Among the Living (2014) User Reviews

Very good but some flaws

[PedroPires90 · 7/10 · 1 July 2021]

I have some questions (how the killer was able to locate all of them??) and some characters decisions are a bit stupid, however it delivers so well in terms of suspense and atmosphere, that I can forgive that (even if...with those things working, this would be at least 4 stars).

I didn't have an issue with the tone of the film. As a big fan of Spielberg, I've felt a lot of coming of age vibes here. As a big fan of horror, I've felt the gore from the intro and third act and loved the tension and suspense created. I was also not put off by the deaths off scene...I think the directors were trying to save until the end what they wanted to show us (even the violence), so we wouldn't really know if the plan was to reunite the kids in the shelter or just killing them, as we never see a death on screen - this is IMO another reference to Spielberg, who loves to save things for later in the film. It's not as violent/gory as other installments from these directors, but honestly I didn't care that much.

Overall, it was a very good experience for me, the right tone, the right atmosphere, a creepy killer and a compelling story. However, the plot is far from perfect and they could have done better with that.

Good start, some cool scenes, but it loses itself in pure nonsense

[El_Ingeniero · 5/10 · 17 November 2014]

You have to be given the chance of believing in a film to enjoy it. The film starts brutally and unexpectedly and the appearance of a Goonies-style gang of boys promises fun and adventures mixed up with horror. However all your hopes quickly dissolve into nothing when the characters begin to behave in, to put it simply, stupid ways. The feeling that I got as a spectator was that the directors thought of scenes they wanted to shoot and then forced the characters to do things to make them happen and move on to the next one. To me, that sort of decision can kill a movie. I'm all up for suspension of disbelief, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Among the Living soon becomes some sort of cross between Friday 13th and Goonies, but it doesn't quite work. Shame - I loved "Inside", I've been reading these French guys' magazine "Mad Movies" since I was 15 and I REALLY wanted to like this film... but I couldn't.

Disappointing, but...

[jean-lager · 7/10 · 2 January 2015]

First of all I would like to say that I really love the work of Bustillo and Maury, they are really nice guys and really talented. Let's start with what is wrong and then with the good part :) I was really really disappointed with the rhythm of the movie... Seriously there must have been a huge problem during the writing of the script because there are many moments that are out of tempo, with the actors waiting in front of an immobile camera... It's almost unbearable. I think there has been a problem of preparation and nobody knew what to shoot on set. But there are many good points: the music, the photography, the acting (for a French movie it's exceptional), the "boogeyman". I am still looking forward new movies from these guys, but I hope these problems will be solved for the next one :)

Disappointing in many respects, plus a story that leaves several unneeded open ends

[JvH48 · 3/10 · 5 October 2014]

I saw this film at the Imagine (sf/horror/fantasy) filmfestival Amsterdam 2014. It was programmed as a "surprise" film, so I had no means to outguess what was in stock for us. But even given an opportunity to prepare, there was not much material to support any opinion, be it good or bad or ugly. There was only one user review on IMDb, which was overly positive. Having seen it beforehand, it only would have amplified my disappointment, given what I know now.

For starters, it was based on a not very well constructed script, that took off very slowly. And what's worse for a movie advertised as "horror", it never became creepy in any way. Also, the final scenes contained undirected and confused violence, leaving us confused who was targeting who. Finally it left unneeded open ends: WTF was wrong with Klarence, who remained invisible in the prologue, but was apparently someone of importance to the father figure. (*** SPOILER AHEAD ***) When we eventually get to see him in display as a large, naked, bald human, only 6 years old (as we are told in the final scene), I'm completely lost on what it is all about and what caused this misfortune situation.

Three boys are prominently present in the story, and perform very naturally. However, Klarence had the assignment (not so easy when really 6 years old) to kill the three boys. Obviously, he missed his assigned target for the greater part, because we see (*** SPOILER AHEAD ***) one of the boys still alive in the end. In a misguided attempt to compensate, he killed other members of their respective families in the process.

This film ranked lowest for the audience award. There is justice after all, and I'm not alone in my negative feelings after the fact.

Experienced duo fails to deliver

[Shadowplayed · 6/10 · 19 March 2016]

It's hard to talk about expectations when I knew as little as possible about this long pending Bustillo/Maury project. Alas, I ended up disappointed just the same.

First of all, after the previous films that helped them make a name for themselves and get recognition from the fans, it was natural to expect next level from experienced directors which was not to be the case here.

Film opens up with the grim picture of dysfunctional,'white trash' family during Halloween in a recognizable, gory manner, in which directors basically homage themselves. A little psychosis, and bucket of blood for good measure. Strangely, as film proceeds, along with weird pace and questionable reasoning, much of the killing occurs completely off screen whilst in other instances villain lingers and enjoys inflicting pain to his victims. So, I'd say the motivation for this gory - but - not - in the right - places treatment boggles the mind. We all know how this duo of directors love their gore and do not shy away from it...so...what the heck?

Soon enough though, film takes new turn so instead of 'inbred, disfigured backwoods monster family' we get an homage to classic slashers with all the familiar tropes. Okay, Bustillo/Maury more or less abandoned the idea of following their own aesthetics and went for Halloween homage instead. So, this is where real problems started.

As per usual for most slashers protagonists are bound to act irrationally and as dumb as possible. These people took the cake. Soon, everything goes down the drain, half-established backstory of the killer (which, by the way, is one of stronger points, given his medical condition), the motive for killing, the choice of victims, the timeline becomes iffy, important kills completely overlooked, stupid and careless law enforcement officers acting totally useless once they'd showed up. No comedic relief, and the said police could have easily been turned into one, the effect could have been better cause otherwise I'm not sure what was their purpose in this film.

To say something about the scare factor; admittedly the film had some tense moments and practical fx was rather admirable. That's not the problem, we all know these guys can direct. But what happened to the script and who turned this story into a convoluted mess is another thing completely. Shame, because it could have been so much more, had the vision and script been clearer and same goes for intentions regarding the course of the story.

If you need gore, nice fx and masks to get you going, this film is not half bad, but if you also happen to need a logical, sensible narration, well, you might have to look elsewhere for your 'fix'.

French horror thriller

[t-dooley-69-386916 · 5/10 · 14 March 2016]

The plot is that three young boys bunk off school on the last day of term and get up to some very anti social behaviour to while away the time. Then they happen upon a disused film lot/studio. What they do not know is that they have discovered the lair of two refuges from the real world and this 'family' do not welcome visitors, unless of course they have abducted them.

What follows is a fairly good watch. There are a few moments where the kids do the stupid thing, but then it gets into a thriller stride and becomes a better calibre of film. Also if you get miffed over bad police procedures being portrayed in film then this will wind you up no end. If Le Gendarmerie really behaved like this then they would all soon be looking for low rung security jobs.

This is not a splatter gore fest though there is some blood letting and the main 'evil person' is not really 'creature feature' scary either. Where it does score fairly well is in the suspense and the acting. All three kids do a really good job. So it does have flaws but if you ust sit back for the trip then this is a fairly passable effort. Original title was 'Aux yeux des vivants' and it is in French with sub titles.

Haunting and intense though a bit undercooked

[spencergrande6 · 7/10 · 5 December 2017]

I mostly enjoyed this. The film taken as a whole seems pretty slight, not just in terms of plot (which is standard for the directors) but also in effect. The film is creepy and nasty. There's a horrifying "monster" in this played with great physicality by Fabien Jegoudez. There are scenes of absolute intensity, with beautiful haunting mise en scene.

Yet the whole thing feels a bit undercooked. What starts as a dark side of the Spielbergian kids on a mission story turns into a home invasion thriller and then into something else. It's not enough of any but it's fun watching it try. There seems to be a sociological context to it all that was a bit lost on me. Maybe it's a French thing - this worry about toxic gases from the military affecting the children. But should we fear them or pity them? No matter.

Dull horror retread

[Groverdox · 4/10 · 30 October 2017]

2007's "Inside" was a taut, powerful horror/thriller , which tested the audience's endurance level for violence and shocks, particularly toward the usually out-of-bounds target of pregnant women.

Nothing in that movie would have made you anticipate that the filmmakers would follow it up with something as uninspired as this.

It's also surprisingly light on the violence, with nothing to really shock or surprise you.

The story is actually pretty simple, but is told in a confusing way, robbing it of all tension. It's something about three kids who skip school and stumble onto an abandoned movie set where they see someone disposing of a body. No one will believe them, of course, so they go home and find themselves under attack.

None of this elevated my pulse-rate. It certainly felt like it was supposed to, but the movie was too confusing and uninvolving to ever connect with me.

I said it was surprisingly light on violence and shock tactics. It's depressing that about the only such tactic this movie pulls out will not be shocking at all to anyone who has seen "Inside": a pregnant Beatrice Dalle (you guessed it) getting stabbed in the stomach.

It's the kind of movie that makes the previous movie by the same filmmakers seem like a fluke, like all the ideas they really have were covered completely in the first one.

I also think they had no idea how to handle a bigger budget; the cheaper cost of the first one kept things taut and effective and claustrophobic. Now, there's too many locations, too many characters, too little interest.

Fun Park

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 23 December 2014]

Or maybe not. But don't be fooled by the beginning of this movie. It does turn out to go a bit of a different direction after that. While it starts off very dark and also seems to tend to be in a special sort of "mood", we switch location and also a bit of characters. At least that's what it looks like. The story overall might not make the most sense (and characters reacting weird as always in horror movies), but the tension it builds is really good.

The kids playing a big role here, have to shoulder quite a lot of the movie and they are doing a good job. The effects are also very good and while it is by the numbers (no pun intended), you can have fun with it, if you are not too precious about it.

What a letdown

[TdSmth5 · 3/10 · 5 September 2016]

Kids reluctantly go trick-or-treating to some run-down house. The door opens. It's the lady from Inside who is pregnant this time. Her husband is having some flashbacks presumably related to military duty. He was exposed to some gas that may genetically affect his descendants. Suddenly the woman takes a bat and smashes his head in. She then goes upstairs and complains about someone or something in the room. She's about to kill it, then the husband shows up and attacks her to protect whatever is in the room. She slits her throat and he removes the fetus from her body and leaves.

So far so good. Two years later we meet three annoying troublesome teens. They run away from school instead of showing up for detention, smoke weed, try to burn down a barn, nearly kill the barn's owner with a hatchet. They go to an abandoned movie studio where they find a woman screaming in a car trunk. They call the police who find nothing. But we know someone lives in one of the studio buildings.

The kids are returned to their parents. And eventually something shows up at each kids' house to kill the residents. We learn who is doing the killing and of course the final family will have to fight back.

If this were a movie made by someone unknown it would be a bad movie but given that it was made by Bustillo and Maury makes it even worse. And Among the Living is unfortunately very bad. The movie never takes off, it never goes anywhere. After the intro, it creates zero tension, zero thrills. There is no central character, no one to root for. The villain is weak, too, lacks personality and doesn't look cool either. I counted one interesting death scene. I can't really think of a reason to recommend this movie.

A truly intense and nightmarish horror experience

[Coventry · 8/10 · 11 April 2014]

Today, directors Alexander Bustillo and Julien Maury returned to the Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Films to introduce their newest effort, entitled "Aux Yeux des Vivants", which more or less translates in English as "Amongst the Living". Nearly everyone in the public was also present at this exact same spot a couple of years ago already, for the premiere of "À l'intérieur" a.k.a. "Inside", and thus we all knew to prepare for another potentially sickening and heart-wrenching horror film with explicit violence, disturbing atmosphere and nearly unendurable suspense. Bustillo and Maury are truly gifted and visionary young film makers who really understood the secret formula to genuinely terrifying and successful horror! They don't avoid any taboo subjects or sensitive themes and confront the viewers with their deepest fears and darkest nightmares. "À l'intérieur" entirely revolved on an extreme terror siege against a 9-months pregnant woman (with some of the cruelest torment sequences ever registered on film), while "Aux Yeux des Vivants" shamelessly handles about physically deformed children and shamelessly depicts uncompromising violence against innocent women and underage children. More importantly even, it's has been a very long time since I witnessed so many utterly intense and uncomfortable scenes of non-stop suspense. The usually always noisy and over-enthusiast crowd at the Brussels' Film Festival often turned very quiet and timid when gazing at some of the expanded and massively unnerving scenes where the young protagonists are stalked in their own houses. It's the last day of school before summer vacation and the troublesome trio Victor, Tom and Dan decide to leave early for a bit of exploring the countryside and committing a bit of random petty crimes like arson. They end up at the abandoned exterior film studios Blackwoods and witness how a masked figure drags a kidnapped woman out the trunk of a car and into an underground lair. We viewers already saw during the intro of the film that the studios might be the hideout place of what's left of a severely dysfunctional family. The boys return home and get punished for their acts by their parents, but that's nothing compared to the horror that awaits them later that night… The mysterious figure followed them home and plans to silence them forever. Strangely enough, quite a lot of the violence occurs off-screen, but still the suggestive terror and intense atmosphere is almost unbearable. I will, for example, always remember a specific scene featuring a ringing mobile phone and an icky clown's mask…Now that is what I call real horror! Bustillo and Maury are even so talented that they manage to make the oldest and most clichéd sentence in horror cinema history – "There is something under my bed" – still as petrifying as never seen before! And, for the sick puppies amongst you, don't worry too much about my remark regarding off-screen violence, as there still is plentiful of gore and bloodshed featuring on-screen as well. The three young protagonists give away remarkably stellar performances and they receive excellent support from more experienced French actors and actresses like Francis Renaud, Anne Marivin and Béatrice Dalle. Personally, I still regard "À l'intérieur" as slightly superior – mainly because the nature and motivation of villain is more realistic in this film – but "Aux Yeux des Vivants" is nevertheless also a must-see horror movie for the true and most courageous fans of the genre!

Pretty good!

[lindseyebranch · 7/10 · 30 October 2021]

It took me a while to figure out which year this took place in. Good suspense. I guess police take forever in every country. There is still a little bit of unknown.

Gateway to France

[thesar-2 · 5/10 · 29 September 2017]

Man, had I seen this as a boy, the same age as the boys in this movie, this would've simultaneously scarred me for life and would've been the number one gateway to horror I'd never forget.

Boy, the French know horror...but not how to end a film. Granted, I only recall seeing their High Tension and now: Among the Living and both had great cinematography, graphic, original scares and brutality and a WTF ending. Not to spoil either film's ending, but to be positive, this one was far less disappointing, yet still made my head spin.

The basic gist: after an incredible start with a wide open range, 3 terrible kids witness a ruthless kidnapping and spend about two seconds both reporting and being rejected by the police. Following, they spend even less time acting like it was a big deal. Well, until they're hunted by one of the savage fiends.

The movie had great promise, looked beautiful and was wildly original and all at the same time had huge plot holes, subplots that literally went nowhere and a, again, "really?" finale. Not to mention there weren't many characters to root for with the exception of one innocent family.

For the good portion, this is a recommended film and I was thoroughly pleased with seeing a fresh take horror film. And still, I wouldn't denounce it completely for the third act as it's still "eh." So, it's a very soft approval.

***

Final thoughts: As stated, High Tension had the worst and most unbelievable of the two climaxes, but I would recommend that film more as what led up to that twist reminded me more of why I love horror.

Really disturbing and intense movie.

[HorrorDisasterGuy-90617 · 7/10 · 14 October 2023]

The story is pretty good and I like some aspects of it. The opening of the movie is pretty disturbing with a dysfunctional family and the brutal violence that happens. The movie have a eerie atmosphere with what the 3 kids find at a abandoned movie studio and the revealed of Klarence. Also the movie does a great job with the suspense during the 2nd part of the movie of when the masked killer is going after the kids.

I found the twist with one of the villain to be really odd and I'm curious on what he suffering from. Also some parts of the movie feels like it happens way too quickly and the climax isn't that impressing.

Brutal & scary, a lesson in horror film making

[Stevieboy666 · 8/10 · 14 December 2017]

Three French school kids bunk off, burn down a barn then stumble across something horrific that will cost them and their loved ones dearly. I think the French are quite possibly at the forefront with horror cinema at the moment, this is a movie that I could imagine Rob Zombie wanting to make but it simply wouldn't be at this level. Here we have an interesting, though simple plot. There's gore, some pretty strong, but the film's strength for me was it's tension, reminded me of say John Carpenter's "Halloween". Very well filmed. I picked this up for a mere £1 from my local Poundland shop, what a fantastic bargain it turned out to be. I really don't understand the current 5.4/10 score. Perhaps many people don't like having to read subtitles!?

I don't have a clown.........

[FlashCallahan · 8/10 · 16 March 2016]

Three boys decide that they want to start their summer holiday early, so they skip the last day of school to have a little fun.

Their day gets them into a little trouble, which causes them to wander to an abandoned film studio on the edge of a town called Blackwood Studios.

The boys are horrified when they see a man in a clown mask dragging a chained woman across the lot. They to flee and try to get the police involved, only for the police to assume that they are causing more trouble.

They end up going back to their homes, unaware that the masked man and his father are planning on taking their revenge...........

I was pretty weary about seeing this, I've never seen Inside, I've heard it's very good, but the content does seem very disturbing, almost too disturbing for its own good, so having a cameo from Béatrice Dalle during the opening only reminded me of that films content.

But I shouldn't have been so judgemental on something that I have yet to see, because if it's anything like this film, it's going to be something else.

To describe this film in a sentence could be 'Rob Zombie does Stand By Me', but that's only the first twenty or so minutes. The three boys bump into The Devils Rejects type family who are atypical in every Cannibal/Texas Chainsaw/Nuclear Fallout type horror film, so this could have been just your normal stalk and slash movie.

But then a little conversation about soft toys in one of the boys bedrooms turns the film into one of the most chilling horrors of recent years, and the fact that it doesn't go down the Blumhouse road of Quiet............Quiet...............Quiet..............Bang!!!!!! way to cattle prod your audience into jumping is quite unique theses days, it's the atmosphere and the setting up of each individual house siege that makes the film as scary as it is.

The only hing that really let's the film down is the revealing of one of the stalkers as some kind of androgynous being, almost alien like, that takes away the reality of the horror that is unfolding.

If it were a normal person, rather than what is unveiled, the film would have had a more effective ending rather then the fantasy it turns into.

So all in all, it is a really effective horror come house invasion movie, but one if the characters makes it less plausible.

Weird, violent and compelling.

[parry_na · 8/10 · 7 August 2020]

You know how, in slasher movies, people get knifed/cut down/etc and then get up and carry on fighting? Well, to get it out of the way, it's not really a spoiler to say there's a fair bit of that during the second half of 'Among the Living.'

That is the nearest I can come to any kind of criticism concerning a film that, from the pre-credits sequence until the final line, is terrific. Compelling. Weird. And violent! Three of the main players are 14 years of age, and their tender years gave me the feeling that things wouldn't get too grim. Happily I was wrong. Victor (Theo Fernandez), Tom (Zacharie Chasseriaud) and 'nerdy' Dan (Damien Ferdel) are three scamps skiving school. They visit an abandoned film lot - an excellent location for horror, and one I'm surprised isn't featured more often. They are enjoyable company and very well played. They witness frightening brutality from Klarence (Fabien Jegoudez), who is a truly frightening individual.

No-one gets through this film without receiving some sort of bloody graphic punishment, and the audience is given no clue as to who will survive and who won't. I had a great time with this subtitled French film and recommend it fully. My score is 8 out of 10.

Tensed n brutal.

[Fella_shibby · 8/10 · 28 March 2017]

After watching Bustillo n Maury's Inside n Livid, i was very impatient to watch their Among the Living.

This movie was on my radar for a very long time. Finally saw this recently.

The early sequences are brightly shot and filled with some beautiful cinematography. The greenery, the lake, meadows, barn n the abandoned studio r all captured very well.

Another best part is the character development in the first half.

The movie works effectively because of its pacing and build up of suspense and frights.

I found the last 20 mins unpredictable n very tension filled.

The film is about kids at peril which is heavy for me but kudos to the makers for not showing any harm towards the kids.

I can't stand violence towards kids.

But thankfully most of the kills are offscreen, especially related to kids.

I disliked the scene where the father beats up his son.

The scene where the freak is on the top of a car staring the kid is downright creepy.

Another creepy scene is the time when the kid says that he doesn't have a clown.

Few flaws: How was the freak able to locate the addresses of all the three kids.

The pamphlet of the missing pet wud have got just one address.

Why no hunt for the main culprit?

Viewers may find shades of Hills Have Eyes, Stand By Me, Halloween, TCM, etc.

Frigtening and brutal.

[jbotha-80-969596 · 9/10 · 14 August 2014]

I watched "Among the living" at the Melbourne Film Festival the other day not knowing that it was directed by the team who made "Inside" which is a favorite of mine and a great example of a horror done right with brutal violence and palpable tension. If I had know I would have had even higher hopes for this film but after watching it can see their hand all over it.

"Among the Living" is about 3 boys who witness someone being abducted and what occurs afterwards. I won't spoil it for anyone here but would thoroughly recommend this film. There are some great scenes in this one and I was creeped out a number of times. 9 stars from me.

Knife-edge old-school horror film that echoes Carpenter's HALLOWEEN & early Cronenberg with a touch of Craven

[george.schmidt · 8/10 · 5 November 2014]

AMONG THE LIVING (2014) *** Zacharie Chasseriaud, Damien Ferdel, Fabien Jegoudez, Francis Renaud, Theo Fernandez, Anne Marivin, Beatrice Dalle, Chloe Coulloud, Dominique Frot. French filmmakers Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury create a knife-edge old-school horror film that echoes Carpenter's HALLOWEEN & early Cronenberg with a touch of Craven about a trio of tweens who on the last day of school come across an abandoned film studio open lot that has more in store for what they bargain for: namely a deformed, deranged murderous young man and his equally homicidal brute father who, once discovered of their existence, enact a vengeance of payback. Graphically violent and peppered with intense suspense and outrageous kills. Nifty homage to contemporary classic horror.