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An often overlooked aspect of French cinema is horror. French film often conjures up the image of the New Wave, directors like Truffaut and Besson, and long exploratory films about life and love. Black and white scenes, swirling with cigarette smoke while beautiful people languish on beds or in cafés waxing philosophical about life are all commonly associated with French films.
However, French cinema also has a diverse and strange horror genre. Recent releases, such as Titane from director Julia Decournau, and works by Gaspar Noé, are just some examples of the new bizarre French horror cinema. Along with these new genre-pushing films, there are many classic and underseen offerings. These underrated French horror movies are must-sees for fans of the genre.
2000 slasher film Deep in the Woods begins with a young boy being read the tale of Little Red Riding Hood by his mother, who is promptly killed in front of him. Fast-forward five years, and a group of young actors are invited to the castle of millionaire Axel de Fersen to perform in a theatrical performance of Little Red Riding Hood for the birthday of his grandson. The local police also warn that a murderer is on the loose and has been attacking local women.
As the night wears on, it becomes obvious that the killer is in the castle. People are vanishing leaving only blood stains behind and the troop is slowly whittled down one by one, by a killer dressed as a wolf. While the film is nothing original, it is an interesting Giallo-style film that makes good use of the setting and stylization of the shots.
This 2018 zombie film was directed by Dominique Rocher and based on the novel by Pit Agarman. Anders Danielson Lie stars as a musician named Sam who just wants to collect his tapes from his ex-girlfriend’s apartment. Unfortunately, she is having a party, and Sam goes looking for the tapes before suffering a nosebleed and passing out. When he wakes up the next morning, he is alone and the walls are painted with blood. Upon venturing out, he finds zombies have taken over the city of Paris.
In a similar vein to 28 Days Later, the zombies are fast, aggressive, and travel in hordes that respond to any movement or sound. Sam has to survive in the apartment building, raiding other apartments for supplies, all while dealing with the erosion of his sanity and the possibility that he is the only one left alive.
Directed by Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the 1995 film The City of Lost Children is often described as sci-fi fantasy, but it dips gleefully into horror at the same time. A scientist has vanished leaving his nine strange creations alone on an oil rig. The main ‘protagonist’ is Krank, a highly intelligent but evil being that is prematurely aging because he is unable to dream. To solve this, he kidnaps children and steals their dreams.
The City of Lost Children is a bizarre film filled with strange creatures. There’s a cyclops cyborg suit that steals children, trained fleas that deliver poison, and Ron Perlman as a carnival strongman named One who is on a mission to save his adopted little brother, taken by Krank and his cronies. With a dark steampunk aesthetic, music by legendary composer Angelo Badalamenti, and costume design by Jean-Paul Gaultier, the film trawls the line between science fiction and horror, frequently crossing over into both genres.
Cold Skin is a 2017 creature feature that feels like a sparse retelling of The Little Mermaid. Set in 1914, an unnamed man takes up the position of weather observer on a remote island in the South Atlantic. Apart from lighthouse keeper Gruner, the man is alone on the island and sets to explore. After finding a bizarre diary detailing odd creatures from the sea, the man is attacked by the same creatures. His cabin is destroyed, and he teams up with Gruner for survival.
Except Gruner isn’t all he seems. He is keeping one of the female creatures captive, habitually abusing her and forcing her to do things for him. The film becomes a fight for survival against the creatures and Gruner, as the man now known as ‘Friend’ develops a relationship with the creature. A monster movie with heart, jealousy, and plenty of blood, Cold Skin is a breeze of cold ocean air.
Taking place almost entirely in one prison cell, Malefique follows four prisoners that are crammed together in the small space. Carrere is a fraudster, Lassalle murdered his wife, Paquerette ate his infant sister, and Marcus is a pre-op transgender woman whose crime is never divulged. Behind a loose brick, the prisoners discover a journal from a prisoner who disappeared from his cell in the 1920s. The journal contains a strange collection of incantations that soon lead to horrible visions and death.
The group initially thinks that the spells within the book can lead them to freedom, but it can only lead to turmoil as the book shows them their deepest desires that come at a terrible cost. There is no light at the end of the tunnel for the prisoners, as their dalliance with the occult sees them all on death row.
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