Viva La Straight Razor! – New Wave French Horror

Posted on Jun 8, 2010

Viva La Straight Razor!

Mondo Film & Video Guide slices and dices you French style with Amish Zombie’s essay on the French New Wave Of Horror…

Written By: Amish Zombie
Mondo Film & Video Guide Contributor

It goes without saying American horror has been severely hit or miss the past few years with the majority of offerings being unnecessary Saw sequels or big blockbuster remakes of classics that often times leave us asking “why the fuck did that need a remake”.  With these movies not even coming close to satisfying the palate of hardcore fans and enthusiasts I tend to hear “they just don’t make  them like they used to anymore”, and those fans couldn’t be more wrong. In retaliation I say, yes they do look to France. This new wave of French horror that’s been knocking the socks off of horror fanatics is nothing short of amazing. It’s brilliantly brutal, bloodsoaked and gore-filled and nearly bursts at the seems with artistic merit and originality. I want to take a closer look at some of the more popular French films such as Martyrs, Inside, High Tension, Irreversible, Frontiere(s) and House of voices.

After my first venture into the French horror being High tension I was very eager to see more. High Tension was a saving grace for a much ailing time in horror. It was beyond violent, had two very hot ladies, and had excellent use of lighting and colors I can rarely remember seeing a movie of it’s caliber being so pretty to look at while at the same time so brutally violent. The ending with it’s twist still leaves a mildly sour taste in my mouth, a sour taste the likes of nearly feeling the need to vomit but restraining it back and taking control.

I didn’t like the twist ending! In my opinion after you know the ending and re-watch the film it creates massive plot holes and why oh why do we always need a “twist” ending?  What’s wrong with the lesbian fighting for her lover who’s in the clutches of a madman? Why must the madman also be the lesbian lover?  WHY?!?!!? I still come back to this movie every few months to bathe in it’s sheer over the top violence and beautiful scenery even though like clockwork I get pissed at the ending every time.  Which brings me to Gasper Noe’ not beautiful in the least more of a sucker punch to the temple.

Gasper’s movies are sick, vile, and made me feel dirty after viewing them I was in much need of a shower and a shovel to scrape my jaw up off the floor.  Gasper has a way of shocking his fans and audiences like I’ve rarely seen before. Two of the nastiest scenes I’ve ever had the displeasure of seeing just happen to be in Noe’s movies. Granted they are not gross out nastiness as in August Underground movies but the subject matter and the inability to escape it wears on my nerves and stomach every time. I’m not going to say what these scenes are because upon description there’s a good chance you’ll never want to see the movies and quite frankly the movies are amazing pieces of artistic trashy cinema and the aforementioned scenes shouldn’t detour you from experiencing them in all there unabashed glory.

For those of you who have already seen I stand alone and Irreversible you know damn well what two scenes I’m talking about, at least I hope you do. I hope you have not seen these movies and lightly brushed past these little bundles of atrocity. Curiosity peaked? As well it should be!  Netflix them and drop me a line on your thoughts. Speaking of which the next set of films are the crème de le crème of the article and the inspiration of this article and my undying admiration for French cinema. Martyrs, Inside, and House of Voices with a special nod to Frontiere(s)  absolutely amazing in their own rights, and here’s why:

First off Frontiere(s) This movie came to us in the second  After Dark Horror-fest, 8 Films To Die For. The film moves a bit slow in the beginning playing out like a Texas Chainsaw Massacre-ish movie.  But when it kicks in it grabs you by hair and doesn’t let go. Until tuff’s of your hair fall to the ground during the end credits. It’s bloody, it’s violent, the story has a nice twist, and goddamn I never expected something like this from Afterdark. Another really fantastic surprise was the uber violent and uniquely beautiful, Inside and Martyrs .   In my opinion the two heavyweights in this French horror new wave are without question Inside and Martyrs. Anyone who knows me personally has more than likely grown tired of me ranting and raving about these movies relentlessly. Both of these films after initially watching them got a response from me that’s harder to come across than virus free good porn.

The response was silence..absolute shocked in awe silence both movies got the “what in the blue hell did I just watch?!” mentality from me in an awesome way.  These movies are both violent, unique, artfully crafted and brutally brilliant! I cannot say enough good things about either of these films. Inside, for those who haven’t seen it tells the morbid story of a woman who wants a child and wants it by any means necessary.  Pushing a pregnant distraught woman to the very brink of sanity until she fights back and holy hell does she fight back.

Martyrs on the other hand tells a story that evolves and turns on itself its like watching two movies in one with itstarting off as a revenge fueled firefight and straight razor bloodbath. Formost viewers that plate full is more than enough but oh no! The second half of Martyrs explores the very fabric of humanity and what happens when a soul ispushed to every limit possible without any solstice, yet it ends on a strangelypositive vibe a vibe that many people including myself couldn’t stop thinkingabout and questioning. Both of these films sport incredible cinematography andmake brutality in it’s purest form and rage in it’s most feral form beautiful.Not since some of the masterpieces of the Italian giallo’s have I seen violencelook so pretty. Maybe there-in lies some of my admiration for these movies sincethey vaguely remind me of classic Argento or Bava except way more violent.

In a turn of event’s I came across one of the director of Martyr’s (Pascal Laugier) other films a stylish ghost story called House of Voices or Saint Ange.  This movie really shows the directors depth because it’s absolutely nothing like Martyrs. Instead of thought provoking torture it gives us incredible atmosphere and a creepy haunting. The story follows a girl who stays at an orphanage with asketchy past, a past which  the girl uncovers and gives the audience some incredibly creepy and beautifully shot scenes. Watch this film with open eyes and without comparing it to Martyrs and you will be pleasantly surprised.   To sum things up my love for these movies  is steadfast and undying and I jumped at the chance to put my thoughts down in binary for the vast minions of horror. It’s been way too long since I’ve seen movies that were so great at hitting every exposed raw nerve while making it so pleasurable.

Don’t you dare call these movies torture porn, that seems to be a term thrown around for similar movies that fail in comparison like the incredibly disappointing saw series or the works of the one trick pony Eli Roth, I fucking hate that dude and his “movies”. Granted Hostel and Martyrs may share some rather graphic torture scenes with the difference being Martyrs violence is justified and a pivotal point in the film and Hostel is just torture for the sake of being torture with no vindication or reason other than for Eli Roth to show it to his buddies and say “look I beat this girl up on camera, isn’t it cool?!  Spare yourself the banality of the Saw series and Eli Roth. Check out the French Tour de Force of Horror I implore you!

Amish Zombie is the Co-Founder of the Don’t Bite My Arm Vlog.  He’s also a contributor here at the Mondo Film & Video Guide. You can email him directly at @amishzombie@mondo-video.com