disturbing films I have seen. If I were to describe this film in one word, it would be extreme. This is most definitely one of the most extreme films I have ever come across. It's the first film that has been put on the Dimension Extreme that really deserves to be on there. Dirty Sanchez was basically just an English Jackass:the Movie but with more gore and more shocking acts(big whoop). Broken was a silly B movie. Teeth and Black Sheep were just gore comedies. Inside is where it's really at!The plot is very simple. It is about a pregnant widow and the events that transpire on Christmas Eve one night in which a mad woman invades her home. This may not sound that bad to read, but trust me when I say that things go from bad to worse. The film is 80 minutes of increasingly shocking and inhuman acts of cruelty, extreme horror, and a very high amount of suspense. It just gets worse and worse. This film makes every torture porn movie look completely quaint. Imagine Halloween but pumped up on steroids.This film starts out incredibly bleak and depressing in the first 20 minutes. Then it turns shocking really quickly. Then it goes from shocking to cruel, to immoral, to extreme, to nearly unwatchable, and then finally completely unwatchable. About 30 minutes in, I had to pause it and collect my thoughts. I couldn't believe what I was watching. I had no idea that this film was as shocking as it was. However, if I had known that the film would only get ten times worse in just 2 minutes, I probably would have been too scared to watch. This film doesn't mess around. It is an uncommonly effective piece of film-making. It is one of the most depraved films I have ever watched.So why should people see this? If it's so disgusting and horrible, why should people bother getting these images imprinted in their mind? I think this film deserves to be watched because it is simply the best of it's kind. Not only that, but it is one of the few horror movies that shows women being in power rather than men. It is, in it's own twisted way, the ultimate chick flick. The two women in this film that battle it out are two of the greatest female characters I have seen in a horror film. The main female character, in particular, is kind of like a woman from a Russ Meyer movie! There are parts of this film where she TRULY kicks a lot of ass. I watched this wanting to cheer for her. Add to that a great twist that leads up to an ending that is one of the creepiest endings ever, a couple of very emotional moments that are tear jerking, a great musical score, haunting and gorgeous cinematography, and some brilliantly done gore, and you have one of the greatest French horror movies ever made.
60 out of 98 people found the following review useful: À L'Intérieur - the geometry of a microbudget wonder!, 9 February 2008 Author: chaosrampant from Greece
The best reassurance that the Hellraiser remake is in good hands, is actually watching Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury's first movie. Once the credits roll, it becomes very clear why the team behind À L'Intérieur comes with Clive Barker's seal of approval.The signs were on the wall. If Haute Tension and Scheitan were not enough proof that France is the epicentre of euro horror right now, this one just hammers the point home effortlessly. Taking a very simple premise (pregnant woman attacked by maniac woman in her house), the same awareness of scope and budget that made Saw effective, GALLONS of blood and a European flair for atmosphere, À L'Intérieur is simultaneously emotionally draining and bruising. The story takes place inside a house and that's it. It's more like three rooms actually. Very straight-forward and simple. That's called budget-awareness Asylum. And yes, it's very short too, clocking at a measly 78 minutes (5 of which are the credits). But, frankly, it couldn't have been anymore. It was enough to leave me exhausted.There are easily more gory or more disturbing movies out there, but I can say that À L'Intérieur left me satisfied in both departments. There's something disturbing about pregnant women in peril and combined with scissors, exploding heads, custom built flame throwers and stabbing in the balls, it's gore heaven with the occasional cringe-worthy moment.The violence is relentless and numbing. The splatter, of the same spraying variety that made Haute Tension's first half so beautiful. A particular scene of blood spraying across a wall would make Dario Argento and fans of Tenebre proud. Although, unlike HT, there are no gimmicks and ridiculous twists here. What makes À L'Intérieur so effective by comparison is that the violence piles up and leads to a climactic finale. And the final image is haunting beyond words...Some people might be eager to dismiss it as torture porn, a hack term often thrown around these days. It might be so. But unlike rubbish like Hostel, it's packed with atmosphere, tension and has its heart set in all the right places. In the end of the day it's a horror movie. If some people want their horror watered-down, harmless and PG-13, the big studios will have something in store for them. À L'Intérieur is for the rest of us blood-hounds. Anyways, grab it if you can find it. It just goes to show what you can do with a relatively small budget and DV technology.
29 out of 45 people found the following review useful: Eat a Turd burger you will enjoy that more., 20 April 2008 Author: tapatriarca from Australia
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
just finished watchin this dross and im here to tell you it was the worst shite I've seen in many years. I am a fan of horror even cheesy slashers, but man this was just so awful. stupid plot, worse acting un sympathetic characters and unbelievable all the way. (yeah,officer take that perp into the house you just heard gunshots from whilst having him tied to you on a leash) oh yeah and did i mention a zombie? cop that needs to fix circuit breakers?? Think im kidding? I am not! Yeah there is a fair amount of blood letting in this film but an exploding head is just that if it has no empathy behind it. anyway i don't generally comment on films to much but i just thought i should warn you all because it has such a high rating on IMDb and it was watched based on that.
41 out of 70 people found the following review useful: Unbelievably brutal and emotionally draining. This is not to be missed!, 1 April 2008 Author: LoneWolfAndCub from Australia
A few years back, when the words 'Japanese' and 'Horror' were said in the same sentence, ears would rise and interest would immediately peak. Now, replace 'Japanese' with 'French' and the reaction will still be the same. A l'interieur (aka Inside) co-directed by first timers Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury. It is hard to believe that these two men could create a debut that is this good, this intense, this...ferociously insane bloodbath. Think of Alexandre Aja's 2003 horror 'Haute Tension' (which was also a brutal but excellent slasher) mixed with Halloween and toss in Dario Argento's style (particularly from 'Tenebrae') and you have Inside.Bustillo does not bother with a story that is in-depth or very large for that matter. In fact, it is rather simple: Sarah (Alysson Paradis) is a young photographer who recently lost her boyfriend in a car crash and she is still grieving over her loss. It is now Christmas and she is alone and expecting a baby the next day. On Christmas Eve she is visited by a Woman in Black (Béatrice Dalle) who wants to get inside the house for reasons unknown. However, soon enough, she is in the house and her goal becomes crystal clear. She is after Sarah's baby and she will do anything to get it...absolutely anything.There are many techniques that make this film as good as it is. First and foremost, the setting. The majority of the film is set in Sarah's house, furthermore, most of this is in her bathroom. This makes for some extremely intense moments and real feelings of claustrophobia. Also, the two leading ladies give such powerful performances which really assists in getting us to feel what they feel and think what they think. Sarah's determination to survive and fight back is realistic and gives the movie a powerful vibe and theme of a mother's love for her unborn child. La femme (the Woman in Black) is comparable to The Shape (Michael Myers) from John Carpenter's 1978 slasher classic 'Halloween.' For the first 20 minutes she appears as a silhouette, not speaking, just standing and watching. Creepy and chilling are just two words which describe her in the first part of the movie.Now onto the parts of the movie discussed the most...the copious amounts of blood. And let me tell you, once the blood starts to flow it never stops. From the moment we see our first drop the movie moves at such a breakneck pace it is hard to keep up. I was literally on the edge of my seat while watching these parts, that is how intense they were. Not only that, but the gore was so realistic and brutal at times I found myself covering my eyes (which I rarely do in any film). Blood sprays, crotches are stabbed, throats are slashed, faces are burnt and heads explode. The finale is soaked in blood and features one of the most depressing, disturbing and gruesome endings I have seen. No one will be able to leave the movie feeling well...I felt emotionally drained and ill. Movies rarely do that to me.Ignoring some lapses in logic and a fairly bland revelation (not really a twist), Bustillo and Maury have created a refreshingly brilliant horror movie that proves that: horror is not dead and that the French are now producing the best horror movies seen in many years.4/5
25 out of 39 people found the following review useful: I have never seen a female attacker be so violent or so relentless outside of Japanese cinema, 29 July 2008 Author: christopher-underwood from Greenwich - London
Just shy of maximum score because so much of it was so dark. Having said that I'm not sure I really wanted to see even more than I did of what was going on in this gruesome, gory French horror. A real achievement, particularly as a first film, this pulls no punches whatsoever and surely sends a clear signal to US film makers who seek to produce such fare. Don't mess about - just do it. But isn't this just the most harrowing and bloody, violent film ever? Well, maybe not ever, but that remains believable and involving from beginning to end. Where you want to look away but the action is so compelling you cannot. When you hope maybe there will be a pause in the nastiness but the makers just crank up the awfulness again and again. I have never seen a female attacker be so violent or so relentless outside of Japanese cinema. A remarkable achievement.
21 out of 32 people found the following review useful: "Finally inside me.", 15 June 2008 Author: Backlash007 from Kentucky
The French are having a bit of a horror renaissance on their shores right now it would seem. After Haute Tension stirred up a tremendous hype a few years back, films like Malefique, Them, and Frontieres are doing the exact same. But none of them have received the word of mouth that this brutal film has. Inside is a damn mean film. I think it goes too far in its excess, but that's what you have to do to shock an audience these days. And shocking it is. Can you imagine what the angry mob of parents that wanted to ban Silent Night, Deadly Night would think about Inside? If you've seen it, you probably can imagine. If you haven't, I suggest giving it a spin. The less I say about the movie, the more powerful the experience will be. Inside is a film I will most likely never watch again, because I'm sure I will never forget it.
19 out of 29 people found the following review useful: Stupidity and decline of the Western Civilization, 14 February 2009 Author: bartoszbol from Poland
My question is what the hell was the point of making this cruel and stupid movie? This kind of garbage makes me feel ashamed i am a part of this (western) civilization where everything is permitted. Freedom of expression is our god nowadays, but we do not know how to use it responsibly and wisely. This movie is not expressing, this is vomiting in public place.What kind of sick society we are if we can make fun of cutting alive pregnant woman? Watching a baby ripped out of it's mother's living body? Who the hell are you, people? What kind of people we are if we make and enjoy those kind of voyeuristic spectacles? Most terrible torture, mutilation and slaughter? Are we giving up being human beings? Is it a provocation? What is the purpose of it?Sad, pathetic, and stupid sign of depravity.We have no limits anymore. No taboos. No boundaries. We are like wild children in "Lord of the Flies", thinking they are free.This is how civilizations end.
13 out of 19 people found the following review useful: This crap gets a 7.1?!?, 6 May 2009 Author: guy282 from Fort Lauderdale, FL
I have to say I'm a pretty big horror buff and it's been quite a long time since I saw a film as offensive and irritatingly stupid as Inside. The story concerns a young pregnant woman who is menaced in her home by another woman who wants to steal her baby. One wonders why the villainess doesn't wait until the baby is born to sneak in and snatch it (the story reveals she's waited 4 months already and the baby is due to be delivered the next day), considering the incredible ease that she sneaks into the house undetected. Things might have gone better for her. Of course, this would cheat the hack filmmakers from the money shot they can barely contain themselves for: the ugly extended shot of a woman being cut open with scissors (love how passively our heroine endures this, by the way). This review could go on and on for pages cataloging the ludicrous behavior of the characters, but I won't bother; rest assured, though, this movie has an extremely high "oh, come on!" quotient. I wonder in what alternate universe a woman the size of Beatrice Dalle, carrying only the aforementioned scissors, could break into a house and kill 6 people, 3 of them armed with guns, and not get caught or killed. Welcome to the world of Inside.
22 out of 37 people found the following review useful: Claustrophobic and Intense, 4 June 2008 Author: pmdawn from Rio de Janeiro
First thing: If you don't like blood or gore, stay far, far away from this. Also, don't watch this if you're pregnant. Really.This is one hell of a horror movie, quite literally. What you need to know about this is that there's a pregnant woman in serious peril. And by peril, I mean, torture, gore, revenge, lots of blood, death and... scissors.Like Irreversible, Sheitan, Ils and Maléfique, "Inside" is yet another proof that the best horror these days are coming from Europe (France, Spain and Germany specially). Filmed with what appears to be a micro-budget, most of the action occurs in a small, two-storey house. However, the talent of those involved with the film make this irrelevant.One important thing about this film is that is very good at maintaining tension and suspense, something that very few gory movies do. You know you're watching something terrible, but you can't look away for curiosity's sake.Many interesting details in the movie, such as the victim's house number, black cats and overall a feeling of dread and death. Worth watching twice for catching these pearls.Anyway, as a last minute warning, THIS IS VERY violent and graphic. The ending was great and haunting, and with the exception of a scene or two that didn't really make sense and thus seemed somewhat out of place, this is a solid horror and fans of the genre won't be disappointed.6/10
9 out of 13 people found the following review useful: gore, gore, gore... and then some more gore, 1 October 2008 Author: translator (kgottlicher@net.hr)
The only shocking thing about this slasher is its rating - 7.0?! Obviously, some people are REALLY easy to please/shock.First off: if the events take place on Christmas (totally irrelevant for the plot, by the way), why is all the foliage GREEN (as in late-summer green)?! And this is not Australia, mind you, this is France. Call me pedantic, but such "oversights" are inexcusable and foreshadow all the bad that is to come.Secondly: the occasional in utero CGI shots of the baby (besides being completely unnecessary) are so laughably cheap that I can't fathom how come MORE people didn't find them tragically detrimental, especially since more often than not they appear when the "tension" is at its highest and totally destroy it.Thirdly: comparing this flick to "High Tension" (another French slasher over-hyped by patriots and the easily shocked) might mislead those who've seen it into believing "Inside" has some "psychological" undertones (i.e. that the killer is a projection of the protagonist's alter ego, like in "High Tension"). But it does not. This is as physical as it gets.A basic rundown of the plot (SPOILERS AHEAD!!!): A pregnant couple has a car crash in which the guy dies. Sometime after, the grief-stricken pregnant widow Sarah gets attacked at her home by a "mysterious" woman, who apparently wants to harm her and/or the baby. Is she real or is she a figment of a conscience burdened by the "survivor's guilt"? Is Sarah symbolically fighting some inner demons? Is she another Rosemary from "Rosemary's Baby"? Nope. Turns out, the attacker is very much real: she was also in that car crash and lost her own baby. And now wants to take Sarah's as her own, killing everyone in her path.Boo! It's like all interesting movie premises have already been beaten to death and sucked dry, so what you get is one-dimensional, improbable nonsense like this.What unfolds in between is some of the most unlikely string of events you're ever going to encounter on celluloid, all heftily slopped with buckets of gore. Logical behavior goes out the window, as "plot development" only serves to string two ridiculous gory scenes together, and with it any chance of this movie rising above the slasher level. Now, that may be fine if that's your cup of tea. But "Inside" wants to be so much more.The problem as I see it is two-fold. Firstly, most people have grown numb to blood and violence. I've spend my childhood in a war zone in Yugoslavia and can blissfully slurp a tomato soup while watching even the most goriest scenes around. Others have grown numb through news, internet and an overabundance of movie violence. Now, that may be unfortunate psychologically speaking, but for aspiring horror directors it means they must try harder to scare and scar us than by drowning their flicks in self-serving, senseless gore.Secondly, even those faint of heart will grown numb if you beat them over the head with non-stop pointless violence. It gets to a point where it starts being comical. Like in the last "Rambo".Back to the plot. If your viewer is perplexed by the illogical behavior of your characters and is constantly going "Why?", how do you expect him to be shocked? For instance, Sarah never attempts to escape through the bathroom window (or any other windows, for that matter). The woman (a regular citizen up until then) manages to outmaneuver and kill three (THREE!) armed police officers, because police is, naturally, incompetent. When Sarah comes in the room looking for a weapon to defend herself, instead of any of THEIR weapons (including a grenade launcher), she goes for a POKER! Logic? Anyone? And then, later on, possibly exhausted by all the gore, she goes to bed mid-action and falls asleep like a baby, only (of course) to be attacked by the ever-awake killer woman. She even manages to inadvertently kill her own visiting mother, mistaking her for the killer: an implausible event which serves no other purpose then to give us a nice shot of a squirting jugular and up the ante on the "sickness" with some unnecessary matricide.To a similar end, you also get a scene in which one of the officers (previously shot pointblank in the head) magically resurrects and proceeds to beat SARAH (not the killer woman, mind you) with a truncheon across her pregnant belly (why? WHY?!), causing Sarah to spurt buckets of blood from her vagina. Sick? Would have been, if the scene made ANY sense at all. And if it wasn't interspersed with yet another laughable shot of the pathetically computer-rendered baby inside her.And the score? Sudden, loud, cacophonous sounds during "scary" scenes. Yaaawwwn.I could go on and on about all that is wrong about this movie, but anyone still reading this has already wasted enough time on it, so do yourself a favor and don't go watch it too (a benevolent advice that far too often goes ignored around here - myself being guilty as charged too).A shallow, illogical mess of a movie for the faintest of heart and undemanding. Pulls nothing but cheap gory punches. Go revisit "Rosemary's Baby" for the 100th time if necessary.
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