Maléfique (2002)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Eric Valette

Writers:

Alexandre Charlot (scenario) and
Franck Magnier (scenario) ...

Release Date:

7 May 2003 (France)

Genre:

Fantasy | Horror

Tagline:

En sortirez-vous vivant?

Plot:

In a penitentiary, four prisoners occupy a cell: Carrère, who used his company to commit a fraud and...

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Gérald Laroche	...	Carrère
Philippe Laudenbach	...	Lassalle
Clovis Cornillac	...	Marcus
Dimitri Rataud	...	Pâquerette
Didier Bénureau	...	Hippolyte Picus
Félicia Massoni	...	Claire Carrère
Geoffrey Carey	...	Charles Danvers
Paul-Alexandre Bardela	...	Hugo Carrère
Boris Lutz	...	Danvers jeune
Nelson Jourdan	...	Danvers enfant
César Castagné-Favali	...	Danvers bébé
Yves Arnault	...	Le Directeur
Benjamin Haddad	...	Le Gardien de Prison 1
Thierry Cazal	...	Le Gardien de Prison 2
Olivier Bouana	...	Le Gardien de Prison 3

Runtime:

France:90 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

UK:18 | Portugal:M/16 | France:-12 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Germany:16 | Australia:MA

Company:

Bee Movies

Trivia:

Visa d'exploitation en France #104465.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Entre quatre murs (2003) (V)

A movie with a uniquely strange atmosphere

Malefique pretty much has the viewer from start to finish with its edgy atmosphere. Nearly the whole movie is set in a prison cell revolving around 4 characters of which transvestite Marcus and his little retarded boy are way out the strangest. Soon the inmates find a diary of a previous inmate behind a brick which deals with his obsession of occult and black magic themes leading to his escape from the cell. From here on everything deals with uncovering the secret of the book and its spells to flee from prison. That leads to some accidents on the way out of the cell into the unknown light.

Honestly I think the story is rather poor and the final twist is nice but to me the ends are pretty loosely tied together. Anyway I was thrilled until the last moment because the atmosphere of the movie is unique with minimal setting and cast. The kills are raw and eerie... its doesn't take gore to chill your spine and the occult themes are also done very well and reminded me of the hell themes in Hellraiser. Malefique has a claustrophobic and cold dirty feel with greenish tint. At times you wonder if the real or the occult world depicted here is stranger... when the retarded boy looses his fingers and is lulled to sleep sucking on Marcus breasts it seems normal, so how strange can glowing gates to freedom be? With its budget the movie creates a unique atmosphere and chills the viewer in a very different way than most of the genre shockers do. I just wish the story had led to a more consistent finale. Several elements like the visitor with the camera, the other inmates obsession with books and the toy doll vaguely pointing to the end don't fit tight in the story. Anyway, I'll keep my eyes open for other movies from director Valette, although its a turn-off to see he's is doing a Hollywood remake of "One missed call" which was worn off and useless already in the Miike-version.