Category: French Cinema
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Devil Story (1986)
What drew me to Devil Story (1986) was the poster art: a bald Gollum-like mutant wearing a SS uniform and toting a shotgun. As a low budget French horror flick, its first scenes grab you with a lone camping tent in an open forest field rustling with something happening inside. Then out pops the monster… Read.
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Eyes Without A Face (1960)
I thought about transition scenes in movies and the greater power that some can have over others. In Eyes Without A Face (1960), a French horror movie about a plastic surgeon (Pierre Brasseur) who kidnaps women to provide a new face for his disfigured daughter (Edith Scob). There is a transitional scene where we see… Read.
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Fascination (1979)
There’s something prototypical about a Jean Rollin film, in that it can be classified as what people would think of when it comes to ‘Euro-horror’ (nude women, vampires, castles). And yet, there’s something distinct, which probably helps when you’ve seen a few other 1970s exploitation movies. That there’s something slow and atmospheric, which feels very… Read.
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The Intruder (2004)
As a filmmaker, Claire Denis offers elliptical narrative experiences, introducing us to a few characters, observing their faces and their movements, and only gradually revealing the connections and histories between them. The Intruder (2004) is even more elliptical than her other films, complicating our understanding with the inclusion of dreams and recurring figures who may be more… Read.
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The Grapes Of Death (1978)
When choosing something to watch, there’s often a scene early on that clinches for me whether I’ve made the right choice or not. For The Grapes Of Death (1978), directed by French exploitation filmmaker Jean Rollin, when the protagonist Elizabeth (Marie-Georges Pascal) is running for her life through the French countryside, completely alone within the… Read.
