Them (2006)

Acting:		Partying:		Girls:
Blood:		Language:		Gore:
Violence:		Humor:		Sexuality:
Torture:		Predictability:		Overall:

I love it when there is a large debate behind a film as to whether or not it's at all scary for its target audience, the fright-fest fanatics. I remember when I first threw in my copy of Juon and thought it was the scariest piece of J-Horror that was ever made; although, my friends were quick to disagree. A lot of the time, what some may declare as scary, others will pass off as silly and pretentious. In order to watch these types of films, and to get their full effect, I like to turn all the lights off and crank the sound. It's the only way to watch Juon and many Takashi Miike films, as well as this gem from France, Them!

In 2006, Them was the film that was responsible for terrifying all of Europe. It is also worth mentioning that the film is a great addition to the new wave of French horror that has been surfacing for the past half decade, or so. With that aside, when the film received an American DVD release, I was pretty quick to jump on it and decide for myself as to whether or not it was worthy of the hype it received overseas. As a result, the film is best viewed if you know nothing, not a thing, about the plot before your first viewing. I did know a little...eh. But it still scared the crap about of me!

Them has two characters, some dude and some girl. They are a loving couple; he is a writer and she is a school teacher. They live in a big house, a REALLY big house, and one fine evening, they are violently attacked by a gang of intruders that are hell-bent on breaking into the vicinity, toying with their lives, and then, at some point in the night, probably killing them both for no real apparent reason. So yes, it is a cat and mouse game, and it is pretty straight forward at that, but David Moreau and Xavier Palud, the films directors, have a unique way of capturing this game. The film is shown primarily from an over the shoulder perspective as well as a first person perspective. It helps create amazing suspense that only seems to grow ...

continue reading...