Rutabaga

Please, lease, be indulgent with this cute little mystery horror French film, which brings nothing new but which is never boring and, surprisingly acted by more than convincing non professional actors. They play as they would do in actual life, believe me. I have seen real actors lousier than these ones. I love to watch such features from time to time. I have checked, the other movies from this director have never been released anywhere, even on streaming; such a shame. And, please, don't compare this with confirmed films, BE INDULGENT, and watch it as a scale this item deserves to be watched. I hope I will see more of those rare and underrated films. And such movies are all the time made in the countryside, where the producers do not need any authorization to shoot, and many extras are not necessarily needed, as it would be the case for shooting in cities. And for a horror film, countryside, remote areas, are nevertheless better than urban settings. Not only for french features.

RUTABAGA tells the story of a young journalist who, fresh after a break-up, accepts an assignment to write an article about the opening of a remote inn. Once he gets there, he notices something disconcerting about the people who run it, as well as unusual happenings which get progressively more ominous.

This is a basement budget film which unfortunately cannot overcome its financial constraints with creative spark. The basic concept, though familiar, is not bad, but the execution is barely (and then not even always) above amateur level.

The film starts out with an argument between a couple, but other than a few passing references later in the movie, that storyline goes nowhere. The film stock gives the movie a found-footage feel even though it is not one, and the cinematography is mediocre at best. The hairdo of one of the actresses distracts from her scenes because it looks like a bad wig. The other actress does manage to convey a sinister side to her character, but in general the acting is not much to talk about either.

The build-up lacks a sense of dread or excitement, so that when the story gets to the final act, it seems abrupt. Also, several scenes are highly implausible. For instance, in one scene a character is being suffocated with a plastic bag while his hands are free. Why does he not just tear the plastic bag, or at least attempt to?

There are hints here and there that there was a vision behind the movie, but the execution falls so drastically short that one cannot even be sure whether there really was one. A movie which I think had kind of a similar vision (if there was one) and then executed it nearly flawlessly is THE WITCH (2015), which gives an idea of what this movie could have been in skillful hands.

Rutabaga (2018) is a French film that I recently watched on Tubi. The storyline follows a journalist who visits a hotel in the country to write an add for his paper. When he arrives there's no internet or cell phone connectivity but the hospitality is top notch. As he learns more about the facility and it's ambiances he discovers it may be hard to leave...

This movie is written, directed by and stars Julien Botzanowski (Tranches de Vi) and also stars Capucine Lamarque (Tranches de Vi), Serge Barbagallo (Mafiaosa) and Anouchka Csernakova (Ego-Light).

This is a movie that does the best it can with the budget it has. The settings and circumstances were solid and the characters were interesting and well delivered. The notes disappearing and lack of connectivity wasn't as creepy as they intended but the inn keeper was an awesome villain and the lady coming out of the woods scene was great. Some of the elements reminded me of the Blair Witch and the ending was well done.

Overall, this isn't the best French horror movie in the world but it is worth a watch if you're looking for something different. I would score this a 5/10 and recommend seeing it once.