did anyone else go see Ils (Them) the French film set in Romania

 

Writen and Directed by David Moreau and Xavier Palud and starring Olivia Bonamy and Michael Cohen, this might have been overlooked as it's French and therefore people might have thinkd that it was an chinstroking Left Bank masterpiece of pretension or that it looked like a dodgy British hoodie ripoff of Dead Man's Shoes from the trailer (trailer i didnt think was that promising, even with nods to dario argento. like apocolypto the language was not noted).

 

a film that, even if you know where some of the shocks are coming, redeams itself with the last few shots and makes you think yeah good film.

 

and also for a film set in Romania in 2002 i didnt notice any of these post 2004 Dacia models on the streets adding to the realism

 

http://index.hu/cikkepek/totalcar/magazin/hirek/renault/dacia/.gdata/gp_logan.jpg

 

 

 

I liked this, seriously stripped-down-to-the-bare-bones Terror.... It didn't try to do anything clever, it just wanted to scare the living daylights out of you..... And the fact that it wasn't long either (barely 75 minutes) gives proceedings a serious sense of urgency... I think this is a film we could rank alongside the very best of Horrors - "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "Last House on the Left", "Hills Have Eyes", etc.... And I just loved the way it was shot, long takes, ambient lighting, documentary-style, and I'm pretty sure it was on Digital Video as well...

 

8/10 from me

There was an English version of this wasn't there?

 

I vaguely remember a scene where a woman is in the swimming pool... :unsure:

There was an English version of this wasn't there?

 

I vaguely remember a scene where a woman is in the swimming pool... :unsure:

 

Nope, different film I think Kelz.... No swimming pools in Them/Ils....

 

There was an English version of this wasn't there?

 

I vaguely remember a scene where a woman is in the swimming pool... :unsure:

 

I think you're thinking of the 2002 Wes Craven flop "They" :lol:

I think you're thinking of the 2002 Wes Craven flop "They" :lol:

 

Ah yes, that'll be the film.. Pretty c**p that was.....

I saw Ils the other day and I think it was a pretty good flick, just like another horror film from France,

Haute Tension. It wasn't too long, it did have enought scares and overall it was well-done. Which film do you all prefer, Ils or Haute Tension?

Oh yes, that's what it was. :blush:

Bought this the other day..

 

Basically about a group of unknown hooded psychos trying to get to a French couple in the middle of nowhere..

 

There's just something chilling about the whole thing.

 

Anyone seen?

I saw Ils the other day and I think it was a pretty good flick, just like another horror film from France,

Haute Tension. It wasn't too long, it did have enought scares and overall it was well-done. Which film do you all prefer, Ils or Haute Tension?

 

"Haute Tension" probably leaves the biggest impact because of the deeply psychological themes it puts across, and the fact that the "twist" is a genuinely frightening, suprising and disturbing one..... This is not to say that "Ils" is not a very good film also though, it doesn't try to do anything particularly big or clever (well, apart from the social commentary, which does elevate it way above most of the tripe coming out of America at the moment), but what it does do is build up tension, paranoia and latent feelings of claustrophobia to a pretty incredible degree....

 

So, it seems like even when the French do "simple" Horror fare, it still manages to be a lot deeper than most Hollywood product, while at the same time doing exactly what a Horror film should do....

 

You should add another to that list - "Calvare", a seriously fukked-up Belgian film which comes across like David Lynch meets "Deliverance".. On acid......

Yep, there's some *really* creepy scenes in this.

 

Watched it again last night and I still jump at some of the scenes where the hooded kids just pop up.

I bought this film recently. It got good reviews so looking forward to seeing it.

Nevermind, someone's already written what it's about hah

Edited July 21, 200717 yr by Chemical_Halo

I watched this film earlier in the week. Not a bad film. It starts off good but then goes a bit slow before it gets going again. The film is only 74 minutes long. I would give it 7/10.

did anyone else go see Ils (Them) the French film set in Romania

 

Writen and Directed by David Moreau and Xavier Palud and starring Olivia Bonamy and Michael Cohen, this might have been overlooked as it's French and therefore people might have thinkd that it was an chinstroking Left Bank masterpiece of pretension or that it looked like a dodgy British hoodie ripoff of Dead Man's Shoes from the trailer (trailer i didnt think was that promising, even with nods to dario argento. like apocolypto the language was not noted).

 

a film that, even if you know where some of the shocks are coming, redeams itself with the last few shots and makes you think yeah good film.

 

and also for a film set in Romania in 2002 i didnt notice any of these post 2004 Dacia models on the streets adding to the realism

 

http://index.hu/cikkepek/totalcar/magazin/hirek/renault/dacia/.gdata/gp_logan.jpg

 

Sorry - when I saw Them - I thought of this classic. And it is a classic.

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047573/

 

Kathy

 

Sorry - when I saw Them - I thought of this classic. And it is a classic.

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047573/

 

Kathy

 

I agree Kath.. Of all the 50s Monster B-Movies, "Them" is deffo one of the greatest...

I agree Kath.. Of all the 50s Monster B-Movies, "Them" is deffo one of the greatest...

 

I still like this film. I'm a big fan of Night of the Demon and The Haunting too.

 

Kath

The Haunting too.

 

Kath

 

I sincerely hope you're referring to Robert Wise's brilliant original 60s film adapted from Shirley Conran's excellent gothic novel, and not the absolutely AWFUL remake they did with totally unnecessary CGI ghosts and stuff.... :lol: God, I hated that... Talk about totally missing the point, you weren't actually meant to see any "ghosts" as such, it was meant to be all unseen, psychological, etc.....

 

"Night of the Demon" was a bloody good film as well, really atmospheric and eerie, have you ever seen "Dead of Night", a really fantastic British horror film from the late 40s...? You'd probably like the films of Dario Argento or Mario Bava as well actually, "Suspiria" and "Black Sunday" (aka "Mask of Satan") are really good...

I sincerely hope you're referring to Robert Wise's brilliant original 60s film adapted from Shirley Conran's excellent gothic novel, and not the absolutely AWFUL remake they did with totally unnecessary CGI ghosts and stuff.... :lol: God, I hated that... Talk about totally missing the point, you weren't actually meant to see any "ghosts" as such, it was meant to be all unseen, psychological, etc.....

 

"Night of the Demon" was a bloody good film as well, really atmospheric and eerie, have you ever seen "Dead of Night", a really fantastic British horror film from the late 40s...? You'd probably like the films of Dario Argento or Mario Bava as well actually, "Suspiria" and "Black Sunday" (aka "Mask of Satan") are really good...

 

Of course I meant the Robert Wise one! I still can't believe the same guy who made fantastic musicals like Sound of Music and West Side Story could make such a brilliant horror film (I suppose he was one of those things thats missing from the film industry today - a genius!)

 

I loved Tournier's Night of the Demon - I think it was the Julian Carswell character that I liked the best. Can't get over Mr Barraclough from Porridge - "Its in the trees .... its coming". Brilliant film.

 

I have actually seen Suspiria and I do believe I liked it but I can't recall Black Sunday ... I'll go to IMDb and do a search to see if it refreshes my memory!

 

Oh and yes - Dead of Night is a classic - especially the Michael Redgrave episode.

 

 

Kathy

Edited August 4, 200717 yr by kathyp