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  Satan At This Time Of Year
Year: 2006
Director: Kim Chapiron
Stars: Vincent Cassel, Olivier Bartélémy, Roxane Mesquida, Nico Le Phat Tan, Leïla Bekhti, Ladj Ly, Julie-Marie Parmentier, Gérald Thomassin, Quentin Lasbazeilles, Guillaume Bacqet, Alexandre Borrel, Georgette Crochon, François Levantal, Monica Bellucci
Genre: Horror, ComedyBuy from Amazon
Rating:  7 (from 1 vote)
Review: Early in the morning of Christmas Eve a group of friends are partying hard in a nightclub, but Bart (Olivier Bartélémy) is the worse for drink as he ogles the young women through a haze of alcohol. There's a spot of trouble with one of the bouncers where Bart and his pal Thai (Nico Le Phat Tan) wish to order more drink, but the bouncer is not so sure they need it and the mood turns aggressive. It blows over for a while as Thai goes to chat up one of the barmaids, and she and willing friend Eve (Roxane Mesquida) agree to go with him when she gets off work. Meanwhile, Bart insults a girl on the dancefloor, leading to him receiving the unwelcome present of a bottle smashed over his head and he is frogmarched outside. His friends follow, and Ladj (Ladj Ly), their driver for the night, takes the five of them away from the scene... and into more trouble than they ever imagined.

French cinema, as with many others throughout the world, is not immune to the fears of city folk venturing out to the countryside and meeting all kinds of terrible fates there, and Satan, or Sheitan to give it it's original title, is little different. It was scripted by director Kim Chapiron and his father Christian Chapiron, and for most of the running time keeps you in suspense as to how exactly events will pan out, as the greater part seems to be concerned with humiliating the luckless lummox Bart. The five companions are not entirely sympathetic, and are marked out as such after we see them not only shoplift from a service station but zoom off without paying for their petrol as well, an act that gives them all quite a buzz.

So they head out to the countryside, and towards what Eve promises will be a fine place to spend their Christmas Eve; although the story is set at this time of year, it doesn't labour the point which only turns up on rare occasions, but it's of some significance to a man they meet after the sun comes up. This man is Joseph, and as he's played by a grinning Vincent Cassel he should set alarm bells ringing in the viewer's mind that all is not right out here in rural France. After introducing them to his goats (Eve takes a squirt of milk, much to Bart's disgust) Joseph helps them free their car from the mud it's stuck in by pushing it with his feet, so he has quite the reserves of strength as well. Soon the five are at the mansion house, but already the questions are mounting up: where are Eve's parents, for a start?

Don't expect any easy answers and you might get through Satan, but if you do then you probably won't get on with Chapiron's elliptical stylings. Joseph has something to do with all the doll parts littered around the mansion, but what? And what is his interest in Bart, whose name he has trouble getting right? The great Cassel's unsettling yet highly amusing performance is what carries the film's tension along, as you're not sure if even Joseph is competely sure what he's up to in the service of whatever force he is in the service of. The plot threatens to go off the rails when it unwisely plays the "is it real or a dream?" card, but just about pulls the disappointment back for a final twenty minutes that are deliriously strange, involving possible incest, human sacrifice and the Prince of Darkness himself, who doesn't actually appear but makes his presence felt. Or does he? Music by Nguyen Lê.

[Tartan's Region 2 DVD has a making of featurette, a trailer and a short film as extras.]
Reviewer: Graeme Clark

 

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