Inside

A compelling, unusually nasty little horror flick, Inside takes an exceedingly simple premise – a pregnant lady is terrorized by a psychopath – and just runs with it. Sarah (Alysson Paradis) is nine months pregnant when a crazy maniac (Beatrice Dalle) breaks into her house and immediately makes it clear that she’s not leaving without the unborn child. Directors Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury have infused Inside with an exceedingly dark (both literally and figuratively) sensibility that proves impossible to resist; the incredibly stylish visuals (which certainly owe a lot to Panic Room) are undoubtedly a highlight, while Paradis does a superb job of ensuring that Sarah never quite becomes a horror-movie stereotype. (Dalle’s chilling work as the seemingly unstoppable villain is just as effective.) The inclusion of several almost unbearably tense sequences, as well as the presence of some seriously gory moments, ultimately ensures that Inside will be remembered as one of the most creative and flat-out engrossing horror movies to hit the scene in years. (It’s also worth noting that the film manages to breathe new life into the increasingly prevalent homemade tracheotomy cliche.)

***1/2 out of ****