Bloodtype Online
For the best of the Horror/Cult/Exploitation film experience
Sheitan (2006)
In the realm of horror and exploitation films a lot of time things
like acting, storytelling and your basic technical aspects get thrown
by the wayside because of budgetary reasons. Then sometimes a film
comes along that for whatever reason manages to hit all the right
notes and it turns out to be an exceptional film. That my friends is
what Sheitan manages to be in a nutshell. Sheitan is a complicated,
yet comprehensible story about a group of twenty something's that get
into some severe trouble after a night of debauchery at a local
nightclub. Once that happens they are off to a country house with one
of the girls they met that night at the club. The country house isn't
what they are used to and seems to be much more than what they
bargained for. The film starts with a line that says "Lord, do not
forgive them, for they know what they do" which shows just the kind of
story you are dealing with here.
The film stars the excellent Vincent Cassell as Joseph who the group
runs into at the country home when they arrive puts on one hell of a
performance. He's chilling, funny, and menacing as can be at times.
The group is made up of Bart (Olivier Bartelemy), Thai (Nico Le Phat
Tan), Yasmine (Leila Bekhti), and Ladj (Ladj Ly). There is also a
small appearance in the film by Monica Bellucci as well. This well
rounded cast assured that the film would be good as just about every
one of them was believable and passable in their characters.
Bartelemy especially had some very entertaining scenes with Cassell
that are definitely some of the brightest spots of the film. It's
very apparent and clear to me that director Kim Chapiron knows exactly
how to pull the things he needs out of his actors, because he gets a
decent amount here. But the bottom line is for Sheitan this is the
Vincent Cassell show. His character is mad as mad can be, and doesn't
manage to stray away from it the entire film. He completely engrosses
you with his performance and I must say that I commend him for not
only doing this project, but being a producer as well.
The technical aspects of Sheitan are also slick and engaging in
almost everyway. The camera work is stellar with cinematographer Alex
Lamarque doing a wonderful job with some very inventive and stylized
camera shots. The lighting is excellent and certainly adds to the
atmosphere that the film has which changes multiple times over the
course of the film. The locale that the movie takes place in is also
exceptional with the main focus being on the gigantic country home,
and some really cool scenes (one at the hot spring comes to mind) that
exude onto screen because of where they are shot.
The story itself is pretty well put together and really has you
thinking during the course of the movie. I remember several times
while watching Sheitan and thinking to myself, "I have no idea what
direction this is going" which I must say helped the film a great
deal. That feeling is a great one to have during this because there
are scenes that go from humorous to extremely tense and suspenseful in
a matter of seconds. The movie has subject matter that is literally
off the map as there are club brawls, strange sexual tension between
characters, jet black humor, uncomfortable scenes, gore, and much much
more.
Overall I think that Sheitan is a film that deserves to be seen by
horror fans simply for the performance of Vincent Cassell himself
(which by the way, is hardly recognizable in his role as Joseph) but
stands on its own two feet as a gritty, strange film. I would
recommend especially for horror fans looking for something different
that certainly delivers on many different levels. It's a film that is
unique in its own way and manages to pull no punches at getting its
point across. It's a damn fine film, and I would have to say that
it's worth catching in one way shape or form.
For this and other fine releases you can go to http://www.tartanfilmsusa.com
Rating - ***
