À l'intérieur (Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury, 2007)

[moviscop]

À l'intérieur (Inside)[/b]

Directed by: Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury

Written by: Alexandre Bustillo

Plot Outline: Still grieving over her recently deceased boyfriend, a pregnant woman becomes haunted by a mysterious woman.

From The IMDb Page

I have had interest in seeing this film and wanted to inquire about its quality. Have any of you seen this film yet? If so, what did you think.

I'm nervous only because I don't want to waste my time on a gore-fest film in the same vein as "High Tension" which I personally felt was painfully unoriginal.

*UPDATE AFTER SEEING FILM - VERDICT*
a piece of shit stuck under the boot of uwe boll.

[James]

Early, but I'm fully ready to call it one of the best horror movies ever made. It has an atmosphere thicker than almost anything I've ever seen in a movie. You almost expect the directors to throw in a fog machine somewhere, but thankfully, they never sink that low. In fact, not only is the atmosphere thick, but the movie is tense. Dalle is undeniably mysterious and creates a sort of depressing feeling of hopelessness with her character, only know as 'La femme'. It all plays out like a feminist Eraserhead. Brilliant stuff.

[justeleblanc]

The film's best feature is the staging , an toward the beginning this really pays off, in a film geek kind of way, but there is nothing wrong with that.

It's not as scary as I had hoped, but it really is a terrific film.

[Galen Young]

A twisted, fun little movie, worth watching because of Beatrice Dalle. I'd put it at the top of the heap of recent French horror (Frontière(s), Ils, Haute tension) mostly for sheer wackiness. Don't see much in common with Eraserhead, but there is a direct homage to Blue Velvet that really pulled me out of the action. Edited by the same guy who's done all three of Alexandre Aja's horror films. The terrific score by François-Eudes Chanfrault was released a few months ago. (his solo effort Computer Assisted Sunset is pretty nice too.)

[James]

Don't see much in common with Eraserhead,

It has to do with the (subconscious) fear of having a child. What's this about Blue Velvet now? I must have missed that. It's been a while since I've seen Blue Velvet.

[moviscop]

Good to hear, I'm looking forward to checking it out now.

[Galen Young]

What's this about Blue Velvet now?

A minor allusion perhaps but --

Spoiler

Near the end of Inside, when Sarah enters the living room and one of the young policemen is standing there, fucked up with a head wound -- is he alive? Is he dead? She walks up to him -- and he suddenly comes to life.

Near the end of Blue Velvet, when Jeffery enters Dorothy Vallens apartment, and the 'man in a yellow suit' is standing there, fucked up with a head wound -- is he alive? Is he dead? He walks up to him -- a burst of noise from a police radio jump starts the guy back to life...

It's kind of goofy throwaway bit, like the filmmakers were trying to inject a bit of Lynchian weirdness as an excuse to show us more grisly gore...

I get the baby connection to Eraserhead, I just thought that Inside was more about the fear of losing your baby or having it taken away, rather than about having a baby. Why do you think it's a "feminist" version of Eraserhead?

[moviscop]

I haven't seen "Inside" yet but do agree with your view on Eraserhead. The film doesn't feel with the fear of losing a child, but the fear and uncertainty of fatherhood. The whole symbolic element of the "alien" child made it much more evident that Henry Spencer felt so out of place. I am looking forward to seeing Inside now, especially with the different homages I am hearing about.

[James]

A minor allusion perhaps but --

Spoiler

Near the end of Inside, when Sarah enters the living room and one of the young policemen is standing there, fucked up with a head wound -- is he alive? Is he dead? She walks up to him -- and he suddenly comes to life.

Near the end of Blue Velvet, when Jeffery enters Dorothy Vallens apartment, and the 'man in a yellow suit' is standing there, fucked up with a head wound -- is he alive? Is he dead? He walks up to him -- a burst of noise from a police radio jump starts the guy back to life...

Spoiler

Again, I don't remember that scene in Blue Velvet, but as for Inside, he didn't come back to life, he simply didn't know who he was attacking since he was blinded by La femme.

I get the baby connection to Eraserhead, I just thought that Inside was more about the fear of losing your baby or having it taken away, rather than about having a baby. Why do you think it's a "feminist" version of Eraserhead?

Well, if Eraserhead focuses on the fears of a man becoming a parent, Inside focuses on the fears of a woman becoming a parent. They are both unmarried characters; the female in the latter is a widow. I think the fact that there are two female leads also indicates some sort of female competition as far as parenting goes where La femme thinks she can be a better parent or whatever. However, I'm neither female nor a feminist theorist, so I couldn't say.

[moviscop]

I found it at Hollywood Video, I'll give it a watch tonight. I'm looking forward to it a lot more now.

[James]

I found it at Hollywood Video, I'll give it a watch tonight. I'm looking forward to it a lot more now.

I hope you got the unrated version (otherwise do not bother)!

[moviscop]

Apparently it is the unrated version.

America goes nuts for Unrated DVDs because they are still convinced that there is hidden porn inside. I have been turned off of it personally. The only Unrated horror film I have seen is "Feast" which was a piece of shit to put it lightly. The only reason I rented it was because of its Project Greenlight root.
The scene that they cut out of the rated version was hardly something worth seeing. It consisted of a monster running up to a woman rigged with explosives, jabbing his wanker into her mouth and exploding into it. Only to have her blown to pieces by a remote detonator.

If that is what Unrated DVDs provide, I'm not interested.

[James]

The violence of this movie is a necessity in order to provide weight for the dense atmosphere. Trimming out violence would systematically worsen the movie.

[moviscop]

Good to hear. I just haven't had good luck with Unrated films in the past.

American films are usually ones that just fuck themselves with Unrated versions.

[James]

Good to hear. I just haven't had good luck with Unrated films in the past.

American films are usually ones that just fuck themselves with Unrated versions.

I know what you mean. I think this one risked the NC-17 if it wasn't released unrated, so basically places like Hollywood Video wouldn't carry it if it wasn't unrated.

[moviscop]

It makes sense. Our rating system is so flawed in America. The way people find to bounce around the system is quite funny at times.

But it is also a bummer for directors who are held back by the system and forced to cut-up their films to grab the R-rating.

[Galen Young]

Spoiler

Again, I don't remember that scene in Blue Velvet, but as for Inside, he didn't come back to life, he simply didn't know who he was attacking since he was blinded by La femme.

Spoiler

You're right about the guy being blinded, attacking and all, I was just referring to the visual similarities between the scenes and the actions of the characters.

Well, if Eraserhead focuses on the fears of a man becoming a parent, Inside focuses on the fears of a woman becoming a paren. They are both unmarried characters; the female in the latter is a widow. I think the fact that there are two female leads also indicates some sort of female competition as far as parenting goes where La femme thinks she can be a better parent or whatever. However, I'm neither female nor a feminist theorist, so I couldn't say.

The only reason I asked was the word 'feminist' implies a political connotation to me -- which I didn't really get from the film.

Spoiler

If I understood the story right, the baby in the womb at the beginning -- the voice over was actually La Femme, talking about her own, unborn baby. When the car crash is revealed, we are tricked into thinking the voice over was about Sarah's unborn baby. (the conceit being we are never shown the driver of the other car...) So later, somehow La Femme has found out that Sarah was/is pregnant -- and sets out to revenge the death of her unborn child killed in the car crash -- by taking Sarah's -- literally from her womb!

I just don't see it as a story about parenting is all.

[Hashi]

I'm nervous only because I don't want to waste my time on a gore-fest film in the same vein as "High Tension" which I personally felt was painfully unoriginal.

Well in the end I think that gore is all you get. I mostly liked this but personally I liked Haute tension more. I think with Haute, the tension was really high and it was scary, but Inside isn't after the action (or gore-feast) starts. I think the weakest moments are towards the end when the action gets all goofy.

Spoiler

Sarah turns on the bitch-gear (tm), the flaming of La femme etc. All nastiness and credibility (if any left) vanishes there and for a while it becomes embarrassing and laughable.

...I just thought that Inside was more about the fear of losing your baby or having it taken away, rather than about having a baby.

In my opinion definitely more about losing your baby - one way or the other. The whole setting is so bloody twisted; you are in your own home (assumed safe haven), alone and pregnant - in a very very fragile state. How much more vulnerable situation can you start with? But there is also this already mentioned competition about who's a better parent, but I guess this comes more from the narcissist mind of a psychopath?

[moviscop]

Ok, I just watched Inside with a friend of mine who is also active on this forum.

Let me begin by thanking everyone for posting on this thread and recommending this film, even though I found it almost unbearably bad on every level. In fact, it was a sin to cinema.

I really apologize for what I'm about to say and it is in no way an attack on those who enjoyed this film.

Spoiler

Let me begin by saying that the film began well, I enjoyed the grainy filter for the rain car crash shot. I loved the effect that showed each drop of rain in the air. However, this joy was immediately stolen by the CGI baby that showed up. I got so sick of seeing that unrealistic baby interaction and how horrible it was placed in the film. Whoever had that idea should be shot by a firing squad.

Let me continue on. The development innitially was decent. I REALLY fell in love with the shot of "Le Femme" in the shadows behind her as she sat on the couch. I have never seen a shot like that and absolutely LOVED IT! But, the film soon took a turn for the worst. It was one of the most least effective horror films I have ever seen. She was caught in a bathroom throughout the film and there was NOTHING crediting tension to the film. There were unrealstic amounts of people pouring through the door to meet their death in different and gory ways. None of this, however, helped the film develop atmospherically or story-wise. There was NO POINT to any of the killings and they were all placed in the film just for shock value.

I almost feel like I'm wasting my time trying to push how horrible this film is. There is absolutely nothing good about this film apart from a few good frames. The ending montage was horrible, what a big fucking surprise!

THE LIGHTER AND AEROSOL WAS A FUCKING JOKE! There were so many problems with the story and how unrealistic it was. The cop giving the criminal a gun. The woman sneaking around the house like fucking Robin Hood.

In essence, this film was the biggest piece of shit I have ever seen from France and has killed everything that is supposed to be atmospheric horror. They traded creative artists for makeup artists, making their gore look more shocking.

Don't see this piece of trash. If I could, I would burn every damn DVD copy of this film and every copy of the bullshit script.

Again, I apologize to those who liked it. But, if you really thought this film was good you should really re-examine the film and how horribly it was made. It was an insult to the genre, to France, and to a completely decent story idea.

[James]

Much of what you're saying is really pretty subjective. For example: I found it plenty tense. I respect your opinion as hyperbolic as it sounds, but I still don't think there are any criticisms that would hold up there, and I'm certainly not about to respond to a post filled with general blanket statements (particularly because I enjoy the movie). For what it's worth, I don't know how you can possibly call the deaths in the movie pointless, and for shock value only. They clearly add to the tension of the movies' theateresque mise en scène. If the movie refrained from the general graphic nature of the violence, it would lack any sense of mystery, not to mention atmosphere.

[moviscop]

The director was practically forcing us to witness different stylish deaths.

How many ways can you add people to a house to get killed off? A cop dragging along a convict on a leash? As soon as that happened I shook my head and said "They really needed to drag another person into the mix to get killed off." I really can see how people enjoy films I don't like. However, in this case, myself and the person I was watching it with were literally sitting in awe of how bad the film was.

By not blanketing the film it would require analyzing, which a film like this doesn't deserve. The entire story was ludicrous. I mean, there was very little substance to the film. The last thing the deaths did was add tension to the film. We knew exactly what was going to happen everytime someone walked through the door! She was locked in a bathroom the entire time with a kicking CGI baby inside of her and a ridiculous amount of blood building on the walls.

I hated High Tension, but that film did a better job of actually developing into SOMETHING. This film didn't develop at all. Instead we have a final shot...

Spoiler

of a woman with a melted head holding and kissing a baby.

The writing was just horrible. Traditionally, directors stick to having only one coincidence in a film. This one had one in every sequence and each one made the film even more unbelievable. I am actually embarrassed for the creators of this movie. I'm not trying to be condescending at all. I just hate it when films get popular and are absolute shit. This was by far the worst film experience of the past year for me. Right up there with "One Missed Call"

I think that you should watch "The Shining" again to grasp what atmospheric horror is.

I feel like you realize how bad this film is but are defending it because you want it to be good. that is fine, but denial is a dangerous thing in cinema. I have been through that many times with different films. If you break down right now and say that it isnt that good i will completely remove the fact that you liked it at one point. Just say these words, "she should'of had an abortion."

[Galen Young]

Yet another case of life imitating art... (or is that vice-versa?) This sort of thing has happened before, hasn't it?

[denti alligator]

So is this a great film, worth seeing? A friend loaned me the soundtrack and I am very impressed.

[jbeall]

So is this a great film, worth seeing? A friend loaned me the soundtrack and I am very impressed.

Great? No, but it's pretty tense and effective for what it does. I really like the scenes before "La Femme" gets into the house, as they were seriously creepy.

[Lino]

I personally had to watch this movie in parts because I could not handle the tension and horror all at once. Scared the hell out of me.