33. Inside (À l’intérieur)

(Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, 2007)

(essay by Jamie)
Modern Horror of note almost always falls in 2, maybe 3 categories. First, there’s the art Horror of In My Skin, Trouble Every Day, Antichrist, Gozu, Noriko’s Dinner Table, A Serbian Film, and Taxidermia that both shock, confuse, and stimulate all at once. They exist to get at something deeper; deeper in shedding (and shredding) taboos and the common place. These happen to be the sort of Horror films I’m drawn to the most at this point in time. Then there are the Horror films that exist as more or less roller coaster rides from start to finish, these present Horror in the most populist way, as everyone– young and old, male or female– likes a good edge of your seat thriller. Of this modern era few are close to (The Descent, Wolf Creek, Audition, [REC], Eden Lake, Infection, Martyrs, The Children) 2007′s absolutely terrifying Inside. This second ‘strain’ of Horror film (the previously dubbed ‘roller coaster’ ride variety) proves that in good capable (demented) hands, one can deliver a memorable thought-provoker just as much as the first group. (For completion sake the third category I speak of above are the films that are largely throw backs to one from bygone era’s. I’m not speaking of Homage Horror that, say Rob Zombie deals in, but rather ghosts stories or supernatural films. Largely these feature little to no blood, deal with a gothic production aesthetic and feature mainstream actors. Modern good films in this vein would be: The Orphanage, Let the Right One In, the underrated great The Abandoned, The Ring/Ringu, Ju-On: The Grudge, A Tale of Two Sisters, Session 9, and The Others. It goes without saying that since I barely consider this group that it’s my least favorite, though good films certainly exist here)*

Inside is the story of pregnant Sarah (Alysson Paradis) who is involved in a traumatic car crash that opens the film killing her other passenger, who we learn is her husband and father of the soon to be born baby. After a jump cut that eclipses several months, we return to Sarah, healed from the accident, ready to give birth, but still reeling emotionally from the loss of her husband.  It’s now Christmas eve, and Sarah arrives home for a relaxing evening as labor is imminent, as only labor can be.

Soon a mysterious, somewhat ominous, presence is knocking on the door asking to use the telephone in the form of a gothic woman (Beatrice Dalle taking the mantle as the modern Horror woman), whose name is never learned. Wanting a peaceful night and rest (coupled with riots and unrest elsewhere in the city), Sarah decides to lie and turn down the request on the notion that her “Husband is sleeping”. Here, the mysterious woman retorts that she knows this is a lie as her Husband is deceased. Rightfully startled, the photographer Sarah tries to snap a picture of the woman and phone the police. The police arrive, and the mysterious woman is now nowhere to be found (of course). In the following scenes Sarah develops her photos and notices the woman not just in the one photo but in several from earlier in the day, meaning that she’s been stalking Sarah for some time. When the woman returns (and is reflected in the sliding glass backyard door) we get the first genuinely scary moment, and the remaining film proves an instant Horror classic both subverting Horror forms and cliches, while staying perfectly in line with them. I won’t spoil it, but I will say, she (the ominous Dalle) was the other woman in (the unseen car from) the opening car accident and rather then loosing a Husband in the wreck like Sarah, she lost her unborn baby. It seems she’s come to take from Sarah what she feel’s she’s due, as Sarah has taken her baby (and she wants to do it with a pair of scissors sporting an 8 inch incisor). Not for the squeamish, but still it’s a film that should be seen by any and every serious film fan– Horror or otherwise.

Dealing with a rather simple set-up that we’re fully immersed into rather early, Bustillo and Maury prove their ability by filling the majority of the films running time with new sequences all contained in the small environment. It’s such a tight script that never insults the audience, and in a few choice moments even delivers some brilliant pitch-black comedy. Shocking, Unrelenting, masterfully written, supremely acted, sublimely executed.

* for all the claims made that this is the weak decade for Horror, ones I would adamantly disagree with, there are over 20 films from the past ten years, all good to great films. These 20 or so also are not a complete list by any means either.
(this film appeared on Jamie’s list at #14, Troy’s at #51, and Robert’s at #20)

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