Inside (2007)
Horror | Thriller

Get ready for the most gruesome, terrifying, and disturbing film you’ve ever seen. Four months after pregnant Sarah loses her husband in a horrific auto accident, she is visited on Christmas Eve by a mysterious madwoman. Alone and desperate to save her unborn child, Sarah fights to stay alive as each of her potential rescuers die at the woman’s sadistic hands. With scene after scene of shocking carnage and escalating mayhem, Inside delivers unbelievably realistic gore that dares you not to look away.

Storyline: Four months before Christmas, Sarah and Matthieu Scarangelo were in a car crash, of which Sarah and her unborn baby were the only survivors. On Christmas Eve, Sarah stays home alone, where she grieves her husband and prepares to go to the hospital the next morning for the delivery. As night falls, a woman knocks on Sarah's door asking to use the phone. When she refuses, the woman reveals that she knows Sarah and tries to force her way in. Sarah calls the police; they inspect the home and determine the woman has left, but promise to keep watch over Sarah through the night. The woman returns and tries to take Sarah's unborn child, but Sarah locks herself in the bathroom. The strange woman torments Sarah through the night and kills all who try help her. Written by EllenRipley112

User Comment: LoneWolfAndCub from Australia, 1 April 2008 • 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.

Summary: Unbelievably brutal and emotionally draining. This is not to be missed!.

--- JOYA ---

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