L'Instinct Satanique

I get it. You want an American audience to see a great foreign film without bad dubbing or having to read subtitles. Sure, let's aim for that lowest common denominator. And they do! They aim right for the mouth breathers among us and hit a bullseye by taking out everything risky, terrifying, grisly, and intense about the original film, turning it into something that would play on Lifetime on a Sunday afternoon.

The makers of this movie try to take out everything edgy or visceral about it to make the film as palatable to a mainstream audience as possible, but this big twist is - this went straight to VOD and bypassed theaters altogether. It was released straight to horror fans who have mostly been appalled by how tame and neutered it feels in comparison to the original. You have to wonder who these people are making these remakes for.

Laura Herring and Rachel Nichols are good actresses. How did they end up in this mess? Was the script they read better?

Now anyone who has seen the French original, will tell you: if you only watch one movie, do watch the original and leave this be ... and I will second/agree to that! While I think it is going too far calling this a "lifetime movie remake" or a movie for kids or whatever - it is toned down quite a bit from the mayhem that was the original.

Having said that, you have quite a bit of blood and violence in this one. That doesn't mean it ever reaches the madness of the other movie as many will attest to. And then there is the ending ... on one hand it is interesting that this is not the same as the original ... but to be honest, you can tell throughout the movie, that it won't go the same route the original did ... I think I made it clear, but let me just emphasize once again: Please watch the French version of this! Unless you are squeamish and easily offended ...

This movie is not great. It's fine, because the premise was good to begin with, and the actors are reasonable. There are big logic holes, but to say this isn't a flaw of the original is not accurate. It had just as many inconsistencies. To say the police act stupidly in this version is a reasonable critique, but they also did in the original in different ways. The original is definitely gorier and more bleak, and probably better overall, but to say one was a 10 and the other is a 1 is a bit ridiculous. It's a passable time-waster, and for those not enamoured with gore, this would be the better choice of the two.

I didn't want to compare this film to the French version; it's not fair, as the original film is a horror masterpiece and one of the most difficult to watch movies of all time. This remake, however, is so horribly done, so pointless, that it does not deserve any leniency. This movie should be butchered for how offensive it is to the original. the movie is so bad, in fact, that I will break down the way it fails using a list. It's all it deserves.

1. The original film is a classic due to its no holds barred violence. This film is the Lifetime Television version. It is made to appease sensitive people who can't stomach anything to serious. It is insulting to the original audience.

2. The acting is atrocious. Everyone from the lead actress to the woman who wanted her baby delivered their lines as if it was their first movie. Actually, every single female in this movie was untalented. It made the movie a cringe fest every time one of them spoke. Just awful.

3. The movie is neutered in the ways only Hollywood knows how to neuter a movie. I understand that most people refuse to watch subtitled films because it makes them feel somewhat stupid to not be able to properly keep up with the text on the screen, but it is no excuse to butcher an otherwise amazing cinematic experience to appease a group of people who can't appreciate world cinema.

4. Why is it that every Hollywood movie has to have a "happy ending"? The French film is famous for having one of the most messed up endings of all time, and this movie chose to end like that? It's like everyone involved actively worked to make the movie as simple and tame as possible. This is the movie equivalent of a cheese sandwich. Simple, bland and lifeless.

I mean, I often like to give the benefit of the doubt to remakes of foreign films; they will almost never surpass the source material, so why even bother? Some movies deserve to be seen in their original language, and if you are unwilling to read subtitles to watch the film, well, it sucks to be you. But I would rather they not remake any film, ever, if it means that we can avoid getting crap like this. An awful and low effort remake that does not deserve anyone's time.

One of my favorite extreme french horror films was the original film this movie was based on, Inside (2007). Browsing through Hulu the night before I spotted this American remake. My expectations were low based on prior experience with many American horror remakes, but this particular remake sunk far lower than my already low expectations.

The story isn't an exact copy of the original. They did make changes and the biggest changes were in the last third of the film. Unbelievable beyond belief and the producers having seen the original which should have given them an excellent template to base their remake seem to totally ignore it.

Before the opening scene and immediately after the opening credits, a statistic is shown on the screen literally giving away the twist in the plot that the original film doesn't unveil until the very end. By doing that, they literally killed any chance of developing a sense of suspense and surprise that the original was so great at doing. In the original film, the audience doesn't understand why the killer is doing what she does until the very end, but this film constantly reminds us of what the plot is as though the audience has a 30 second attention deficit.

I would NOT recommend this film to a friend at all. Anyone who has not seen the original, I highly recommend you watch the original film, even if you do not like subtitles. If you see this film first and uncover the twist, it will ruin the original for you and you will miss out on a highly rated french extreme horror original.