Them Review
by dnb@dca.net (dnb AT dca DOT net)September 3rd, 2007
THEM
A film review by David N. Butterworth
Copyright 2007 David N. Butterworth
*** (out of ****)
As long as there are attractive, scantily dressed actresses willing to stumble through the undergrowth in an attempt to outrun an unprovoked malevolence bent on dismembering them so too will there be filmmakers willing to employ them doing precisely that.
French films arenâeTMt exactly the first genre entries to spring to mind but the latest horror flick to present such a tried-and-true scenario happens to hail from those distant Gallic shores--"the film that terrified Europe has come to America!" screams its immodest publicity machine. The film is "Them" ("Ils"), co-directed by David Moreau and Xavier Palud, and itâeTMs a pretty intense and, yes, scary proposition while the malevolence remains (as it does for much of the film) unknown.
The latest film to be based on real events is actually set in Romania, where a schoolteacher, ClÃ(c)mentine (Olivia Bonamy, soon to become the pretty, loosely attired heroine on the run), and her novelist husband Lucas (MichaÃ<<l Cohen) live in a big old creepy mansion on the outskirts of Bucharest. The house is clearly too big for the two of them--their furnishings are sparse and it seems to take an eternity to get from room to room--but it offers them privacy and seclusion away from the bustle of the big city.
Until one night, when ClÃ(c)mentine is first disturbed by a crank phone call, then hears strange noises outside and then, much to her chagrin, hears even stranger noises *inside*.
We know something evil is afoot from the filmâeTMs prologue, in which a mother and daughter driving home in worsening weather are neatly--and nastily--dispatched by a unseen terror. Apparently ClÃ(c)m and Lucas are next on the killerâeTMs agenda.
The strength of the film emerges, ala "Blair Witch,: through what it *doesnâeTMt* show us. Shot mostly at night, in murky moonlight that casts a myriad of dense shadows, "Them" is all about atmosphere: stairs creaking, doors creaking, lights and other electrical devices--TVs, radios--flicking on and off, dogs howling, wind whistling. On top of all this the filmmakers have concocted a creepy cacophony of unnatural sounds--metal on metal, death rattles, and deep thrums--that ratchet up the intensity. ItâeTMs super eerie; reminiscent of latter-day Larry Fessenden ("Wendigo," and the upcoming "The Last Winter").
Less assured is the way in which Moreau and Palud drag things out in perpetuity. After creepy, creaky goings-on in the house, attic, and woods, the action continues in a series of underground caverns not dissimilar to catacombs, into which a badly wounded Lucas descends in pursuit of his hounded, traumatized wife. "Them" runs on and on, without any obvious stopping point, until the end credits explanation of the eventual fates of our unfortunate protagonists. Less than 80 minutes have passed by this time but the whole claustrophobic experience feels considerably longer than that.
Still, itâeTMs refreshing to see the French finally producing a worthy entry in the horror genre after some disturbing duds ("Haute Tension," "IrrÃ(c)versible," and "LâeTMHumanitÃ(c)").
--
David N. Butterworth
dnb@dca.net
Got beef? Visit "La Movie Boeuf"
online at http://members.dca.net/dnb
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
