Inside

The specter of ultra-violent Japanese and American films hangs over this French import. One-time sex kitten Beatrice Dalle (Betty Blue) plays a menacing psycho who holds a pregnant woman (Alysson Paradis) hostage in her house on Christmas Eve, intent on removing the baby with scissors. First-time directors Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury use every trick in the book, including the Psycho-like use of screeching music to punctuate each act of violence. The film is unpredictable and will keep viewers guessing, but its extremely high level of bloody, downright ugly violence will mark it for gorehounds over 18 only.

Shelf Talk: Inside has a ready-made fan base among viewers who love the Saw and Hostel franchises and, even more appropriately, among fans of Takashi Miike, the mega-violent Japanese director (Ichi the Killer, Audition) whose films have a similar bloodbath quality. Inside already has raves from Ain’t It Cool News and Fangoria, so horror buffs will be waiting expectantly for this release.