Movie Review: Them (2006)

Them (a.k.a. Ils) (2006)

Who Are They And What Do They Want?

Directed By: David Moreau & Xavier Palud

Starring: Olivia Bonamy & Michaël Cohen

MPAA Rating: "R" (for some violence and terror)

Them was a French horror film that took around two years to find a release here in America...unfortunately for us (though fortunately for the French), it is vastly superior to around 95% of the genre efforts that Americans have made. It has virtually no gore, very little bloodshed, and a surprisingly limited amount of violence...and yet it is perhaps one of the scariest modern horror films. It begins rather quickly with a chilling scene of a mother and daughter who find themselves stranded on a backwoods road and stalked by unseen people. Soon, we meet the young couple, Clementine (Bonamy) and Lucas (Cohen), who live down the road from the site of the opening scene. Obviously, things are not going to be merry for these hapless people. That same night, the same mysterious people arrive and a nightmare begins.

Clementine and Lucas are stalked and terrorized by shadowy figures who manage to stay hidden within shadows. These figures, for much of the film, taunt the couple, terrifying them before finally attempting to execute their primary action: killing them. It is a chilling string of events that seem to become darker, more desperate, and more suspenseful with each passing minute. By the end, we can only hope that the film will end so that the terror will stop. No escapism will be found here...no joy, no happiness, and no mercy. This is a real horror film, the kind that seeks to terrify and not disgust. You will see no decapitations, no fingernails being ripped off, no cannibalism, and no unsavory castrations. It is all suspense, but the pay-offs are perhaps more effective for what they do not show than what they do.

Any writer or director who is behind a PG-13 rated horror film always gives the same speech about how our minds are more capable of developing a truly horrifying outcome than any film. I believe they are right, but also that most filmmakers have no idea how to establish a basis on which we can develop our own terrifying results. Moreau and Palud do, on the other hand, understand this. They manage to scare us so badly during the build-up that, by not showing us all of what happens, they create far more effective scenes. In a world of cinema that insists that all horror film must disembowel some large-breasted broad in a short skirt, Them dares to take a more mature, more developed, and more fulfilling route than the likes of Saw and Hostel.

Them makes the rather dull mistake, however, of proclaiming to be based on a true story. Regardless of its authenticity, the tag line Based on a True Story has become somewhat of a cheap selling point that, though once used to develop even more terror behind a project, seems to only make it more desperate. Them did not need such a silly tactic to legitimize itself. The raw, gritty, and unrelenting horror that fills the rest of the film's brief run time is more than enough. Many critics (mainly those who specialize in the horror genre) would tell you that foreign filmmakers have a firmer grasp on the genre than American filmmakers. Had I not just seen The Mist, I would probably agree based entirely on Them. As it is, I think the nationalities of the filmmakers are irrelevant. It is all about the understanding of horror and suspense, rather than gore and violence. Moreau and Palud understand that and they display this understanding here.