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Dans ton sommeil (2010)
Excellent Entry In The French Home Invasion Subgenre
From www.allthingshorroronline.net
For the past decade the French have owned the home invasion horror subgenre. The films High Tension, Inside, (to a lesser extent) Martyrs, and ILS have taken the familiar comfort of home's four walls and transformed them into a cavalcade of terror, mayhem and death. The sibling team of Caroline and Eric du Potet (producers of Inside) add to the impressive list with In Their Sleep.
A year removed from her son's tragic accident/suicide Sarah (the original La Femme Nikita, Anne Parillaud) remains a depressed shell of her former self. The quaint fixer-upper countryside villa remains in a state of disrepair as her husband abandoned her to deal with his own grief, leaving the crumbling walls and scattered home repair materials a fitting metaphor for Sarah's own life. She works herself to the point of collapse as a nurse just to have a routine to numb the hours of the day. Exhausted to the point of distraction, she is ordered home by the hospital to rest. In her jittery state she doesn't notice Arthur until the moment he leaps in front of her car in an attempt to hail her down.
Arthur fears for his life. A man burglarized his home, and Arthur saw his face. Now he fears the man will kill him in order to not get caught. The car barreling down the road, tailing Sarah and Arthur lends credibility to his story, so Sarah takes him to her home once the stranger gives up the chase. His fears prove correct when the stranger breaks in to Sarah's home in the late hours of night and trashes the place in fury while the pair attempt to hide.
The du Potet's eschew the constant over the top violence and gore of Inside (a film which, for all its merits felt like a Roadrunner cartoon by its end) for a much quieter film that is punctuated by moments of breath stealing atrocities. Flashbacks and fantasy sequences litter the film, keeping the viewer guessing while peeling back layers of truth. Similar to the first act of Inside the victims have no idea their home has been breached. This tact provides the psychological terrors of the film. The idea that one can be nestled within their confines, completely oblivious to the torment that lays an arm's length away plays itself out with stark results. Items that are supposed to provide a sense of security serve to imprison victims instead: in one of the most harrowing sequences of the film a small girl leaps at a deadbolt, with escape just out of the reach of her clutching fingers.
Parillaud's performance is the glue that holds it all together. She's a beaten woman long before she encounters Arthur. While she's a smart and resourceful woman, anything or anyone she wants to live for has long since been removed from her. She's often one step away from putting the puzzle pieces together, yet backs away knowing the truth would prove pointless in the end. At times she seems to put one foot in front of the other only because it's what's expected of her. By the film's closing moments, breathtaking in both its beauty and mundane nature, it's fair to question whether death would provide a welcome relief and reward of a sort for her.
For fans of extreme French horror, In Their Sleep may prove to tame for their liking. It lacks the monotonous violence of Martyrs that pound the viewer into submission or the batshit craziness of Sheitan, Inside or Frontiers. However, the ripped from the headlines aspect of the film, strong performances and stunning landscapes of the French countryside make it compelling viewing, easily one of the year's best efforts, for those that crave a realistic horror film.
Kiss the Abyss (2012)
A unique mashup of horror subgenres make for an entertaining indie flick
Originally posted on www.allthingshorroronline.net
Watching Kiss The Abyss, I couldn't help but catch references to other classic stories. The film has Shakespearian overtones, not only with its theme of star crossed lovers, but also in a powerful patriarch's inability to loosen his grip on his family, and how it ends up costing him everything. The movie also recalls O Henry's The Money's Paw in ways that will seem obvious once you see the film.
Lesley (Nicole Moore) and Mark (Scott Wilson) are a young couple that makes up what for what they lack in wealth by being head over heels for one another. As they eek out an existence against the wishes of Lesley's overbearing father, they also have to deal with their loutish, abusive neighbors. After Mark beats the snot of the his next door neighbor for putting his hands on his girlfriend one time too many, Lesley ends up paying the price at the receiving end of a Louisville Slugger.
That's when things take a turn for the weird.
Mark joins forces with Lesley's father and brother (Scott Mitchell Nelson) and the trio share an uncomfortable car ride out to the desert. For a bag full of unmarked bills, the local witch doctor will happily bring Lesley back from the dead, no questions asked. The problem is, he's not willing to answer any questions either, and he has a definite no returns policy.
It's difficult to categorize exactly what Lesley is when she wakes up. She craves human blood, but direct sunlight seems to have no effect on her, so she's not quite a vampire. She looks rotted away and her flesh continues to deteriorate, but she's also self aware, so she's not quite a zombie. She's definitely dangerous, as it becomes increasingly difficult for her to control her bloodlust. While the violence comes in quick outbursts, what's there is brutal and looks gruesome. Lesley looks more horrific as the film marches on, eventually peeling off layers of skin from blackened and exposed veins. (FX artist Jenn Rose won a well deserved "Best FX" work at the 2010 NYC Horror Film Fest for her work here.)
The film builds quietly over the first two acts before it all goes to hell once the action returns to Gus' home in the third. We see exactly the how in Gus' magic show. We're also introduced to his wife, a comically filthy and obese woman that provides some outstanding "What The?" moments.
Co-writer and director Ken Winkler does a remarkable job in the first act of keeping the audience on its toes by flashing back to the happier times between the couple leading up to Lesley's death then cutting back to the present day out in the desert, and the desperate attempt to revive the girl. The film works due to the strong performances of Moore and Wilson as the leads. You believe them as a couple, and there's a hint of Romeo & Juliet levels of tragedy for the pair as family pressure seeks to keep them apart. Even in her later form as a blood-craving monster, Moore exudes a vulnerability that leaves the viewer more sympathetic than horrified at her plight.
Fans of Lost should pick up on the villainous vibe of James Mathers brings to his role as Harold, Lesley's father who disapproves of her relationship with Mark. He brings a very Charles Widmore vibe to the role. Not only does he resemble that character physically, he has enough wealth an influence to buy off the law, and eventually death itself. The film takes great pains to slowly reveal his layers of villainy. While depicted at the outset as a man that simply wants to separate the couple, the film gradually reveals his corrupted nature and moral turpitude.
On the other end of the baddie scale is an immensely entertaining performance by Douglass Bennett as Gus. Bennett channels a hyper kinetic Harvey Keitel in his role as a Podunk Shaman. He's responsible for bringing Lesley back from the dead, though he conveniently leaves out the side effects of the process. As far as he's concerned, the group can chalk up any incidents to buyer's remorse.
The above two characters provide a terrific contrast to Moore's Lesley. She's more of a tragic figure than a monster. The film does a credible job of mixing in sympathy for the girls' plight along with the horror of her subsequent actions. Due to events outside of her control-first at the hands of her neighbor, followed by those of her lover and family, she comes back as a monster by nature. Her father and Gus are different animals completely. Harold's wealth and influence afford him power over others. Morality is something that can't be excused by waving dollars at it, so it never enters in to his decision making process. Gus is simply weird. He has the means at his disposal to play god, and he's simply giddy with power, consequences be damned.
Kiss The Abyss works because of its restraint. It focuses more on the relationships between its characters and provides a pair of human monsters whose evil far outstrips that of its central creature. It works in moments that keep the audience off kilter, and it benefits from strong performances across the board. It's a different sort of indie horror-where a lesser film would focus on the blood and gore, Winkler's much more interested in exploring what really makes a monster. The film is that much stronger for that effort. Seek this one out.