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Inside (DVD)

by Katerina Sakkas | May 10, 2011 16:01 | Edited May 10, 2011 16:01

“It’s a superficial film, all blood and moody darkness.”

Inside, the first film from French directing duo Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, is an ultimately unsuccessful venture, disturbing for the wrong reasons. After a promisingly creepy start, where the recently bereaved and heavily pregnant Sarah (Alysson Paradis) is menaced by a stranger who seems to know all about her, the film rapidly degenerates into an illogical bloodbath, centred on the graphic brutalisation of a pregnant woman. This suggests, at best, an unthinking decision on the part of the filmmakers; at worst, a cynical one. Intelligent horror can take on difficult, taboo subjects, but Inside doesn't fall into this bracket. It's a superficial film, all blood and moody darkness.

 

Maury and Bustillo are so intently focused on their gore that they fail to deliver a logical narrative, let alone one with depth. No character is completely convincing: Beatrice Dalle makes a good monster, but she's given unfeasible superpowers; Paradis forgets that she's meant to be on the point of giving birth and strides energetically at times. In a house where his colleagues lie slain, a policeman views restoring the electricity as more of a priority than calling for back-up. This is lazy filmmaking. Maury and Bustillo might be avid gore-hounds, but are not equipped at present with the insight and judgement to make a strong horror film about women.