SAINT ANGE [2004]

Writer/director Pascal Laugier's Saint Ange (House Of Voices) is a spooky ghost story riddled with cliches and paint-by-numbers characters.  

It manages to pack in enough effective scares and a noteworthy performance from Lou Doillon to help drag the viewer to the baffling finale but that's about it.  Sloppy, boring storytelling that doesn't even try to do anything different from the rest of the ghost stories out there.  

2 bags of drowned kittens out of 5 

THE TALL MAN [2012]

Pascal Laugier, the French Canadian writer & director of the extremely disturbing Martyrs, returns to the screen with a dark and gloomy film that sets out to haunt again. 

The Tall Man is a twist-filled mystery/thriller that keeps you guessing right up until the end, making sure your emotions are taken for a unsettling ride all along the way.  What took me off guard was Jessica Biel's ability to carry the film with an emotionally and physically demanding performance.  The focus gets a little out of hand and the dialogue is klunky at moments but with some moody atmosphere, amazing camera work and mesmerizing music, The Tall Man delivers the goods.

3 questionable radio sermons out of 5

MARTYRS [2008]

This "lovely" French-Canadian example of absolute horror is a revenge tale at heart and the other half a mystery of sorts as it keeps you guessing just what the hell is going on.
I won't tell you anything about it, to prevent any spoilage but I can tell you the first time I saw it I wondered why I was watching this gruesomely violent film that seemed to have no boundaries. After it was done, I was satisfied with what I had seen and experienced and made a note to watch it again sooner than later, particularly to study the brilliant performances from the two female leads.
Beneath the extreme gore and violence, lay a compelling, albeit disturbing, tale that begged to be told.
It's filled with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing and preventing you from turning it off, just to see how it eventually unfolds.

4 Nailed On Masks out of 5