Director: Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury.
Cast: Theo
Fernandez, Fabien Jegoudez, Damian Ferdel, Anne Marivin, Zacharie
Chasseriaud, Nicolas Giraud, Francis Renaud, Beatrice Dalle.
Certificate: 18.
Running Time: 90 minutes.
Synopsis: Three boys witness a kidnapped woman dumped into a
hole by a strange figure. Upon returning home nobody believes them, but
the figure is out to silence them.
After giving us the their incredible debut INSIDE and worthy
successor LIVID, Maury and Bustillo return for another shot at the
horror genre. This time it’s STAND BY ME meets JEEPERS CREEPERS as a
group of boys witness the dumping of a body and are then pursued by a
mysterious figure. Bustillo and Maury have always been reliable when it
comes to freaky images and engaging stories, but perhaps AMONG THE
LIVING is, in certain regards, their first misstep.
After a bold and brutal opening which sets in motion a mystery, we
find ourselves following a trio of young boys who skip out on school.
They smoke, they joke with one another in offensive way, and they engage
in a bit of arson. These trouble makers soon venture into an abandoned
film production lot, which itself is a wonderful visual setting. Old
wild west saloons and classic cars combine in a rotten mishmash of
ideas. It’s the perfect setting for a horror film, but unfortunately
this is not where the majority of the film takes place.
The early sequences are brightly shot and filled with warmth. We
learn a lot about the boys and what makes them tick, and it looks as
though we could be getting a genuine coming of age tale against a horror
backdrop. However, after the boys see a kidnapped woman taken down a
hole, they soon split up to go home and we have yet another stalk and
slash home invasion film. The film loses its unique identity and
descends into a series of predictable and infuriating events.
I feel as though we have come too far in horror to give a pass to
films filled with non kill confirming, upstairs checking idiots.
Granted, in such situations we never know how we are going to react, but
one scene in particular has the single dumbest character reactions to
missing phones, strange noises, and freaky clown masks, that I have ever
witnessed. It’s angering to watch and makes you lose all respect for
the characters, which in turn has you cheering on their deaths, when
originally we were connecting with these people.
The film also highlights set-ups for horror stuaions, such as a
camera focused on a sleeping baby’s crib, duvets that always hang down
to the floor, and the use of at least two urban legends in setting up
creepy moments. When the film works, it works exceptionally well, with a
grotesque villain who is unrelenting in his punishments. However, the
Bustillo and Maury seem set on not showing the gruesome ends of female
characters or those below a certain age, not wanting to come off as some
kind of sadist, but the prolonged punishment dealt out to the men seems
perverse after so many cutaways earlier on. It also lacks sense in the
editing department, as after a cruel torture scene, we cut back to
fleeing family members who haven’t got far at all.
With some beautiful cinematography early on, fun characters, a nice
setting, and a dooming atmosphere established, AMONG THE LIVING falls
into lazy script writing and stupid decisions to propel its narrative.
From a genuinely creepy little film to a connect-the-dots of creepy
moments, this is a disappointment that not only leaves an unsatisfactory
feeling, but also annoyance.
(2 / 5)
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