'Them' DVD Review

A simple, terrifying tale that's an antidote to over-the-top gorefests.

The Movie

Them is proof positive that the simplest films are often the most unsettling. There is little plot and almost no character development here, yet it conveys universal emotion and striking power. Although the movie is in French and Romanian (its original title being Ils, French for "they"), it would have the same impact in any language. It's almost like a silent movie, with the scarce dialogue having little significance in the story.

The setup is classic horror movie stuff: a young couple, French teacher Clementine (Olivia Bonamy) and writer Lucas (Michaël Cohen), are spending a weekend in a run-down, isolated mansion in the Romanian countryside. At 3:00 AM one morning, they're awakened by ominous sounds outside. As it becomes apparent that they're surrounded by unknown assailants with murderous intentions, the couple must find a way to fend off their attackers and survive the night.

The scant plot and dialogue allow for maximum primal terror. Despite its modern setting, Them's scares are old-fashioned, relying less on makeup and gore than on shadows and sound to heighten the tension. The horror is actually much like that of the 1963 classic The Haunting, in which supernatural forces are heard and never seen. The anonymous villains in Them remain unseen for most of the film, lurking in black hooded sweatshirts, making their presence known mostly with sound: creaking footsteps, jostling doorknobs, slamming shutters and, most disturbingly, a ratchet-like sound from those twirling party noisemakers that ends up sounding a bit like the croaking ghost in The Grudge. The hooded invaders are, in a way, haunting the couple's house -- except that the repercussions in the physical world are much more immediate.

The DVD

Special features include three behind-the-scenes featurettes and both US and French trailers for the film.

Movie: B+
DVD: B-