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French Horror Movies

High Tension (2003) Review

October 31, 2013 by Eric S. 2 Comments

high tension reviewOriginal Title: Haute Tension

Synopsis: Two college friends, Marie and Alexa, encounter loads of trouble (and blood) while on vacation at Alexa’s parents’ country home when a mysterious killer invades their quiet getaway.

Quick Review: It’s interesting how the perception you had of a movie can change over the years. I first watched High Tension about 10 years ago and fell in love with it. It was a raw, brutal, unforgiving ride that started the new wave of french horror cinema that would bring us so many classics (Inside, Martyrs, Frontieres..).

Watching the movie again today, I had a much harder time appreciating it and could only focus on the negative aspects of it.

HUGE SPOILER WARNING!!! (stop here if you haven’t watched High Tension yet)

Now that I know the twist, I tried to check if there was any warning signs or clues throughout the movie that could have warned us. Except for one of the first line of Marie when she said she had a dream and she was chased by a killer, and the killer was her, there is nothing to make us think she might be the killer. And I’m fine with that. What’s not working though is that there are so many plot holes in that case, that the whole movie does not make any sense (where is the truck coming from, why are some of the victims reacting the way they do, what is in Marie’s imagination, what is not).

In retrospect it really does feel that Alexandra Aja and Gregory Levasseur only used the twist as a way to shock the audience, but there is not enough logic and ties-in with the rest of the movie to justify it. High Tension would have been the better movie if they had kept things straight with a classic villain (who, by the way is greatly played by the always awesome Philippe Nahon). On a side note, most of the movie follows the same plot than Dean koontz’s book, Intensity. A great read by the way.

END OF SPOILER

In 2013, the movie also suffers from 10 years of torture porn and a myriad of gory slashers that make it much less impactful than it was back in 2003.

So what’s left? High Tension is still very efficient and brilliantly directed. The score and music choices are spot on and contribute to make High Tension an entertaining piece of horror cinema. Not the classic I once thought it would be, but still a must-watch in my book, if only to see the birth of Alexandra Aja as one of the new master of horror.

Rating: 8.5 (first viewing in 2003), 6.5/10 (second viewing)

Director: Alexandre Aja

Origin: France

Click Here to Own High Tension on Blu Ray Now!

Filed Under: French Horror Movies Tagged With: Disturbing, Foreign, Gory, slasher, Survival

Maniac (2012) Review

June 17, 2013 by Eric S. 1 Comment

Maniac-2012-reviewSynopsis: (from IMDb) The owner of a mannequin shop develops a dangerous obsession with a young artist.

My Short Review: I have to admit, I really wanted to Love this movie. Executive produced by Alexandre Aja who is one of my favorite new Master of Horror, based on one of the all-time horror movie classic, Maniac, and supervised by none other than William Lustig, the director of the original movie. Add to this the choice (at first perplexing) of Elijah Wood in the difficult role of Franck, and you can understand all the anticipation.

Sadly, as it is the case here, it can often lead to disappointment.

I love may things about the new Maniac movie: the score is brillant and kudos to Robin Coudert (Rob) for making an hypnotical soundtrack. The acting is first class and I was really impressed by Wood’s work. His voice acting was really strong and carrying so much weight without the need of seeing his face all the time. And of course the practical make up effects deliver all the gore necessary to satisfy our blood-craving (not a surprise when you know KnB are behing it).

So what’s wrong with Maniac? Its hard to tell really. Somehow the movie feels too cold; I had a hard time getting into Franck’s mind and Elijah Wood is not to blame. Was it the choice of shooting the movie using a POV angle? Maybe. We never really feel indise Franck’s head so it kinda kills the purpose of having the movie shot this way. Maybe a more traditional approach would have worked better.

Would the movie have beneficiated from Aja’s direction? Probably not as he was already very involved in the movie.

Maybe my level of expectation was too high and there was no way the movie could have delivered the way I wished it would.

In any case, Maniac is still a good Horror Movie, one of the best of this year so far. Unfortunately, there is something missing that will prevent it from becoming a cult classic like the first one did.

My Rating: 7/10

Year: 2012

Director: Frank Khalfoun

Origin: US/France

Filed Under: French Horror Movies

Precut Girl Review

May 20, 2013 by Eric S. Leave a Comment

precut girl reviewYear: 2009

Director: Eric Dinkian

Synopsis (from IMDb): A young Japanese girl discovers that she cannot die. From then she will explore the moment of death by killing herself repeatedly.

My Short Review: I was checking out some trailers on Youtube yesterday when a link to another video caught my eyes. This is how I stumbled upon “Precut Girl”. And believe me, I’m glad I did.

This is probably one of my favorite short films of all time. Everything from the acting (Karin Shibata is just great) to the simple but efficient pitch is eerily captivating, so much so that I could not keep my eyes off the screen for a second.

Precut Girl feels so japanese, yet so french in ways that are very difficult to explain. There is a very deep message behind this allegoric movie, about the meaning of love, of life itself, the loneliness, the culture clash. So many feelings went into my mind, I was overwhelmed.

This short made me think about Sion Sono’s movies but the more I think about it the more I believe director Eric Dinkian has found his own voice. He is not a copycat but a real author waiting for his big break. And I sincerely hope that he will find it with his first feature movie. If you wanna help him (and you will after watching Precut Girl hereunder) you can do by helping him finance the full length feature based on Precut Girl: A Story of Life and Death and Love  here:

Below is the full Short Precut Girl. Enjoy!

Filed Under: French Horror Movies Tagged With: Disturbing, Foreign, kickstarter, Psychological, Romantic, Short

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