L'Instinct Satanique

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.

Ok....if the original never existed, this might be considered a crazy and fun over-the-top flick. However...the original does exist and this remake is just sad. The level of horror and surprise was far superior in the original and you really should just watch that one instead. But if you've never seen the original, you may find some guilty pleasure in this sadly undercooked remake.

Yet again, the film industry shows it's lack of imagination and lack of quality scripts by re-making an already great horror film. The original, L'interier, was a terrifying, bloody joyride from beginning to end. The roles were cast well. The story was tight. believable and scary as Hell. The direction was excellent as well. The movie was intense to the extreme yet it still felt like this could actually happen in real life! None of these components can be applied to this pitiful excuse of a re-make. Although Rachel Nichols is an accomplished actress, she struggles through this film like a rookie. It's not her fault as her part has been watered down via faulty script and poor direction. Actress Laura Harring was a poor fit for the part of "The Woman" originally portrayed by the amazing Beatrice Dalle. This film is yet more evidence that mainstream film markets have lost all originality and are increasingly dependent on re-making earlier, preferably foreign films or churning out low budget, poor replicas of successful ones. When I learned that an American re-make of the incredible French horror film "Martyrs" was being made, I swore to myself to never watch it. I broke that promise to myself and watched it. The film, like the new version of "L'Interiour" is nothing more than a milquetoast, re-visioning insult to the original. Gone was the sheer gut-wrenching violence perpetrated on these girls, Gone was the insane logic which help the group together, It took a film that reached out and punched you repeatedly in the gut and turned it into little more than a made-for-TV movie filled with rejects from the O.C. that had far less talent than the roles required. In fact, like "Inside", the re-make of "Martyrs: seemed to have been created solely for the late teen audience due to the removal of many of the key violent and bloody scenes Neither of these films needed to be re-made and the evidence is right in front of you. Forget these abortive attempts at capturing lighting and stick with the originals

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 ...

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.