JohnDoe
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Ils (Them) (2006) - Trailer Included
Terror is Knocking on the Door, Let Them In!
Ils - DVD Available in Australia
Writer/Directors: David Moreau and Xavier Palud
Starring: Olivia Bonamy, Michael Cohen, Adriana Mocco, Camelia Maxim, Maria Roman
French Horror cinema is going through a revival. Look no further than the likes of 2007’s Inside and 2008’s Martyrs for evidence. Marking its territory as an omen of things to come, a small 2006 piece called Ils (Them) doesn’t quite make the upper echelon but is still a rattling and tumultuous night terror. Occupying the home invasion genre, the effective camera work and strategic sound design tantalize with the intense dégoût of domestic disturbance.
Wasting no time in establishing mood, as our Romanian epilogue begins a mother and her teen daughter are engaged in a battle of wills. Trying to establish territory theirs is a prototypical scenario. Walled in by forest as they drive down the road the argument intensifies. Suddenly mummy loses control of the vehicle and slams into a telegraph pole. Then mysterious goings on lead to abortion from the mortal coil and now the main story starts in neutral and slowly ratchets up tension.
Clementine (Olivia Bonamy) is a school teacher who has resorted to dictation in order to settle down her rambunctious class. After a hard day she drives home to her secluded cottage in the woods. Arriving at the chateau, her husband (Michael Cohen), a writer is busy avoiding doing that thing writers do and soon a little flirting leads to dinner, a movie and intimacy.
Breaking the silence, a phone rings and when answered only offers a peculiar clicking sound. Back to sleep. A noise of unknown origin soon has the couple up and out of bed at 3am. Realizing they are in danger with the discovery they are not alone…who is it that is terrorizing them.
The mystery of this cloaked menace threatening doom carries a dread sustained till the finale after more than a few bumps and bruises along the way.
Olivia Bonamy has a piercing stare.
John Doe says:
Ils (Them) is a minimalist exercise in restraint that understands intuitive manipulation of sound and vision to invoke a response. Careful lighting and refined cinematography provide the foundation of a lingering atmosphere that elevates tension.
This isn’t a thing’s-that-go-bump-in-the-n ight, let’s turn the volume up and make you jump thrill. It’s a slowly increase the jeopardy with subtle camera artistry and a did-you-hear-that soundscape that aims to have its audience crawling up the walls.
Writer/Directors David Moreau and Xavier Palud (The Eye) handle the simplistic premise with focused honesty to human behavior. Molding the brief 77 minutes running time towards a gut punch conclusion that delivers creepiness and punctuates the film’s opening claim of based on a true story.
The economical screenplay still takes it’s time to establish character and have us invested in the couples fight for survival. A sparse predator versus prey plot, light on exposition is heavy on creating realistic immediacy. The ambiguities of who or what “they” are breeding a curiosity that frazzles emotions. Are they even human? Does that recurring clicking sound mean the hoodie wearing tormentors are insects modeled after those in Guillermo Del Toro’s Mimic, or are they perhaps something more supernaturally sinister?
Olivia Bonamy maintains in the face of death.
Michael Cohen (Little Jerusalem, Kandisha) as Lucas ensures his part is not the stereotypical heroic spouse by inferring a less than ideal personality.
For John Doe, despite all the exceptional components present in the end Ils (Them) is a satisfying but not exceptional horror excursion. Note, the films flaws are also its strength. The too refrained for its own good style refuses to let loose and the revelation of the attackers, though grounded raises a lot of pedantic questions. The lack of deeper meaning also frustrated purely because of the hints of complex resolution. Subjective grievances aside, Ils (Them) is certainly worth the price of rental. The scares may be seen as creeps but it will shackle you into the nightmare for the duration of its screen time.
Interestingly the film has been endlessly compared with the U.S. release called The Strangers, but JD hasn't seen it to comment.
The U.S. trailer complete with a cliched voice over that mistakenly gives the impression of by the numbers horror.
The French language trailer is a far better taster...no subtitles needed.
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