Irréversible star Vincent Cassel delivers the most deranged performance of his career in this pitch-black comedy horror from French director/co-writer Kim Chapiron. Ultra-hip and insane, this largely handheld-shot film about townie clubbers caught up in an inbred, rural hell mixes the anarchic energy
of Dobermann with the insular oddity of Calvaire. A demented highlight of Frightfest 2006, it's so sharp and twisted that even the fussiest genre fan will be in stitches.
There's always something completely satisfying about watching unsympathetic upstarts coming unstuck, and the multicultural gang at the heart of this film are deliberately obnoxious tossers. All right off their tits after a night celebrating Christmas in a Parisian club, they can only see potential pussy, not neon-lit danger, when the appropriately named temptress Eve (À Ma Soeur! actress Roxane Mesquida) invites them back to her country home. Consequently, you'll be rooting for her maniacally grinning housekeeper Joseph (a scene-stealingly creepy Cassel) as he
sets in motion a satanic orgy of misery and extreme mayhem.
Newcomer Chapiron directs with gothic imagination and visual aplomb, subverting horror clichés and giving restraint and political correctness the finger. The acerbic dialogue is particularly hilarious, with Joseph's insults almost matching Borat for side-splitting vulgarity. Ultimately, it's more disturbing than scary, using sick surprises and Grand Guignol excess to enhance the slow-drip atmospherics. It's a killer combination, culminating in what's likely to remain the year's craziest finale.
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