movie coverI'd rather be watching TV![IMDB link] [Netflix link]

PEOPLE: Directed and co-written by Alexandre Aja (Pirahna 3-D, Mirrors, The Hills Have Eyes 2006). Starring Cecile De France and Maiwenn Le Besco (The Fifth Element) as girlfriends, and Philippe Nahon (who’s been in over 100 french movies) as the killer.

PLOT SUMMARY: A serial killer attacks a rural farmhouse.

UNCOMFORTABLE PLOT SUMMARY (inspired by this): [highlight for spoilers]ā†’ Lesbian kills family.

QUIRKS: Based on Intensity, a book by Dean Koontz. This book was also made into a TV movie of the same name in 1997, starring John C. McGinley and Molly Parker. It seems that most people *who comment on the the 1997 TV movie thread* prefer that version.

VISUALS: Definitely some brutal gore scenes! Not a lot, though. But there’s a scene (that is an homage to Blue Velvet) that is pretty graphically muderous.

SOUNDTRACK: Unremarkable. Maybe a bit on the bad side, but I’m a music snob.

MORALS: [highlight for spoilers]ā†’ Make sure you really know your friends.

GOOD STUFF: What a twist!

BAD STUFF: Other than the major twist, I found it almost a little too straightforward. There’s hardly any explanation for anything. Then again, maybe that makes perfect sense given the “big picture”. Hmmm.

A lot of people thought it made no sense and were all confused. MORBO LAUGH AT PUNY MORTALS. Seriously — people saying the director “cheated”, or that things were a “cop out” are just dead wrong and closeminded. If you don’t spoon feed them ever aspect of the story, they actually get angry. Now, I get kinda mad when things are confusing, and it might make me not like a movie, but these people are confused WAY too easily. This isn’t fucking David Lynch. Here’s an excellent explanation/critique (spoilers, obviously) that I agree with.

CONCLUSION: A 4-star movie, with a 5-star twist. Which makes me unsure of how to exactly rate it.

RATINGS:

Clint: Netflix: 4.4/5 stars (a high 4). IMDB: 8/10. I didn’t quite “love it”, which is the criteria for 5 stars. I might like this more if I see it again, though. I may come back from the future and change this rating someday.

Carolyn: Netflix: 4.6/5 stars (a low 5). IMDB: 8.6/10. That is, a low 5/9.

The native public rating for this movie is: IMDB: 6.8/10, Netflix: 3.3/5 stars (Netflix‘s predicted rating for us was 3.4/5 stars).

RECOMMENDATION: See it for the tension and merciless murder… Stay for the twist.

SIMILAR MOVIES: It would be spoilery to say.

MOVIE QUOTE: [repeated over and over] “I won’t let anyone come between us any more.”

FRIENDS’ RATINGS: Radha loves it.

Mood: slackful
Music: Triptykon – The Prolonging