The Bottom Line
Pros
- Glorious gore
- Effectively creepy direction
- Impressive villain
- Gets under your skin
Cons
- Incompetent characters
- Questionable ending
- Gore for gore's sake?
Description
- Starring Béatrice Dalle, Alysson Paradis, Nathalie Roussel, François-Régis Marchasson, Jean-Baptiste Tabourin
- Directed by Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury
- Rated NR (R-rated at Blockbuster)
- DVD Release Date: April 15, 2008
Guide Review - Inside (À l'intérieur) DVD Review
The Movie
This entry in the 21st century wave of extreme, nihilistic French horror movies (including High Tension, Frontier(s) and Them) is perhaps the most extreme of all. The concept alone is disturbing: Sarah, an expectant mother, is stalked by a mystery woman who wants to steal her baby straight out of the womb. With scissors.
Inside works on a basic, primal level. It's a cat-and-mouse (and baby) affair in which the unborn child makes the threat all the more unsettling and invasive, like a seedy mix of rape and forced abortion.
It goes without saying that this film is not for the squeamish. Going out of its way to be as explicit as possible, it's rife with stabbings, slashings and, of course, arterial spray. This is the sort of movie where people don't hesitate to give themselves D.I.Y. tracheotomies. At times it feels like gore for gore's sake -- see Sarah's nightmare about the baby erupting from her mouth -- but for horror fans disillusioned by PG-13 American films, Inside's gruesomeness is welcome.
That said, within the context of the film, the gore becomes too much. The over-the-top nature of the violence, juxtaposed against such a deadly serious topic and a near-art house tone (including the villainess' surreal sexual attraction to Sarah -- hey, it's French), seems too campy in nature.
Other issues arise with the supporting characters, who display convenient "horror incompetence" that allows them to be picked off one by one. (No need to call for backup, Mr. Policeman.) Likewise, the "twist" ending feels contrived and heavy-handed.
Still, Béatrice Dalle, aided by some effects-laden direction, gives an iconic performance as the unnamed "la femme," ranking Inside up there with Misery, Fatal Attraction and Audition as far as cinematic female psychos go.
The DVD
The only special feature is a making-of featurette.
Movie: C+
DVD: D+
