INSIDE (2007)

Well that was intense... in fact it was almost a little too intense for me...

Wow. Did I really say that? I must getting old.


I ended up seeing Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho at a young age (on PBS of all places!) and that put me in a place where stories about rampaging nutcases wielding sharp things don't usually do much for me. Oh there will always be exceptions to the rule like Silence of the Lambs, the original Halloween, Curtains and Audition but most of the time I could care less what Leatherface and Jason are up to.

And just to show you how much of a hypocrite I am my favorite horror film is still Phantasm and the Tall Man has plenty of stabby moments in that film to say the least. (And don't get me started on those balls of his!)

So I guess if your garden variety slasher reveals he did it all because he was possessed by the spirit of Cthulhu's sweatsock I might be more interested but otherwise give me the weird stuff, give me The Masque of the Red Death instead of The Fall of the House of Usher.

So what does Inside have to do with all this?

Inside is the story of a pregnant woman alone on Christmas eve finding herself stalked by a madwoman determined to take the baby from her. And did I mention said madwoman is carrying scissors?

Well I have heard a lot about the movie over the last year or so but I can't say I was in a rush to see it. Luck and a rare bit of free time gave me a chance to watch the film and let me just say that, if you have the stomach for it, this is one HELL of a movie. I literally squirmed in my seat- remember that intense, mad and stomach-turning final 20 minutes of Takashi Miike's Audition?

Well Inside is like that for over an hour.

The performances from the two lead actresses will keep you riveted, Béatrice Dalle especially. She creates an antagonist as pathetic as she is terrifying. If I have one complaint about the film, I think it could have gone with out one less set piece. They almost overdo it.

But the images, and questions, this film leaves you with will stay with you a while.

Inside is a keeper... I just don't know how long it will be before I have the nerve to watch it again.

And... in a final creepy postscript... doesn't the film's villainess Béatrice Dalle look a little like the Octomom?





Brrrrrrrr