PopHorror Let's Get Scared
If you’re into French cinema, this is a must to add to your collection!
“Are you going to get out alive?”
Maléfique, released in France in 2003, is an original French horror that leaves you in awe at the imaginative assemblage of fantasy, horror and mystery.
The story is set in a penitentiary where four prisoners share a cell. Each prisoner is incomparable, yet all share a common goal – the desire to escape their hellish confinement. Looking more into the characters, we have Marcus, the bodybuilding transvestite who inspires to become the opposite sex, and his protégée, Paquerette, who has a noetic disability and is imprisoned due to eating his six-month old sister. Then we have Carrère, the fraud, leading him to a failed marriage, and lastly, we have Lassale, who suffers from insanity and has murdered his wife.
Carrère finds a century old journal hidden in a hole of their cell wall, written by a guy named Danvers, who seemed to find the answer in escaping his hellish prison. Together, they use the book with its occult contents and instructions in the hopes of escaping the prison themselves.
What seems to be a simple discover, turns into their worst nightmares and a manifestation of their secret desires takes a horrific turn for the worst!
Maléfique was directed by Eric Valette, who is also known for One Missed Call (2008) The script was written by Alexandre Charlot, Franck Magnier and Francois Cognard. The film stars Gérald Laroche (Love Crime 2010), Philippe Laudenbach (Of Gods and Men 2010), Clovis Cornillac (A Very Long Engagement 2004) and Dimitri Rataud (Anthony Zimmer 2005).
French horror cinema has definitely revived over the last few years. Maléfique is said to be one of the best French horror films ever made, and we at PopHorror agree! The movie was shot on a low budget, but was bolstered by the originality of the film, the excellently written script and the award winning acting, which complimented Maléfique from start to end. The main focus of the film is the confinement of being in a prison cell and dabbling in the occult.
The occult or black magic in this film has actually been used in an interesting way and the film itself has a steady flow throughout. It has a great atmosphere and also gives off that claustrophobic feel, as it’s shot entirely in a prison cell. It also shows the desperation of the prisoners wanting to escape by creating that entrapped atmosphere, allowing us to understand the desperation of the prisoners wanting to use any methods possible to escape their confinement. Both the characters and the book itself have lives of their own, which makes this film even more horrific!
This film most definitely delivers and you won’t be disappointed! Maléfique is a truly amazing horror and one of the best of the decade. We highly recommend it.
The movie is in French but if you can get English subtitles for it, you won’t regret it. If you’ve seen it, let us know what you thought? If not… what are you waiting for?
