Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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55 of 63 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is simply great!., January 6, 2008
If your the type of person who's bored to death with those crappy Hollywood re-makes and terrible sequels and your looking for something else that maybe has some originality to it then you've come to the right place. Them (a.k.a. Ils) is the latest horror/thriller from France that relys more on suspense and the fear of the unknown rather than gore and blood which was very effective and very scary, David Moreau and Xavier Palud have created a film that was so intense and very original that I thought finally a good film that wasn't so dull.
the film was also abit weird it also had some great atmosphere the darkened mansion was a perfect setting for this tale because of its layout and overall size, it works well to add some scares and how these people could come in at the middle of the night without the victims knowing who they are or where they came from so they become two ordinary people in a terrifying situation so its sort of a reoccurring theme in the film.
The film starts off with some unseen assailants who begin terrorising a mother and daughter who's car just broke down on a lonely stretch of road in the middle of nowhere during a rainstorm they soon get killed, how this scene was setup was quite good and very clever.
We are soon introduced to a school teacher named Clementine and her husband Lucas who reside in a mansion in the Bucharest suburbs (somewhere in Romania) in a secluded area near a forest, when night falls they begin to hear some strange noises downstairs leading the couple to believe that someone or something is in their house, the couple are then being tormented and these home invaders become increasingly more hostile and keep playing some psychological mind games there were some very exciting scenes as well when the couple were trying to escape for their lives.
At first I thought it was a supernatural horror film and the way it was setup would give the viewer a disturbing and creepy image thats hard to believe and you don't get to see 'them' until the last couple of minutes towards the end of the film I'll just leave it as a surprise so I'm not going to ruin it for anyone but all I have to say is that the ending was brilliant and left me feeling very surprised, this was a fantastic foreign horror that shows that you don't need any blood and gore to terrify the audience (even though I do like that stuff alot) I highly recommend this great horror film although some people might not like it.
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33 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Parfait! One of the best horror films of this decade. Dvd features below., March 26, 2008
Writer and Director team David Moreau and Xavier Palud know fear and have made a tense horror film with moments of greatness. They know it's not what you see that scares you but what you don't, tapping into childhood fears such as the dark, strange noises, and thinking you've seen something which helps with brilliant camerawork.
The film starts in Bucharest Romania with a mother and daughter arguing in their car when they have a car accident. The car accident in itself is scary because the filmmakers have chosen to do a documentary style which adds that, this is really happening feel along the lines of Tobe Hooper's classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. That real feel is appropriate being we are told at the beginning the film is inspired by actual events and again reminded in greater detail about said events at the end, so you can't necessarily repeat this is just a movie to yourself. As a side note the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie trailer plays automatically once you put in the dvd and is also freaky and gets you ready for the film, but back to the accident. The mother crashes her car into a utility pole and gets out to open the hood while her daughter starts the car, we can't see the mom from where the daughter is and she suddenly stops responding. When the girl gets out to look she cannot find her mom so she calls mom over and over to the dark woods and finally a voice other than her mom's answers back from the woods.
The next scene we meet Clementine (Olivia Bonamy) a beautiful school teacher from France who is finishing up a long day and heading home to her lover Lucas. On her way to their secluded new home which they appear to be renovating she sees police and tow trucks tending to the car mentioned above which crashed not far from their house.
A conventional scene of Clementine and Lucas joking around and eating dinner shows an intimate side of the characters which invites us into their lives. Following dinner Lucas doses off on the couch only to be awakened by a stray dog barking who visits from time to time. Lucas goes outside to provide the dog with a snack and then heads to bed.
What follows is a home invasion that is done with some of the most effective scares I've seen in this area of horror. First, before Clementine heads to bed she receives a strange phone call, after which she is awakened by a car radio outside, their house is far from the road and secluded so this alarms her, all this is done ever so subtly and realisitc. She wakes up Lucas and they both go downstairs turning on each light as they go, like most would. When they look out their kitchen window they notice Clementine's car has been moved.
It is subtle real scares like this that are terrifying because we can put ourselves in those situations. The actors are great and in the making of documentary we learn that Olivia Bonamy who plays Clementine had a fear of heights (which she had to overcome in the film utilizing this fear for the part) and mentions this film is the only one that stuck with her after it was over, adding it's hard to sleep at night. There is also a scene of her crying but not for the film, from exhaustion and injuries she got while filming, and being in a constant state of tension. Also on the making of documentary there is no joking or laughing, everyone took this film seriously and it shows.
I give this the highest recommendation possible, this horror film is a must own. This is not in your face blood and guts, it's tapping into hardwired fears of the unknown and evil that exists that there are no answers for. I feel the film will get scarier on multiple viewings after knowing everyones fate.
DVD FEATURES
The Making of Them - About 25mins very informative. The actors come across very intelligent with an appreciation for what they've done. Everyone seemed to take making this film seriously.
Composer Rene-Marc Bini Featurette
The Torture of Clementine Featurette
Trailers
English Subtitles
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13 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best horror films in recent memory, December 13, 2007
Fantastic French horror/thriller, and the best horror film I've seen since "The Descent". Imagine "High Tension" with no blood and no dumb ending and you'll get "Them" (aka "Ils"), a super taught, tense as hell thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat for the whole film. And as a bonus it stars the beautiful Olivia Bonamy (from "Bloody Mallory"), which is never a bad thing.
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