This movie Is a must for anyone who likes suspense. These kids wanna play themselves right into an electric chair! They were between the ages of 10-15? WHAT?! Who lets a 10 year old stay out all night? Where were their parents? This was just sad. I would recommend this to a friend.

A fine European thriller. The opening over the titles is gripping enough, and it never really lets go.For the first half hour, I had Hitchcock at the back of my mind: "Let's suppose that there is a bomb underneath this table between us. Nothing happens, and then all of a sudden, "Boom!" There is an explosion. The public is surprised, but prior to this surprise, it has seen an absolutely ordinary scene, of no special consequence. Now, let us take a suspense situation. The bomb is underneath the table and the public knows it, probably because they have seen the anarchist place it there. The public is aware the bomb is going to explode at one o'clock and there is a clock in the decor. The public can see that it is a quarter to one. In these conditions, the same innocuous conversation becomes fascinating because the public is participating in the scene. The audience is longing to warn the characters on the screen: "You shouldn't be talking about such trivial matters. There is a bomb beneath you and it is about to explode!" " We know of the 'bomb' from the word go, and yet Moureau and Palud refrain from showing it and hold it back ... then hold it back some more until the string is at its very tautest. In fact, as is often the case with this kind of film, less is better than more ... but the 'more' part - when we get to actually see the threat - is still excellently handled. And the downbeat ending is the very best way it could have gone.Really good stuff.7/10

***MAY BE A SPOILER TO SOME***Strong sturdy plot.All characters play their roles well.Keeps you very entertained.Story line doesn't drag.You're stuck into the the movie the exact moment it begins.Shows you a lot of key points to how the movie was based on actual events, e.g. what the murderess said in court, shows when the bodies of the dead were found. A lot more entertaining than the American version. (The Strangers).Well worth the watch.

A second foreign film review for Gruffhouse. We have to say… We're really looking forward to watching another one. This film, known is 'Ils' in it's original state, is a French /Romanian film directed by David Moreau and Xavier Palud (both better known for directing 'The Eye'). Straight off, we can easily say that we loved it. Jonathan Ross called it "77 minutes of gloriously maintained tension". He's not wrong.Let us describe the opening scene for you. The film starts off with a mother and daughter arguing whilst on a car journey to… who knows where. They lose control of the car trying to avoid something in the road and plough straight into a lamp post. After many failed attempts to start the car, the mother gets out of the car and looks at the engine. Everyone knows what's coming. It's a horror film. It's obvious. BUT the eerie noises, the lingering shots of the road that slot in between short, choppy camera shots almost makes it seem like something paranormal is about to happen. The daughter calls out to her mother. There's no shadows. No evidence of anything moving around the car. The hood of the car slams shut and the mother's nowhere to be seen. She gets out of the car to look for her mother but the creepy sounds of the forest send her running back to the vehicle. She is then taunted and terrified by the silence and the mud that is slowly and methodically being flung towards the car. The silence strikes again and she is strangled from behind by some unknown character in the back passenger seat. We don't see these characters referenced again throughout the whole film. They're purely there to start the ball rolling.There are two other characters in the movie: Clementine and Lucas. : a young couple who have recently moved to the area. We see Clementine drive past the crashed car from the previous night as she makes her way home – a very clever, subtle way to set the time frame for the movie.The directors do something very clever over the next few scenes; they make you really like these characters. You see them bond in their new home, romantic evenings. You learn to understand their relationship.The horror for this young couple starts one night when their car gets taken. This is then immediately followed by a string of events. The power goes. The phone lines are down. The terror begins. The couple are now being hunted in their own home. It is clear to see the scenes are heavily influenced by the classics. There are lingering shots down the long hallways of the house - very reminiscent of shots from 'The Shining'. There are scenes where Clementine is running through the attic of the house through large pieces of insulation and plastic – mirroring the famous scene from 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' when they're running through the meat cooler. The location scouts did a fantastic job on finding the house. The setting is dynamic – plain walls, lots of doors, hiding places. It's perfect for this sort of movie.When Lucas gets hurt it becomes Clementine's mission to find a way out. Cue the epic-style hide and seek scenario in the attic that I referenced earlier. Then the chase continues outside the house and into the woods that surround them. Now it's just a desperate attempt for her and injured Lucas to escape and find help. What comes next is incredibly creepy.We were on the edge of our seats throughout the whole film. It was frightfully tense and well worth a watch. Unlike most horrors, the ending is pure brilliance. Reading the blurb I was expecting a disappointing 'Panic Room' type storyline. It was the opposite. A fantastic twist and a great plot line throughout. Oh, and I forgot to say… it's based on true events. *shudder*http://gruffhouse.blogspot.co.uk/