French! Did someone say French? Yes, French horror, my friends. Don’t knock international horror till you try it. The best horror out there didn’t just come from America. Sacrebleu! Not America? How can that be?
Some of the best horror movies come from abroad. Asian horror is very popular amongst Americans and is widely popular worldwide as well. French horror films, though, aren’t as well known. Most of them are the product of the New French Extremity movement and are therefore fairly recent, even though there are some classics such as Les Yeux Sans Visage and Les Diaboliques. French horror films are compelling, stylish, and innovative.
Here’s a list of some of our favorites in French horror for you to indulge in.
Frontier(s) (2007)
A group of young people end up on the run after a robbery, staying at a motel which is run by insane and murderous Neo-Nazis who proceed to humiliate, torture, and kill them. Will any survive? If you liked Hostel, then you’re going to like this movie.
Le Frisson des Vampires (The Shiver of the Vampires) (1971)
Isle and Antoine are newlyweds en route to visiting Isle’s cousins. On arrival, they discover that her cousins have died. They end up in a chateau full of vampires – one of which emerges from a grandfather clock and bites Isle in the neck. It is not a film strong on plot or sense but is instead a beautiful, sexy, haunting vampire film.
Haute Tension (High Tension) (2003)
Marie and Alex are heading to the latter’s home to study. All seems kosher at first until a mad axeman enters the home and slaughters Alex’s family in a highly gruesome fashion. I found it to be absolutely riveting, satisfyingly brutal, gory, and full of suspense; and the end isn’t something you see coming.
Ils (Them) (2006)
A couple live peacefully in their isolated country house, but one night they wake up to strange noises… they’re not alone… and a group of hooded assailants begin to terrorize them throughout the night. This is one of those movies that will remind you to lock your doors and windows.
Les Yeux Sans Visage (Eyes Without a Face) (1960)
A mad French surgeon and his assistant go out kidnapping girls in order to steal their faces. His daughter – Christiane – was seriously disfigured in a car accident that was his fault, and now he is trying to transplant some unfortunate women’s faces onto his daughter in order to restore her appearance. Her father may be obsessed with face transplants, but Christiane has had enough and rebels against his awful tyranny. This is France’s most famous and iconic horror film.
Les Diaboliques (Diabolique) (1955)
A wife and her husband’s mistress team up together to kill the hateful, sadistic Michel – a headmaster in a boarding school. The body goes missing, and the two paranoid women are at each other’s throats, threatening to expose one another. The intrigue between the two builds to a horrifying climax in which secrets are blown open and nasty shocks are revealed. This is a great horror film that is never over the top and maintains its tension through paranoia and psychological horror rather than more visceral things like gore.
Want to add a few of your own? Tell us about it in the comments.