Brocéliande (2003)

Really Surprised!

A lot of fun.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

This is pretty much a B-horror movie, but a good effort, I thought, comparable to a good solid outing from Hammer in their heyday. You won't be scared, but you'll be entertained. Somewhat unbelievable plot (in this case, revolving around Druids), very attractive though untalented actresses (who in this case, sadly don't show anything), even more untalented actors.It's somewhat unusually structured. It starts off revolving around a bartender studying to be an archaeologist. Coyote Ugly meets Indiana Jones, I thought at first, but it quickly drops that angle to focus on the plot, how people on campus are mysteriously being killed or disappearing. The mystery of what is going on is revealed about halfway into the movie, then the later half revolves with the protagonists (now expanding to two, or three) dealing with the culprits behind the mystery.I was impressed by that aspect of the plot, there are a fair amount of fight scenes, not the helpless trying to get away sort you see from heroines in horror movies, but direct confrontation.I wouldn't say the acting is good, and it's hard to judge the dialog from the subtitles, but it's not horrible, either.

I am gonna be generous for this one because this movie, no matter how bad other viewers say, was able to keep my attention from beginning until the end.Sure. the plot and twists are very typical. There are times where you wonder, "Where have I seen this before?" or something like that. However, it's impossible for people to watch this sort of movie and expect a Lord of the Rings-style storyline. It only aims to provide light entertainment for us to enjoy without stretching our heads.Besides, the actors played their part okay and the leading lady Elsa Kikoïne was extremely beautiful. I really want to see more of her in the future.The movie overall has a good pacing, never drags itself in one place for too long, and enjoyable to watch all over again. A good rental.

A rather enjoyable debut from a director who seems to have a sincere fondness for horror films of a bygone era. In this fairly simple storyline (a murder mystery that turns into a monster movie), film buffs will find a hodge-podge of references to many genre classics, like Dario Argento's thrillers of the 70s or English Hammer films (in particular John Gilling's Plague of the Zombies for its ritual scenes), and even to stranger oddities like Jack Arnold's "Monster on the Campus" or the Avengers British TV series. Add a bit of Celtic mythology for a background, some fight scenes, and stir well... Now mixing all this into a pleasant, if air-headed, B-movie makes for an interesting challenge! It doesn't always succeeds but is certainly better than other French genre efforts in the field. The direction is often stylish and the performers have fresh faces, the music score is quite good.Of course this is a low budget production (it probably didn't cost more than a couple million dollars), and does suffer from it: several scenes could have been helped by better production values. And there are a few plot holes and a couple of long stretches. But it finally wins the day by retaining its charm to the end just out of sheer unpretentiousness. Not so common a feat, these days.

Another try, another miss. France may be doomed for not being able to produce a good horror movie. I mean... the least they could do was to shoot the movie in the forest of Brocéliande, but even the forest is fake ! It was shot near Paris ! The subject is useless, the actors are really insignificant and the text makes you wish you were deaf. Nothing could save it.Bad... to the bone. I wasn't warned. I want my money back.