MadS

One of the most overused horror tropes in movies is that of twitching and neck cracking. It isn't scary anymore. Was it ever? It's just pure cringe. If that's your thing, you'll find plenty of it here. So I guess this was a zombie movie?? The acting at times was so over the top that I literally laughed out loud. I found the first half hour or so to be pretty great. Unfortunately it starts to drag and becomes very repetitive and redundant. I started to get bored and wanted it to end. But I stuck it through. It feels a bit like a wannabe 28 Days Later, which is a far better film and one of the best zombie flicks ever!

I'm American so this french film with subtitles going to the top of my horror list for 2024 independent films is a pretty big feat. It wastes no time which is spectacular and seriously warranted with all these drawn out tv halfway horrors. It's very well filmed even with the handheld steady run & gun style Cinematography, I loved every scene. Definitely a film you can have fun watching with other people. Hearing them scream in french "s'ilvous plait" over and over was like music to my ears. It was choreographed to be chaotic and yet it was incredibly smooth and sharp. It didn't beat around the bush with dumb responses or poor acting it seemed very logical and crazy all at the same time. The dialogue had just enough info without being extra wordy while reading subs. From start to finish I have no complaints. The last scene was hell-fully picturesque. I see the similarities of all young people no matter where your from trying to figure out life getting dealt some life changing anguish 😧 and having nowhere to turn no where to hide and only thing u can do is lose your mind and scream. I love artful simplicity even the movie cover was a good clue to all who watch will be in for a disturbing fun ride.

I'll be the first to admit, Shudder has a habit of dumping a lot of questionable content on their platform, but MadS is a real gem. The French director David Moreau brings a fresh take on the zombie genre with his frenetic, one-take style that plunges you straight into the madness. The only thing better than a single-take film is a single-take horror, and MadS uses this technique to perfection, creating a claustrophobic and tense experience that feels both chaotic and masterfully controlled.

David Moreau's take on the zombie genre is frenetic and totally refreshing. The French just know how to make horrors that get under your skin, and MadS does exactly that with its claustrophobic atmosphere and tense pacing. If you're into inventive, pulse-pounding horror, this is definitely worth checking out.

Although the story seems simple and usual, this is a very interesting movie in how it escalates and how it chooses where to focus and what to leave unexplained. In other words we have seen this before but not in this way. Also it is important to point out the different interpresentations that one could extract in general. Drugs related the most important. What it leaves, is a feeling of unease which is very important from the beginning. If you choose to watch this movie searching for allegorical meaning or not, you will be satisfied in the end. Very promising acting from Laurie Pavy and a big hope for the future.

The single tracking shot film. What a concept. There seems to be two ways films do it. They either film it like a normal movie with lots of separate scenes and then splice it all together to look like one film. Or, as I believe the was the case in 'MadS', they genuinely film the entire film in one long take. The latter is obviously the far more impressive way of doing it. The problem however, is that it doesn't guarantee a good film.

In fact in this case I thought it actually hurt the film. It took away any of the interesting shots that a good horror film would usually have. The masters of horror like Wes Craven could use particular angles and timing to get a scare out of any suspenseful scene they wanted. Here, we are just tracking along with the characters for the entire duration, and it quickly becomes very dull to look at.

I just couldn't connect with this film. I didn't find the story interesting and the gimmick wore thin quickly. 3/10.