Inside (Unrated)

Some time ago I read in a German horror movie magazine about INSIDE (or A l'INTERIEUR in French). The reviewer commented how extreme and tough to watch this film was even for him as seasoned horror vet.I have to agree with the reviewer in this magazine. INSIDE is unbelieveably sick and gory for a mainstream horror film.Newspaper photographer Sarah is far advanced in pregnancy, but depressed nonetheless, as her husband was killed in a car crash some months ago. She is about to spend a lonely Christmas Eve at home, when a black clad woman threatens her. Sarah calls the police, who can find no trace of the female intruder. The cops leave and Sarah goes to sleep. Her nightmare is only just beginning, as the black clad intruder returns, hell bent to cut Sarah's baby out of her womb...I will not go into more detail here, but only assure you that it is highly unlikely that you will get to watch an equally gory and disturbing film anytime soon. The movie is sooo sick it beggars belief. And I am an avid fan of horror and gore, of extreme movies of all kind.The pregnancy of Sarah adds enormous to the unpleasantness. We even get to see the agony of the fetus in the womb! I have not seen something like that before!And rarely have I seen such insane bloodshed in a film...INSIDE is no cheapo direct-to-video trash, where rivers of blood should make up for basement production values and gross splatter special effects are laughable due to lack of funds.No way. INSIDE is a decently budgeted film with top league actors. Beatrice DALLE who plays the vicous killer is an accomplished actress with starring credits in lots of arthouse movies. She may not be a household name in the United States, but DALLE is well known in Europe.As for the final plot twist and the female killer's identity and motivation (I won't give it away, so don't worry!) I have to say that it did not really surprise me and I am sure that most viewers will expect something of its kind.Cinematography and score are exceptional and add enormous to the grim athmosphere. The fact that almost the entire movie (except for the lethal car accident and a few scenes in the hospital at the beginning) takes place in Sarah's house (in just a couple of rooms to be precise) give a tense feeling of hopelessness. The close quarters are very cleverly utilized for maximum shock effect.INSIDE also has some political subtext (if you will), as there are references to the recent mass riots; the cops who return to Sarah's house to check on her, come with an arrested rioter in tow.Not just in this regard INSIDE reminds one of FRONTIER(S), theother extreme French horror film (which also has a pregnant heroine!).As for special features there is the trailer, which sells the film well, and a making-of. The latter runs about 50 minutes or so. I found it very interesting. Beatrice DALLE, Alysson PARADIS and other actors comment on their respective roles and the shot. Both DALLE and PARADIS come across as very likeable women, who had much fun during filming. Much attention is given to the special effects and how they were accomplished. Almost all of the F/X were physical (makeup, props, etc), thankfully there is very very little of the damned computer effects (just a CGI enhanced shot in the head).This great terror movie comes with the highest recommendation. One last comment: If you like INSIDE, you have to check out the other recent French terror flick, FRONTIER(S) ! It is more conventional and slightly less gory than INSIDE, and while FRONTIER(S) is not exactly a feel good movie either it is not the relentless nihilistic descent into hell like INSIDE. (I still prefer FRONTIER(S).) Anyway, fans of extreme horror need both!

There's a moment in "Inside" when Beatrice Dalle's character, who is never named, is standing outside of pregnant Sarah's house. She is framed in the darkness, wearing a deep black overcoat and standing absolutely motionless. Sarah is screaming at her, telling her that she's called the police and that they're on the way. Dalle simply lights a cigarette and continues to stare into the room, even as Sarah begins to take flash pictures of her. The shot moves to the outside of the house and all the viewer hears is the "pfff...pfff pfff...pfff" of the flash firing. Its the horror that can be felt in that moment that defines what makes the pure, unrelenting terror that comes out of Inside that much different and more intense than anything that has been put on the American stage for years. The horror doesn't come from a killer suddenly jumping out from around a corner, there's no "oh, thank God its just a cat" moments, and no characters behave stupidly. The movie plays out as you would expect this nightmare to ever play out if any woman ever went as insane as Beatrice Dalle's character does, which allows the movie to play on a darkly nightmarish level that has been rarely achieved in cinema. The plot is simple enough and it is relatively easy to protect a review from spoilers. Sarah is a photojournalist who lost her husband in a car accident and has been left to carry her baby to term alone. And so on Christmas Eve she is planning to spend one more night are home and then travel quietly to the hospital the next day. And then a woman knocks as her door under the pretense of needing help with her car. We quickly learn that what she really want's is Sarah's baby, now, by any means necessary. The rest of the film plays out like an instance of violent domestic war which will leave bodies in its wake. It is one of the most gory things ever filmed and I firmly believe that it would earn an NC-17 rating if it were to be released in mainstream theaters stateside. The strength of the film comes from the strength of its acting and its commitment to logic (with one exception near the end, but it's forgivable). Beatrice Dalle, whose early work consisted of roles in which she played a sex bomb, demonstrates an unrelenting commitment to her character that makes me respect her more than most actresses in Hollywood for the reason that the character is so bold that she has put herself at risk to be typecast and this fact would scare away most actresses. And while Alysson Paradis does have to spend some of her role as Sarah crying and blubbering like an annoyingly stereotypical scary movie girl (she is severely injured for the majority of the movie, its forgivable), she reasons logically and does not take her situation lying down, she fights back with a vengeance. As much as I wish that I could speak on the specifics of this, this is a movie that needs to be experienced with a level of surprise. If you can handle the sheer level and intensity of realistic gore played over 90 minutes, then I assure you that this movie is worth your time. It will never lure you into a "pop out scare," but it will leave you deeply horrified.

Si bien la pelicula no es mala, es una buena obra en cuanto a algo distinto, solo me molesto una parte de un policía ciego, pero la película en sí es buena

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何の変哲もない穏やかなハイスクール生活。バックミュージックにはボン・ジョヴィ系のポップロックが流れ、多感な年頃のおバカなハイティーンの頭の中は下らない噂話や、性的妄想だらけ。そんなある日、やっと訪れた恋人と２人きりの一夜、そこに忍び寄る不気味な影。　　　　　　　　　　　　　………中略………気が付けば、たまたま運悪く遭遇したモンスター級の殺人鬼に、次々と血祭りにあげられるバカップル達。はいはい、それで一番最後まで生き延びて逆襲しちゃうのが、以外にも地味系の一見目立たない優等生タイプの女の子だったりする。「まぁ、此れはこれである意味、黄金パターンが成り立っていて解っちゃいても見たくなるってやつなんだけどなぁ〜」「もっとこ〜ストレートにぞぞぞぉぉ〜！とくるヤツが見たいんだよなぁ〜」と、嘆いているホラー愛好家にお勧めなのが、この一本。ダラダラと長たらしい前置きや、勿体付け一切なしの脳天直撃型ホラーだ。では、一般的に観客が最も「怖い！　恐ろしい！」と感じるホラー映画に必要な要素（一例）をザッと挙げてみると……　１．恐怖へと誘うシチュエーション（舞台設定、状況設定）　　２．演出によるリアリティー（信憑性）　３．効果的なライティング（照明の強弱、陰影の加減や全体的な色調）　４．スリリングなカメラワーク　５．音響効果による雰囲気作り（効果音、インスト曲など）　６．特殊メイク、CGのクオリティー　７．俳優陣の演技力　　……となる訳だが、本作にはこれら７つの要素すべてが高水準で確立されていると感じられた。引きと寄りのタイミングが絶妙な、緊迫感あるカメラワーク。黄色を基調とした陰影バランスの見事なライティング効果。特にジャパニーズホラーライクなジメッとした空気感の中で、暗闇に見え隠れする狂気の残像や、対照的に乾いたクリアな蛍光灯の光が、無惨な傷跡をクッキリと照らす等のメリハリの効いた演出の妙。トクトクと鼓動が高鳴り、ピンポイントで鳴り響く効果音もスリリングなシーンを盛り上げ、臨場感を増すのに一役買っている。特殊メイクでは、血のりの固まり始めと流れ出して間もない部分の緻密な表現が、より本物らしさと恐怖感を生み出している。シチュエーションはリアリティーの面に於いては、部分的にやや盛り過ぎな感は否めないが、昨今の不可解な犯罪事情や、未知の脳内構造を考慮に入れると必ずしも有り得ないとは言い難い。そして、唐突にも思える展開の末に、明かされる惨劇の真相。ストーリーや人物設定に関しては一切触れないが、主演女優２人の熱演は圧巻の一言。鬼気迫る迫真の演技で作品を引き立たせている。このように、飽くまでも一本のホラー映画としては高評価な本作ではあるが、中盤以降の残酷描写には、目を背けたくなるシーンが少なくないのも事実。特に女性にとっては「耐え難いのでは？」と思わせる不条理な描写も存在するため、自称 “鋼鉄のホラーマニア“ 以外の方は、其れなりの御覚悟を。UK PAL版は、勿論、ノーモザイクのオリジナル仕様。メイキング映像では監督のモーリー＆バスティロによる製作秘話、特殊メイクの現場や、主演女優のアリソン・パラディとベアトリス・ダルの素顔も垣間見え、見応えのある特典になっている。日本版は、意味不明な邦題（屋敷女）と地味なジャケットデザインのせいで、今一つ注目され難くなっているが、単なる “血みどろスプラッター” で片付けるには、余りにも惜しいフレンチホラーの逸品。ぜひお試しを。

Inside is probably one of the most graphic, bloody, nauseating, eyes averting and shockingly violent modern horror films to date.I actually am struggling at the moment to think of a film which made me feel more uncomfortable. Maybe George A Romero's Day of The Dead, and that was 25 years ago.Much has been made of the new French horror films. Darker, more brutal, more bloody and extreme than mainstream american horror films (Hostel, Saw) and also much deeper, and much more clever.Martyrs is probably the only of these films I actually liked. Switchblade Romance, while very suspenseful, was very unorginal. Frontiers I thought was even worse. Cannibal Nazis? How new..The plot in this is actually rather original. A woman who lost her husband in a car crash a few months earlier, is due to give birth to her child the next day, which happens to be Christmas. However, a strange woman comes to the door, demanding her child.. From there on we have blood sprays, navals being sliced open with scissors, as well some very sensitive manly areas. If a film was ever to rival Peter Jacksons Braindead in pure blood, then this would probably be it.Except, the tone is such darker, so much more serious, that the blood and gore is fairly off-putting. I'm not one to be put off by violence in a film, but something about it in this film, made me feel rather sick. Every death was lingered on FAR too long, and there was also some bad cgi violence. Boo. Hostel and Saw have violence to titilate the audience, giving those kind of films a legitimate torture-porn lisence, and unfortunatley I feel like I must label this with that term.The gore is rather pointless. It doesn't move along the plot, it doesn't make us care more about the plot, the characters, no deeper understanding. Also, any film where animals are savagely and pointlessly killed instantly loses marks with me.The film can be very scary, but some of the scariest films made are essentially gore-less. Halloween, and the Spanish horror Rec. This shows how the gore doesn't even benefit the experience.Some of the police officers are so inept. I won't give it away, but the police officers defy logic, with leaving a pregnant woman alone after an emergency call in which she says there was a threatning woman trying to break in, is a personal highlight.Trying not to spoil anything, the last 15 minutes of Inside are the final nail in the coffin. Toasters and a zombie all get involved. No, I didn't get it either.I give it an extra star due to the acting, which is good, not amazing, but good. Also, the cinematography is also quite good, with interesting shots and angles.Unfortunately, due to the needless and sickening gore, the CGI, the ending I really can't say I recommend Inside. If you want gore, try George A Romeros Dawn of the Dead, or Peter Jacksons Braindead. Scares and suspense, Martys or Rec are good choices. I know I'm going to be hated by many horror fanboys, but this is just my opinion, and I'm only trying to advise those who may not be into as extreme horror as others.

There is an English audio track but if you wanted to watch this in its original French, there are only Spanish and Portuguese subtitles.