Livid ((Livide))

A Dimension Films release (in U.S.) of the La Fabrique 2 production, in colaboration with SND -- Groupe M6, La Ferme! Prods., Plug Forex. Created by Verane Frediani, Frank Ribiere. Executive producer, Vincent Brancon. Directed by Julien Maury, Alexandre Bustillo. Script, Maury, Bustillo.With: Catherine Jacob, Marie-Claude Pietragalla, Chloe Coulloud, Chloe Marcq, Felix Moati, Jeremy Kapone, Beatrice Dalle.Following their savage home-invasion surprise "Inside," horror-aficionado co-helmers Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo choose the medieval with "Livid," a substandard thriller that nevertheless finds in france they filmmakers releasing a number of memorably nasty images. Tale of the youthful nurse-in-training who will get menaced by vampiric ballerinas while seeking hidden treasure within the old, dark house of the obviously comatose crone, the pic is really eager to talk about the very best that, ultimately, it does not make much sense. Still, this Dimension Films pickup provides enough stylish jolts and giggles to sustain the eye of discerning gore-hounds. In early stages, the movie's 20-ant heroine (Chloe Coulloud), whose in a different way colored eyes offer her a spooky look of her very own, encounters an unconscious old lady (Marie-Claude Pietragalla) who inhales like Darth Vader from the gigantic mask shackled by her withered face. While being been trained in the fundamentals of elder care through the callous Mrs. Wilson (Catherine Jacob), Coulloud's cash-poor Lucie discovers the bedridden Mrs. Jessel, an old dance instructor, includes a fortune stored away somewhere within the recesses of her dilapidated mansion. Over ales on Halloween evening, Lucie's fisherman love (Felix Moati) and the brother (Jeremy Kapone) persuade the youthful nurse to interrupt in to the house together and search for the loot. Not surprisingly, everything doesn't go based on arrange for the trio. First, they accidentally lock themselves within the pitch-black house. Then they are driven nuts by fleeting glimpses of mounted animal heads, existence-like mannequins outfitted as ballerinas, and bizarre taxidermy tools. (Maury and Bustillo prove keen on false scares to some fault.) And so the group finds out the old Mrs. Jessel is not fully bedridden in the end. Came from here, "Livid" throws aspects of one half-dozen horror subgenres in the wall to determine what stays, throwing in slashers, flesh-people, eye-stitching freaks, seeing stars emerging from human mouths, a floating ghost-cum-angel, and Beatrice Dalle as Lucie's mother. Just how each one of these terrors fit together is not obvious, and also the author-company directors don't establish a good enough camping vibe to signal the pic needs to be taken this way. For their credit, though, Maury and Bustillo work miracles with castmembers youthful and (very) old, as the dependably sharp editing of mononymous Baxter cuts towards the bone and beyond. Visual effects are, such as the narrative, everywhere, but other tech credits go to the mark, including Raphael Gesqua's pulsing score and multichannel seem work which more than makes up for which d.p. Laurent Bares favors to help keep at nighttime.Digital camera (color, widescreen), Laurent Bares editor, Baxter music, Raphael Gesqua set decorator, Marc Thiebault costume designer, Martine Rapin seem (Dolby Digital), Jacques Sans supervisory seem editor, Emmanuel Augeard visual effects supervisor, Laurens Ehrmann visual effects, Plug Forex effects supervisor, Olivier Afonso stunt coordinator, Emmanuel Lanzi assistant director, Leonard Guillain. Examined at Toronto Film Festival (Night time Madness), Sept. 12, 2011. Running time: 93 MIN. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com