Among the Living

I would be really happy if Bustillo and Maury will continue to make films together… and even happier if they never again write another themselves. After Inside and Livid, only a fool could expect a sophisticated script by these horror filmmakers/butchers, their strengths lie obviously elsewhere: in the gore, in creating unsettling atmospheres and nightmarish events. I’d be fine with that, because in this regard, it’s not the avalanche of cheap jump-scares typical of modern commercial horror movies, but rather a planned and intentional descent into darkness, while striking the darkest chords of human psyche. But too much is too much. The climax is so stupid that feels almost like a comedy. On the other hand, some sequences (when taken out of context) were really brilliant – Mr Naked is very creepy. (11.11.2014)

One of the most terrifying cases of trailer syndrome – individual scenes played up to the maximum, but the whole is fatally incohesive, not to mention the tragic lack of dramaturgy or the half-baked nature of the screenplay. The narrative gives the impression of being a rough bunch of ideas thrown together after the first brainstorming session that no one bothered work out and refine, let alone assess with a clear head. At the same time, the initial ambitious plan to combine the tradition of ’80s children’s horror with the harrowing and repulsive naturalism of the French extreme horror-film production of the new millennium sounds like a great idea, but it simply doesn’t work in practice. The two stylistic approaches differ in basic matters to such a degree that they cancel each other out. Eighties children’s films like The Goonies, from which the filmmakers apparently drew the most inspiration (an underground labyrinth, a pirate ship, a simpleton in a monstrous body), are built on illusion, adventure and innocence. Conversely, French hyper-realistic nihilism turns children into unlikable assholes, taints illusion with rot and, instead of guilelessness and naiveté, employs extreme corporeality, derangement and distasteful grotesqueness. Whereas adventure movies from Amblin and the like are focused on bringing friends and family together, the right opposite has to happen in Aux yeux des vivants. The film unavoidably gives the impression that its creators skipped one essential step between brainstorming and shooting, which was to acknowledge that this was never going to work and put an end to the project. Unfortunately, they didn’t do that, probably because of their own fame and the support provided by the French government, which finances absolutely anything and everything. (10.08.2016)