Man, had I seen this as a boy, the same age as the boys in this movie, this would've simultaneously scarred me for life and would've been the number one gateway to horror I'd never forget.
Boy, the French know horror...but not how to end a film. Granted, I only recall seeing their High Tension and now: Among the Living and both had great cinematography, graphic, original scares and brutality and a WTF ending. Not to spoil either film's ending, but to be positive, this one was far less disappointing, yet still made my head spin.
The basic gist: after an incredible start with a wide open range, 3 terrible kids witness a ruthless kidnapping and spend about two seconds both reporting and being rejected by the police. Following, they spend even less time acting like it was a big deal. Well, until they're hunted by one of the savage fiends.
The movie had great promise, looked beautiful and was wildly original and all at the same time had huge plot holes, subplots that literally went nowhere and a, again, "really?" finale. Not to mention there weren't many characters to root for with the exception of one innocent family.
For the good portion, this is a recommended film and I was thoroughly pleased with seeing a fresh take horror film. And still, I wouldn't denounce it completely for the third act as it's still "eh." So, it's a very soft approval.
***
Final thoughts: As stated, High Tension had the worst and most unbelievable of the two climaxes, but I would recommend that film more as what led up to that twist reminded me more of why I love horror.
Boy, the French know horror...but not how to end a film. Granted, I only recall seeing their High Tension and now: Among the Living and both had great cinematography, graphic, original scares and brutality and a WTF ending. Not to spoil either film's ending, but to be positive, this one was far less disappointing, yet still made my head spin.
The basic gist: after an incredible start with a wide open range, 3 terrible kids witness a ruthless kidnapping and spend about two seconds both reporting and being rejected by the police. Following, they spend even less time acting like it was a big deal. Well, until they're hunted by one of the savage fiends.
The movie had great promise, looked beautiful and was wildly original and all at the same time had huge plot holes, subplots that literally went nowhere and a, again, "really?" finale. Not to mention there weren't many characters to root for with the exception of one innocent family.
For the good portion, this is a recommended film and I was thoroughly pleased with seeing a fresh take horror film. And still, I wouldn't denounce it completely for the third act as it's still "eh." So, it's a very soft approval.
***
Final thoughts: As stated, High Tension had the worst and most unbelievable of the two climaxes, but I would recommend that film more as what led up to that twist reminded me more of why I love horror.