Good concept, poorly executed.

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Three French school kids bunk off, burn down a barn then stumble across something horrific that will cost them and their loved ones dearly. I think the French are quite possibly at the forefront with horror cinema at the moment, this is a movie that I could imagine Rob Zombie wanting to make but it simply wouldn't be at this level. Here we have an interesting, though simple plot. There's gore, some pretty strong, but the film's strength for me was it's tension, reminded me of say John Carpenter's "Halloween". Very well filmed. I picked this up for a mere £1 from my local Poundland shop, what a fantastic bargain it turned out to be. I really don't understand the current 5.4/10 score. Perhaps many people don't like having to read subtitles!?

I mostly enjoyed this. The film taken as a whole seems pretty slight, not just in terms of plot (which is standard for the directors) but also in effect. The film is creepy and nasty. There's a horrifying "monster" in this played with great physicality by Fabien Jegoudez. There are scenes of absolute intensity, with beautiful haunting mise en scene. Yet the whole thing feels a bit undercooked. What starts as a dark side of the Spielbergian kids on a mission story turns into a home invasion thriller and then into something else. It's not enough of any but it's fun watching it try. There seems to be a sociological context to it all that was a bit lost on me. Maybe it's a French thing - this worry about toxic gases from the military affecting the children. But should we fear them or pity them? No matter.

It's hard to talk about expectations when I knew as little as possible about this long pending Bustillo/Maury project. Alas, I ended up disappointed just the same.First of all, after the previous films that helped them make a name for themselves and get recognition from the fans, it was natural to expect next level from experienced directors which was not to be the case here.Film opens up with the grim picture of dysfunctional,'white trash' family during Halloween in a recognizable, gory manner, in which directors basically homage themselves. A little psychosis, and bucket of blood for good measure. Strangely, as film proceeds, along with weird pace and questionable reasoning, much of the killing occurs completely off screen whilst in other instances villain lingers and enjoys inflicting pain to his victims. So, I'd say the motivation for this gory - but - not - in the right - places treatment boggles the mind. We all know how this duo of directors love their gore and do not shy away from it...so...what the heck?Soon enough though, film takes new turn so instead of 'inbred, disfigured backwoods monster family' we get an homage to classic slashers with all the familiar tropes. Okay, Bustillo/Maury more or less abandoned the idea of following their own aesthetics and went for Halloween homage instead. So, this is where real problems started.As per usual for most slashers protagonists are bound to act irrationally and as dumb as possible. These people took the cake. Soon, everything goes down the drain, half-established backstory of the killer (which, by the way, is one of stronger points, given his medical condition), the motive for killing, the choice of victims, the timeline becomes iffy, important kills completely overlooked, stupid and careless law enforcement officers acting totally useless once they'd showed up. No comedic relief, and the said police could have easily been turned into one, the effect could have been better cause otherwise I'm not sure what was their purpose in this film.To say something about the scare factor; admittedly the film had some tense moments and practical fx was rather admirable. That's not the problem, we all know these guys can direct. But what happened to the script and who turned this story into a convoluted mess is another thing completely. Shame, because it could have been so much more, had the vision and script been clearer and same goes for intentions regarding the course of the story. If you need gore, nice fx and masks to get you going, this film is not half bad, but if you also happen to need a logical, sensible narration, well, you might have to look elsewhere for your 'fix'.

I saw this film at the Imagine (sf/horror/fantasy) filmfestival Amsterdam 2014. It was programmed as a "surprise" film, so I had no means to outguess what was in stock for us. But even given an opportunity to prepare, there was not much material to support any opinion, be it good or bad or ugly. There was only one user review on IMDb, which was overly positive. Having seen it beforehand, it only would have amplified my disappointment, given what I know now.For starters, it was based on a not very well constructed script, that took off very slowly. And what's worse for a movie advertised as "horror", it never became creepy in any way. Also, the final scenes contained undirected and confused violence, leaving us confused who was targeting who. Finally it left unneeded open ends: WTF was wrong with Klarence, who remained invisible in the prologue, but was apparently someone of importance to the father figure. (*** SPOILER AHEAD ***) When we eventually get to see him in display as a large, naked, bald human, only 6 years old (as we are told in the final scene), I'm completely lost on what it is all about and what caused this misfortune situation.Three boys are prominently present in the story, and perform very naturally. However, Klarence had the assignment (not so easy when really 6 years old) to kill the three boys. Obviously, he missed his assigned target for the greater part, because we see (*** SPOILER AHEAD ***) one of the boys still alive in the end. In a misguided attempt to compensate, he killed other members of their respective families in the process.This film ranked lowest for the audience award. There is justice after all, and I'm not alone in my negative feelings after the fact.