Inside

Inside (2016)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

After the death of her husband, Sarah (Rachel Nichols) is a day away from giving birth to their baby but that night a mysterious woman (Laura Harring) breaks into her home with plans on taking the baby.

This here is a remake of the 2007 French film INSIDE and apparently it has been sitting on a shelf for a couple years before finally being released. I will admit up front that I enjoy watching remakes as I find it interesting to see someone take a different take on a familiar story. The original INSIDE is known for its vile and at times shocking violence and it doesn't take a brain scientist to know that what we saw in that film wouldn't make it to this remake.

Let me just say that everything in the original movie was a lot better than what you get here. As you'd expect, the violence and gore has been toned down to the point where you have to wonder why they even bothered to remake the film. But wait a minute, whereas the original film went for gore and violence, perhaps director Miquel Angel Vivas could take the material into a different direction and make a winning picture. Nope, that doesn't happen either and what we're left with is a watered down version of the original and even on its own this remake just doesn't work.

There are all sorts of problems with the movie including the fact that there's nothing good here. I guess you could say that Nichols' performance was good but Harring is so watered down and so bland as the killer that there's just no tension between the characters. The lack of any sort of real suspense is another major issue. It also seems as if the director is familiar with the original movie and he thinks that the viewer is too so he hints at stuff that fans of the original will remember but he just never goes through with it here. For example, when the pregnant woman is in the bathroom. Remember the scene with the scissors? Watch how it plays out here.

With no gore, no violence and no tension what are we left with? Not much. There aren't any surprises here and especially if you've seen the original. Even if you haven't seen the original this film just doesn't offer us anything. It's as if they simply didn't know what they wanted to do with the material so we're left with some hacked up version of the original. I'm not going to spoil anything but the ending is rather embarrassing as is the sequence with the cops. In fact, one of the cops here has to be the dumbest cop from any horror film I've ever seen.

INSIDE is an all around bad movie that at least manages to make the original seem even better.

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.

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.

Most of the reviews that gave this film 1/10 are from persons who have seen the original. I have not seen the original and I enjoyed the film.

I actually thought that this movie would be crap after I saw the rating but I ended up enjoying it. Its not the best movie in the world and there are definitely problems with it but to give a movie 1 star because it doesn't live up to the original is a bit unfair.

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 ...