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.
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