Inside

Yet another movie that makes me not want to interact with people, ever. Inside is about a pregnant woman named Sarah (Alysson Paradis) who loses her husband in a bad car accident. The night before she's supposed to give birth, she is attacked by who could be considered the craziest bitch in France (Béatrice Dalle) that wants her baby by any means necessary. Yes, this is a French film, and it is glorious. It's gory, scary as hell, and truly a masterpiece. I first heard about this back when Dimension started releasing movies on their Extreme branch. Then I saw the DVD art, and it took me almost 6 years to gain the courage to watch it. There's just something about seeing rusty, bloody scissors dangerously close to a pregnant woman's belly that is very unsettling.

But I'm glad I finally did. Even if you took away the blood and guts, Dalle is still terrifying. You discover the reason why she's psychotic, and it does make sense. The only problem is she's freaking brutal in her methods, and then you don't feel as much sympathy toward her. Speaking of her methods, I have to commend the special effects makeup/visual effects team on this movie. It's one thing to do great makeup, but when the camera actually zooms in on the damage and you have to remind yourself this isn't a snuff film? That is some bad ass makeup.

We also have a case of fiction not being far from fact. That's right, this is also based on actual events (thanks to Milos for the tip). While the real story doesn't have as high a body count as the movie, it's still chilling: A mentally unstable woman lies to her friends and family about being pregnant. When it comes time to give birth, she puts out an online ad seeking a pregnant friend. Whoever had a due date that was close to the one she made up became her victim. Yes, she performed a forced c-section, and it is as bloody and disgusting as it sounds.

I think the fact that this is based on a real story just adds to horror. When you know a plot is just made up, it makes it easier to deal with. If there's extreme gore and mayhem, you can rest easy and tell yourself it's only a movie. But what if you know some of the images you saw actually happened? I don't know about you, but that scares the shit out of me. You can't rest easy knowing there was or is someone screwed up enough that can commit such acts. And people wonder why I don't like leaving my house...