BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Antonio Nimertis A friend of mine used to say that on horror movies, thriller, etc, the secret is to... fear before actually get scared ... meaning that if the director has managed the most difficult of all, i.e. to be ready for a touch on the shoulder that would shake from the chair, everything else is simpler ... and I say more, fun and entertainment in this dark, moist and suffocating universe is born from the toxicity of the ' greenhouse ' with the ' morbidly plants ' ... and, I think, the French know the way maybe because they invented it... the whole shock is not limited to the terrifyingly vulgar or the blatant repulsive ... it goes deeper, soaks you, makes you feel ... insecure ... I think this is the most astonishing and rare that very few craftsmen succeeded in film history... the viewer feels the dorsal shiver constantly and even every time that is thinking back on the movie ... No matter how many years go by ... Let's not be exaggerated ... this movie conquers no such specific tops... What I believe it leaves is not creepy or shivery but more a. .. bitter breeze ... a taste of brackish water on lips ... something from ... elsewhere ... that strives to become familiar ...

Nigel P Catherine Wilson (Catherine Jacob) is a home care nurse and is introducing young Lucie (Chloé Coulloud) to the job. Visiting eccentric old Deborah Jessel, a dying millionaire (several times over) in a coma in her sprawling mansion, Catherine insists on going to tend to her alone, leaving Lucy in the car outside. And yet Lucie is naughty and decides to follow her anyway – she also breaks confidentiality rules and tells her boyfriend Will about Mrs Jessel and her fortune. Naturally, the two of them (together with Will's brother Ben) decide to relieve the old lady of her riches one dark night … There's more than a hint of Del Torro in the way the house and its shadows are revealed to the trio as they explore it. The find the enclosed corpse of Jessel's daughter (is she the legendary 'treasure?') and things get progressively more weird from there. As the two lads become increasingly frustrated about not being able to locate any riches, they start smashing the place up. This changes them from impudent rob-dogs into people we actively dislike. But if we think they are behaving badly, the 'little old lady upstairs' is about to incur evil on a different scale.I hope there's no point trying to make too much sense out of what happens in the remainder of the film, because I enjoyed simply basking in the uneasy atmosphere of every nightmarish set-piece that is relentlessly displayed, and abandoning any intricate story strands. It's likely that you could pause the film at any time throughout and have a beautifully detailed horror image presented to you.'Livid' is not reliant on CGI effects, but those that are used are restrained and extremely powerful. They add, rather than detract from, the film's mesmeric quality. In all, 'Livid' combines wincing gore, violence and a true atmosphere of doom with some serene, haunting, even beautiful imagery: it is the darkest fairy-tale complete with reanimated animal heads, china dolls, tea-parties and the most haunted of houses. As it ends, you are greatly moved, and yet unable to pinpoint exactly why (although the wistful performances have a large part to play). A wonderful film.

Red-Barracuda In the last decade there certainly has been a significant cycle of French horror films. Quite a lot of the most famous ones have focused on the more sadistic end of the genre, presenting torture, gore and general nastiness in new, often unusual, ways. Livid clearly indicates that Gallic horror comes in many shapes though, as this one relies considerably more on atmosphere rather than full-on violence. Its story has three young thieves breaking into a remote mansion one Halloween night; the only resident of this villa being a very elderly comatose former ballet teacher who they have heard has a 'hidden treasure' stashed away somewhere in the house. The trio, however, encounter far more than they could ever have bargained for and a night of uncanny horror ensues.This film is typified quite a bit by being a hybrid of genres. It's not strictly a haunted house film, although it often feels like one, it has fairy tale aspects yet could never be exactly described as a pure fantasy and while it does rely largely on atmosphere it often has scenes of visceral violence. This undefinable aspect is amplified further by a storyline that wilfully never makes complete sense and has many aspects that hang in the air somewhat. Unlike a lot of other people seemingly, I can't say any of the above really bothered me at all. In fact I thought it added up to a distinctive bit of Gothic horror.It's very nicely photographed throughout and the detailed, dusty interiors of the house are an interesting setting. There are many macabre things in here and some are quite strikingly different; the clockwork corpse being a good example of original thought from the film-makers. Pleasingly, it does get quite scary from time to time as well, with the evil old woman and her undead daughter being pretty sinister adversaries and interesting creations. As the story progresses flashbacks are used to explain events. But these generate as many questions as they do answers and by the end there is a definite enigmatic quality to much of what we have just seen. This ambiguity has been earned though; sometimes it's best for a dark fairy-tale to not reveal all its secrets.

Maz Murdoch (asda-man) Inside is possibly my favourite horror film of all time. I've not seen a horror film that matches its thrilling intensity and roller-coaster ride feeling, apart from maybe the final third of Black Swan (which isn't really horror). So you can imagine my excitement when Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury (the writers and directors of Inside) announced that they were doing another horror film. I got even more excited when I heard the plot, and got really excited when I saw some down right beautiful images ie. The bloody girl floating. As you can imagine, I'm now really, really excited. I see the trailer which makes me more excited but then the reviews come in... The reviews aren't too good. All of them say it's nothing like Inside, and all of them very mixed, telling me to bring my expectations down to rock bottom and that's what I did (although still incredibly excited) and Livid didn't disappoint.The fact that the duo abandon the whole Inside theme all together and do something completely different with a slow, creeping, fairytale horror film just makes me respect them more. This shows that they're not one hit wonders and they do absolutely understand our beloved genre. I'd be more disappointed if they did an inferior rip-off of Inside. Livid just goes to show how versatile this couple are (not that I'm suggested they are an actual couple. just a friendly duo! Although there is nothing wrong with them being a couple of course.) Livid shows off their directing skills beautifully as they've created a magnificently-crafted horror film that can sit proudly amongst the other French greats.Obviously it will have to sit a few notches below Inside and others such as Martyrs and The Ordeal, because of course Livid is not a patch on Inside, but what is? Livid creates a wonderfully haunting atmosphere from the word go. It begins with some fantastic shots around a beach (including a severed head!) and grave-yard ehich really draws you in to the story. We're then introduced to a beautiful French lady called Lucie who's driving around with a sarcastic house-to-house carer and it's her first day on the job. We get to know each of their characters well and then things officially start when Lucie's introduced to a comatose old woman who supposedly has a treasure hidden somewhere and of course her and her somewhat idiotic friends decide to break in and steal it! Bad idea.There's a nightmarish quality that resonates all the way through Livid. The film is rich with atmosphere and imagery, giving it a fairytale vibe with its exaggerated and almost Tim Burton-esque production design. Livid has been made with such care and it really shows through! There's an almost choking atmoshpere when the group first break into the old woman's house, as it's all very oppressive with gaudy wallpaper and a rickety house design. There is also an undeniable creepy atmosphere and a feeling of something not being right. The first meeting of the ballerina girl is pretty chilling and the film is full of beautiful imagery that will likely stay with you for days.Livid is a horror throw-back. Back to those hammer horror days where horror films relied on atmosphere, rather than gore. However, that's not to say that there isn't some gore in Livid! Although it obviously isn't as extreme as Inside's unholy amount of blood, there are a lot of cringey moments! My only problems with Livid is that it did feel a little slow at times, which is fine for building up the atmosphere, however I think that it was building it up for too long at times. Also, I would've liked more character development on Lucie's friends, they just looked like they were there to be killed off! However, Livid isn't a slasher film, in fact it offers some rather terrific twists along the way.Livid tries to trick you with its old-school scares such as the dolls head moving, which is in fact done incredibly well! However, some original scares do suddenly start to come and they are very creepy. I could feel the panic of the group when they realised they couldn't get out this old mansion, with a creepy old woman on the top floor! There are also some rather brutal and inventive kills. I can see some people getting confused with its dream-scape-like atmosphere, but just think of it as a Dario Argento film or Mulholland Drive. The film is made to look like a nightmare, that's why things can turn surreal, and characters make perplexing decisions. P.s. I would've liked Beatrice Dalle to have been in it more, she was more of a nod to fans of Inside, but I think she could've played a bigger role. She was in it for all of 10 seconds!Livid goes up another notch in my book when it starts to bring in some gorgeous flash-backs that really do feel like a fairytale (although one not to be telling your kiddies!) That's when the plot really starts to thicken and things become very interesting and rather juicy! There's a wonderful finale, beautifully filmed and I didn't find the ending that infuriating like some people, just try not to take it too literally! So I did actually really like Livid despite the mixed feedback. It's a refreshing change to have a well-made haunted house movie, although it is French, thus obviously going to be good! Whilst Livid won't attack you emotionally like Inside or Martyrs, it will give you a solid horror film, with an interesting narrative and some beautiful cinematography and directing. I shall eagerly await Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury's next horror film. But for now I'll just feed off of these two gems!