5150, rue des Ormes

"5150" certainly does not get enough recognition from what I've just seen, and it's probably because it simply isn't well known! I only happened to stumble across it when it came up on my Amazon recommendations and I actually bothered to click on it, then I read about it and thought it sounded quite good, especially after reading it was French, and I know that nobody does horror better than the French. And then I watched the trailer that blew me away, I knew it was something I'd love and so almost immediately bought it straight after that! "5150 Elm's Way" certainly didn't disappoint much. In fact, if it was more horror heavy than drama heavy, then I would consider it up their with the greatest of French horror. It also surprised me as well, and gave an absolutely compelling and gripping drama/horror.

I don't know why not many people have heard of this, maybe it's because of the rubbish title, I mean come on! "5150 Elm's Way" is a bit of a mouthful isn't it? Maybe if it had something catchier like "51 Elm's Way" or simply just "Elm's Way" it might've appealed to more audiences, but maybe I'm just picking a bit their. The fact is that this film deserves to be seen by a wider audience, I'm sure if people knew about this and gave it the time of day they would love it almost as much as I did! Now maybe it wasn't as dark as the trailer suggested, but it did give much more in the way of plot and screenplay that I anticipated for. Maybe, if "5150 Elm's Way" was glossed over in a brush similar to "Frontier(s)" we might've had a little horror classic on our hands.

But don't let the drama aspect put you off! In some ways it is much more of a positive, and I was pleasantly surprised to see how the film went deeper into the psycho family's character, when usually horror films like to ignore the villain's so we feel zero sympathy for them, here the film quite cleverly takes a different route by showering us with excellent characterisation on both sides, the righteous and the unrighteous both get equal screen time. It also means that instead of getting two dimensional villains, we get very human ones, which is extremely refreshing to see. We get to understand how their family works and why they are like how they are. I felt such sympathy for Maude, the mother and at times felt very teary for the family (don't worry I didn't let go!) Everything did seem like a drama pretending to be a horror film at times, but actually when the game of chess was introduced in the final 40-30 minutes, horrifying things did start to pick up, and its air of realism slightly went out the window, which I actually quite admired in a way. I also wasn't expecting Yannick's psychological torment to be quite as mind-blowing as it was. The directing sometimes looked as if the person changed. Instead of interesting family drama we got psychological horror that was really cleverly expressed. It was absolutely captivating to see Yannick change and become obsessed, and also to see how he's affected their family.

Some scenes such as when Yannick plays chess and when he starts seeing "The Shining" styled blood, are marvellously done and it really helps for the audience to get into his character. "5150 Elm's Way" can often be thrilling as well! The film has you cheering for Yannick to get out all the way, and you do start to notice the complex bonds changing, giving us much, much more than a horror film. The acting was also very good, and very realistic. They looked like a normal family, so it was easy to relate, and Yannick also didn't make too many frustratingly stupid decisions like you see in almost every survival-based horror film.

In the end. "5150 Elm's Way" is more of an extremely dark drama than a horror film, although it does step into horror territory towards the end, and it also isn't afraid to shock like most horror films, it has no boundaries. It is brilliantly written and shows beautifully promising directional flourishes. It's also completely thrilling and captivating to watch, with a very clever ending that makes you wonder who really has won. "5150 Elm's Way" is one of the best psychological films, I've seen and is very nearly a 10/10 masterpiece.

You'd think people would know that since the "Nightmare on ..." movies ... But seriously though, I haven't looked into the origin of the title and this has no "Freddy" in it. Though it has some other interesting characters in it. And it plays in a weird way and goes places you wouldn't expect. While the main character might do things, you wouldn't expect him to do at first, it does all make sense (well as much sense as there can be).

Of course this develops into a very strange little crazy movie, that will either leave you completely confused at the end or satisfied as can be. A movie about violence, but also about (and maybe even more) craziness. It won't give you any easy answers and the end will put quite some people off (I think that the fact, that it isn't as violent as some other genre movies, might be putting people off too).

It is a very weird movie and I can't really tell you to watch it, because it might not be your taste at all.

Rising like Phoenix from the ashes, the Chess concept began to take over the plot as a plot twist from a claustrophobic drift in such a modest production; that was when the story created its greatest suspense which will never end. I consider the whole as a great and awe-inspiring achievement.

After fell off his bike a film student Yannick needs to stop by a two-story town house to ask for first aid. The father of the family from that house suggests him to make a call. After he goes inside and leaves the door unlocked behind him, Yannick starts his fatal discovery with his first step inside. Very suitable movie poster for this exact moment, when the happenings start to take effect.

First he witnesses the father of the family Jacques Beaulieu committing a murder in front of his eyes, second he's locked up in an unfurnished room, and then he starts having trouble with other family members. Right at this sequence, we see one of the finest achievements in the movie: Excellent-almost perfect- CHARACTERIZATION. What will come out of the blue is all the main characters in this film will have a terrifying destiny. When everything is running organized for Jacques Beaulieu's plans, Yannick turns the outcomes upside down. Like all the other viewers, me too became fond of the CHESSBOARD OF CORPSES. Jacques planned to array the chessmen from the characters he wanted to have, but Yannick's existence also altered the appearances on the chess board.

It's not just unpredictable what's going to happen every other scene, it's also unique in story-telling, too. Deeply detailed PSYCHOLOGICAL LAYOUT, the leading actors(Yannick vs. Jacques) reflect their inner phobias, counter-phobias and behaviour patterns against each other in a very factual way. What's very engaging is the balance of justice which forces us to understand that humankind is not entirely good or evil. The evil character Jacques is only trying to save the public from criminals and sinners, while he's fighting against the evil, he becomes an evil on his own, under a self-built heresy.

Very nicely done adaptation work offers a promising film and it succeeds in production aspects, too. Yannick's psychological trauma moments are served out with nice VISUAL EFFECTS and CINEMATOGRAPHY. It offers an unique style of tension without applying basic horror methods, spooky visuals and sharp shots which forces the viewer to wince.

A few deficiencies on character and story development with possible plot holes: 1/ JACQUES'S ACT OF JUSTICE: Jacques never locks up innocents into the Room Of Sinners. But he kills a sinner in front of Yannick's eyes just because he's there to get aid for his bruises. As a serial killer of the 24 bodies and a thief to steal another 24 corpses, he should've been more careful with Yannick. 2/ MAUDE'S SUICIDE: She never attempted to suicide before suddenly deciding on helping Yannick to escape. 3/ When Yannick started first to see delusions, he sees A FAT MAN WITH GLASSES, and continues seeing the same man every time he sees another delusion. There is no story held for this supporting character. 4/ The story doesn't build the necessary bridge between the happenings and the results for each family member's destiny. Neither the mum or dad ever worried about Michelle, after Anne is sent to the afflicted children's school. When the movie is over, everybody's life will be different. This isn't a suitable premise for a movie in this genre. 5/ Anne's school never made any investigation nor at least a questionnaire about Anne's past.

This film was examining the addiction to murder and the effects of violence in the family in one point. It came to a dead end, finished in a tragedy for everyone, which is idealistically appropriate with its examination. The second point supported the idea of the personal needs to trust the government's justice system to live in safety. Creating a justice other than the current system is only a fantasy. In this case, comparing with SCORSESE'S RAGING BULL, 5150 doesn't make the viewer to feel sad about Jacques the way we felt about Jake La Motta. Both Jacques and Jake seek their own sense of justice, but end up behind the bars. Another reference on Jake La Motta is occurred when Yannick chose to turn back to the Chess-game addiction instead of the choice of freedom, so his paranoia obsession on Chess took over his personal life; just like Jake La Motta happens to become a stage comedian but continue practising his punches and crochets in the backstage of the theater. Unfinished games may cause obsessions, but an unachieved purpose can kill. A Proudly Canadian film. Congrats.

It reminded me of the films of Alfred Hitchcock for some reason-maybe Psycho more than his other films. Maybe a bit strong in places but it is a well done movie that makes the statement that people are often not as ready to deal with a serious situation as they might think they are, which defines the predicament a character in this film faces. Disturbingly possible is maybe another point the film tries to make, and in that sense I think maybe, but not in most places in Quebec. The sub titles didn't always convey the right meaning of the french dialogue but maybe that was just me, but I thought they worked well enough to follow the story and see the characters. True 'nouveau cinema noir', for people who like horror movies, even though it is billed as a drama.

Canada - Film student gets into a little accident on his bicycle avoiding a black cat. He goes to a nearby home to ask for assistance. When the resident tells him to wait outside while he calls our man a cab HE DOESN'T. I can't stress this enough. He does not wait outside as requested. Instead he barges right into someone's home and privacy. On top of that when he hears someone upstairs, what does he do but invite himself further into the residence. Once he sees blood all over this guy upstairs it's all over for our hero. Now the guy who lives here and has perpetrated what all has happened herein has no choice but to keep our hero under wraps. The story is about the struggle between the two, and other characters, i.e., the mama of the house and the two daughters who live therein to thicken the plot. I waited and searched for this movie for EVER. I am happy to say it was well worth it. This is such an individual flick, similarities to Whatever Happened to Baby Jane and Frailty notwithstanding.