À l'intérieur (2007)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Directors:

Alexandre Bustillo
Julien Maury

Writer:

Alexandre Bustillo (writer)

Release Date:

13 June 2007 (France)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

Four months after the death of her husband, a woman on the brink of motherhood is tormented in her home by a strange woman who wants her unborn baby.

Plot Keywords:

Night | Baby | Christmas Eve | Death | Bathroom

Awards:

6 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Béatrice Dalle	...	La femme
Alysson Paradis	...	Sarah
Nathalie Roussel	...	Louise
François-Régis Marchasson	...	Jean-Pierre
Jean-Baptiste Tabourin	...	Matthieu
Dominique Frot	...	L'infirmière
Claude Lulé	...	Le médecin
Hyam Zeytoun	...	Policière municipale
Tahar Rahim	...	Policier municipal 1
Emmanuel Guez	...	Policier municipal 2
Ludovic Berthillot	...	Policier BAC
Emmanuel Lanzi	...	Policier BAC 2
Nicolas Duvauchelle	...	Policier BAC 3
Aymen Saïdi	...	Abdel

Also Known As:

Inside (USA) (festival title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong bloody violence, gruesome and disturbing content, and language.

Runtime:

83 min | USA:75 min (R-rated cut)

Country:

France

Language:

French

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX | DTS-ES

Certification:

France:-16 | USA:R (cut) | USA:NC-17 (orginal rating) | Japan:R-18 | Finland:K-18 (self applied) | Argentina:18 | Mexico:C | Germany:(Banned) (cut) | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company:

La Fabrique de Films

Trivia:

In the scene where the three policemen come check on Sarah, you can see to the left end of the screen the house number, it's 666.

blood-sprayed interiors

Director duo Bustillo and Maury come up with an interesting slasher thriller that is gory, visceral but at the same time atmospheric and tense. In addition to that there's a French flair to it. The film is packed within a tight 78 minutes. There are no ridiculous twists except arguably perhaps one towards the end that involves the kid Abdel. Most of 'À L'Intérieur' is set inside an apartment.

The violence and gore is plentiful what with stabbing with domestic equipments such knitting needles, kitchen-knife and scissors and there are the guns but in the end it leads to the final scene which is equivalent to that of the finale in Polanski's 'Rosemary's Baby' in temrs of haunting the viewer. DV tech and lighting are effectively used. I particularly liked the execution of the first scene of 'the woman' inside the house. She's standing behind Sarah in the darkness where she slowly fades but does not completely vanish. 'À L'Intérieur' also pays tribute to numerous movies such as 'Rosemary's Baby', 'Evil Dead' and many more.

Béatrice Dalle gives a spinechilling performance. She is mostly quiet and it is her silence that haunts the viewer. At the same time she also reflects a human quality by showing the woman's feeling of pain, sadness and fear. Alysson Paradis too is great as the prey. She isn't the typical damsel in distress. She is a mother to be who does everything she can to protect herself and her unborn child.

'À L'Intérieur' isn't without its share of downside. There are several plot holes that leave the viewer questioning. Many have termed the film as 'artificial' snuff but this is often misused. Of course one is to expect a certain amount of torture and violence in a slasher thriller but this is no 'Hostel' or even 'Saw'. Here the atmosphere is just as chilling as the violence. It is a lot cleverer than those wannabes.