Traditionally, the French have been known for excelling at the finer things in life: art, music, food, romance, riding bikes whilst wielding baguettes and wearing berets. In the past few years, however, they've gained a reputation for making some of the most brutal and innovative horror films around, with Alexandre Aja's Switchblade Romance kicking off what's called the New French Extremism. Aja's film is pretty well known at this point (as is its disappointing twist ending), as are several other of the films associated with the movement: Xavier Gens's Frontier(s), Pascal Laugier's Martyrs, all that fun stuff. One that gets way less attention - undeservedly - is Inside. Inside has everything that typifies films from the New French Extremism, takes them even further, and offers a whole lot more besides. What starts as your standard home invasion thriller takes a turn for the weird when it turns out the person inside the house is a pregnant woman and the person trying to get in is also a woman, a mysterious stranger who seems to have designs on her unborn child. The films plays on the inherent body horror that comes with pregnancy, and the primal fear of somebody trying to take a baby away from its mother. It also plays on putting a load of really cringy, realistic and terrifying gore in to make sure you're constantly watching from between your fingers.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
