LIVID

Director: Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury

Screenplay: Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury
Starring: Chloe Coullord, Felix Moati
Experience the fallout

Like a lot of fans of Gallic Horror, I was very impressed by “Inside”  by the French directors Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury. Tough and uncompromising, it was the gruelling story of a pregnant woman, alone and being stalked by a lunatic stranger, played by the great Beatrice Dalle. It made waves at various film festivals and got good word-of-mouth and positive reviews. Livide (or Livid) is their follow-up film, and garnered a lot of attention at various film festivals. It is available on UK DVD and Blu-Ray on Monday 13th August.

It’s Halloween in a desolate French coastal town (think Weston Super-Mare in November). We know there’s something not quite right with the place as there’s a plethora of “missing” posters, and a crab-eaten severed head on the beach, looking like leftovers from “Jaws”. Lucie(Chloe Coulloud) has just started training as a care-worker in old-age homes and local residences. The jaded nurse Wilson (Catherine Jacob) is showing her the ropes … and bed-pans. An encounter with one patient, added with a bit of gossip from Wilson, entices Lucie into a situation which will have dire consequences for her and her friends …



To add any more details would spoil any surprises and expectations, although the DVD box and press quotes does that anyway (*face-palm*). Suffice to say that instead of the outright slasher-horror of “Inside”,  “Livide” is a more supernatural/fantasy based affair. It is also something of a mixed bag, with moments of brilliance, but with some jarring moments and an uneven tone.



It is well over half-way into the film, before any hint of the supernatural creeps into the narrative. Once this happens and the plot clips into full-speed there is some genuine disturbing imagery (Automatons with animal heads, a ballerina with a face liked cracked marble and sewn-shut eyelids). As we near the climax of the movie, you realise that to appreciate it fully, you have to let go of any realism and treat it as an out-and-out “fairy-tale”, even if the main plot revolves around a well-covered horror genre. There are moments of gore, but more than anything else, the film felt very similar in tone and content to Guillermo Del Toro’s “Cronos” (Bugs, Clockwork devices).



Coulloud is striking in the lead, and looks uncannily like a young Beatrice Dalle (who incidentally turns up for literally 5 seconds as Lucie’s deceased mother). Most impressive is Marie-Claude Pietragalla who oozes menace in several different guises.



There is an impressive lack of CGI, and most effects seem to be physical. Cinematography is crisp with some eerie tracking shots. Bustillo and Maury obviously know their horror onions. The local pub is called “L’Agneau Abattu” (The Slaughtered Lamb, werewolf fans!), and one of the characters is confronted by kids in Halloween costumes and sings the Silver Shamrock ditty from “Halloween III”!



Worthy of mention are the superb subtitles, which some genius has over over-anglicised. Examples include; “Stop your shenanigans”,  “I hate my bloomin’ job”, and “Blimey!”



Overall though, I must admit I was somewhat disappointed. Maybe I was expecting another horror roller-coaster ride after “Inside”, whereas this is a slow methodical fable with moments of blood and gothic atmosphere. Also, I felt that some of the plot points just disappeared or weren’t explained within the context of the narrative (Just what was the deal with the young girls and the door less room?). I suppose if you accept that this is a fairy-tale then maybe everything doesn’t have to be explained. I think your enjoyment of the film will depend on your reaction to the very last scene …



Not a total disaster, but don’t purchase expecting a repeat of “Inside”, or a horror film like “Switchblade Romance”. If you liked “Cronos”  or just a stylised version of an over-used horror convention, then you will probably enjoy it more than I did.