Alias (2002) User Reviews

Not bad for one of 'ours', but just not good enough

[philip_vanderveken · 6/10 · 27 November 2004]

If you compare the Belgian and more in particular the Flemish cinema with the French and other European cinema, than you'll see there is a big difference. In the other countries they are much more chauvinistic when it comes to their own movies. Especially in France many people will watch "their" movies rather than Hollywood productions. But perhaps there is also another reason for it. It may also be because in our country they just don't make many movies and when a movie is actually made, most of the time its quality isn't really stunning.

The directors say that they can't help it. They don't have the money to produce a movie like they do in Hollywood. True, most of the movies they have to finance themselves, because the government doesn't give them many subsidies. But don't tell me that money is the only problem. Next to financial problems we also have a lack of talented directors who are able to put our little country on the map of big cinematic countries. I'm afraid Jan Verheyen won't fill up that gap. I'm not saying he's a bad director, he just isn't great as he proves with this movie. It has a cheap and amateurish feeling about it.

The actors didn't do too bad most of the time (except for Hilde Van Mieghem who is so incredibly fake and unnatural that it all becomes laughable), but the script is far from original. It feels like a script that no-one in Hollywood wanted, so Verheyen took it and filmed it over here instead of in America. Too often you can see that the director is a great amateur of cheap horror movies. He uses the same kind of scenes and ideas, which doesn't really do any good to the movie.

I'm not really surprised not many people actually saw this movie. It's worth a watch, but don't expect too much of it. I give it a 6/10. Not bad for one of ours, but just not good enough

I expected more...

[petra · 6/10 · 26 November 2003]

When the movie started i felt good. Hilde De Baerdemaeker is a good flemish actress and i love Gent and i was happy to see the city i know so well in a movie. I liked the first half hour very much... but it went downwards after that. Hilde (Eva) played very well, but that was about it. At the ending, where they "all" are at "Le Vallon", it became worse. I kept hoping the ending would make the film right, but it didn't. It's too bad Verheyen couldn't keep the level of the first half hour of the movie. I gave it a 6 and that is mild.

Belgium goes Argento

[xrellerx · 6/10 · 30 November 2003]

Verheyen, the director of this much discussed thriller, is an avid fan of B-horror/thrillers films. If you're not down with that and you haven't seen for example Italian cults like the Argento films, I understand that this film is pretty strangely build up. Also in ALIAS nothing really exciting seems to happen at first sight. It's the last part of the film where Verheyen suddenly changes course and shows us some really sick characters and bloody situations and then you realize (or you should realize) that all the small situations the personalities have encountered led to a finale so in-your-face for a Dutch public. ALIAS has a strong Argento touch in the psychology and story telling (e.g. Terror at the Opera). I liked it.

Worst thriller ever!

[silverauk · 1/10 · 13 March 2002]

This film starts well in the beginning, but after 10 minutes loses focus and becomes not worth looking at. The actors try to save the movie which cannot be saved. This movie is lost money. Is it true that Belgians cannot makes thrillers?

Not bad at all...

[jangu · 7/10 · 21 July 2005]

This Belgian attempt at combining thriller, slasher and romance could have been very, very bad. But as it is, this is a movie that is stylish, quite well acted and entertaining for most of it's running time.

The plot is absurd, no doubt about it. We get a budding romance, incest (well, sort of), psychopaths galore, voyeurism and a little sex. I wasn't expecting a lot when I put started to watch this DVD, but soon became involved in this twisting tale of murder and betrayal. Eva (Hilde De Baerdemaeker) becomes a witness to what might have been a murder or just a suicide. Along the way she meets Dieter (Geert Hunaerts who is a major hunk!) who's a man who might or might not be a raving psychopath. What follows is a suspenseful tale, not in the least predictable, but very implausible.

Stylishly shot (for the most part in picturesque Gent), this is a movie that is very easy on the eyes and the comparison other reviewers have made to this being a Belgian "giallo" is quite accurate I think. Dario Argento's "Tenebrae" spring to mind since it is built the same way story wise and also contains a wild and gory climax. Actually, the climax is quite unexpected because the build-up until then points to a more subtle ending. Instead we get a really whacked out finale with the blood flowing very freely. I liked it even though it sometimes feels a bit rushed! :)

The actors do okay, I guess. I wasn't very impressed by Hilde De Baerdemaeker (at crucial moments she seems a bit unresponsive), but considering this was her first part in a major movie it's not that bad. Geert Hunaerts is fine as the mysterious Dieter and Hilde Van Mieghem really shines as the "mother" who turns out to be...well I don't want to spoil to much for any future viewers, let's just say that she is hiding some VERY dark secrets behind her respectable exterior. A chilling performance and, at the same time, an amusing one too.

I wasn't to impressed by the soundtrack. It serves it's purpose I guess, but it's your average "suspense track". Otherwise a movie I thoroughly enjoyed even if I understand that this might not be everyone's "cup of tea", so to speak. Give it a try, however!

Boring!

[maniac-32 · 2/10 · 8 February 2002]

I saw this film at a sneak conference at Kinepolis Brussels. 'De Alias' was promoted as a chiller. Well, I can tell you I didn't 'chill' for a moment. This is a boring movie plagued by a plot which is way too simple. The acting is bad, except Geert Hunaerts, Hilde Van Mieghem and Pol Goossen. The ending makes up for a lot and you can tell by looking at the final quarter of the movie that director Jan VErheyen has what it takes to direct a thriller. But in this cases, the plot and the average acting ruin the film.

Good European Thriller

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 25 September 2005]

In the pleasant city of Ghent, in Belgium, the girl-friends Eva (Hilde De Baerdemaeker) and Patti (Veerle Dobbelaere) videotape the robbery of a car first and later the suicide of a hooker. When Eva's camera is stolen by the thieves, Dieter (Geert Hunaerts) retrieves it , returns the camera to Eva and has an affair with her. Meanwhile, Patti decides to investigate the tape and finds a dark secret about the incident and Dieter.

"Alias" is a good European thriller, filmed in the beautiful city of Ghent. The first half part of the story is very promising and original, but unfortunately the conclusion falls in the usual clichés of horror movies. The unknown actresses of this movie are extremely beautiful and charming, have great performances and are another attraction. I particularly loved the performance and beauty of Hilde De Baerdemaeker, and I hope to have the chance to see her again in other movies. I expect also to have the chance of one day visit this lovely city of Ghent, which seems to be wonderful. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Alias – Relações de Sangue" "("Alias – Blood Relations")

Wasted money

[DjiM007 · 1/10 · 17 February 2002]

This movie was an absolute waste of money (for me buying a ticket and for the Flemish govt. paying for the production). Even though the beginning of the movie is okay, it gets worse and worse and keeps getting worse; ending up as a terrible movie. Awful acting, bad and uninspired camerawork, a terrible story, this movie has it all. Jan Verheyen, the director, makes it all too easy for the audience (at the end of the movie one of the main character just tell the story in 2 minutes instead of telling it with images) and directs this movie as if it were a (bad) theatre play. When Hilde Van Mieghem starts acting as in a theatre play too, things go wrong. Really wrong. Even I can do better. This movie stinks and the people who gave it a score of 10, don't know anything about movies (and they probably think that 'shrek' is the scariest movie ever made).

not bad at all, but...

[metalisart8 · 7/10 · 8 August 2002]

To me, the best movie Jan Verheyen ever made was "alles moet weg". Simply brilliant. And what about this one ? Well, it had almost immediatly my interest, because it was a thriller. When the movie was over, I thought it wasn't bad. And it isn't. The acting is good, some moments are really frightning and we saw a new actress here: Hilde De Baerdemaker. She has one of the main roles in this movie and she does that very well. The weak points of the movie? Well, the ending is a bit to cheap, it looked like Verheyen hadn't much time left and why does he always put those freaky sex scenes in his movies? OK, I'm not extremely catholic and I have nothing against sex or nudity or beautiful women, but in every movie Verheyen uses some "hardcore sex" That really sucks. Also, some people said it was "the most scary movie that they'd ever seen". Well, not exactly... It IS scary, but it's no "silence of the lambs" or "de lift", made in the Netherlands, by the way. My final opinion: not bad at all, but due to the ending & some stupid scenes, who think they're scary, this movie is not a masterpiece. But, this is belgian made, for our country it's allright. With a larger budget, this would've been better than "de lift". Nice try.

Fast food flemish entertainment

[rob_be · 5/10 · 9 December 2002]

although Jan Verheyen movies come in with a lot of publicity - at least in Belgium - they never predict high quality. this time the expectations were higher due to a nice trailer and promising cast. watching the movie was a nice experience at the beginning, but this quickly faded along the watching. too many rediculous coincidences (ex. geert hunaerts - while playing the lead role - who's helping this young lady having her purse back) and holes in the story (ex. werner the smedt - boyfriend of lead female role - who's able to detect the 'horror' house???). Also the end is rushed unfortunately. On those moments you can see Verheyen knows his classics, but isn't having the talent to bring over the atmosphere of his inspiring examples. Last point of comment is the weakness of choreography that was killing a lot of shots along the movie. 5 on 10 for this semi-freaky movie is my score, thanks to great acting of Hunaert and most of the other leading actors, certainly not the side part actors and also thanks to a couple of nice actions scenes and special effects. worth a look at the vcr.

Giallo BE-02

[KuRt-33 · 8/10 · 2 September 2002]

Everyone who owns the Belgian film "De Potloodmoorden" will explain the film's presence in the collection with the excuse that the movie isn't good, but that you should own it for its novelty value. "De Potloodmoorden" is credited as the first Belgian attempt at a giallo (the Italian equivalent of a film noir, with - if possible - added gore and nudity). The only other film coming close of the giallo genre was the lackluster "The Antwerp Killer" (some gore, no nudity, no plot whatsover, no sign of anyone with the ability to act). And now in the year 2002, only thirty years after the best gialli were made, comes "Alias", a film by Jan Verheyen.

Verheyen is, as mentioned elsewhere, apart from director also the host of Filmnight Special, a Friday night show for lovers of cult cinema. This, of course, shouts for a quick and cheap reference to Alex Cox, the British director who was allowed to give his opinion on movies shown in the BBC2 series Moviedrome. There is an interesting analogy here, but I will explain that later. Whereas Filmnight Special started as a cheap excuse to show some trash the channel had to buy to get blockbuster, the second and third series focused on more interesting movies and some months even had a theme: Hammer films, gore (Cannibal Holocaust, films by Peter Jackson and Lucio Fulci), cult classics, interesting failures and the Worst Films Ever (open another page to see why From Hell It Came, Trog and The Frozen Dead were aptly chosen). Only one movie could pass as a giallo: The New York Ripper. Maybe Jan Verheyen should've dedicated a month to this genre, it certainly would have made some comments friendlier.

At its worst, a giallo is a boring thriller with a misogynous undertone where women get to show as many body parts as possible before having their throat slit. At its best, it's an equal to the film noir with suspence, an erotic undertone and (still) buckets of blood. "Alias" does to the giallo what "Straight To Hell" (by Alex Cox) does to the spaghetti western: it's an ode to a genre, showing not only the highlights, but also the weaknesses. Having seen a few gialli certainly helps to appreciate "Alias". It's far from perfect, occasionally too vulgar (which can be expected in a film by Verheyen) and some performances really are terribly poor (I did my best not to cheer whenever a bad actor was killed). Still, Verheyen deserves all the credit we can find for casting Hilde De Baerdemaeker, who is staggering in her debut film.

In an era where too many movies are far too clean, an ode to the giallo is more than welcome. That this was made by a movie buff who knows how to direct, is a great plus. Fanatics will certainly recognize the hints at films by Mario Bava, Dario Argento and even a few less familiar names, which is also nice as the line between hommage and rip-off is very fine indeed. Verheyen managed to keep his balance and make a nice film that I gave 8/10. Which, incidently, is also the score I gave to most good gialli. Told you it was a hommage.

Over the top

[jill-deschrijver-369-684932 · 1/10 · 14 March 2014]

Jan Verheyen is a capable movie director. But this is perhaps the worst movie I've seen in a while that pretends to be better than it is.

The plot lacks all credibility. The acting is well done, but that does not make the plot any more credible. The credibility issue starts as soon as 'Eva' kisses 'Dieter' on the mouth at their first accidental meeting - him tripping over two thieves who stole her camera.

It is as if the movie does not know what it wants to be: a murder mystery thriller or a psycho slasher movie. The murder mystery is solved halfway through the movie already. And the psycho slasher part takes itself too serious and lends too much from Hollywood in a world that just is not that scary.

If this movie was supposed to keep me in suspense, it failed utterly. It might have worked when I was 10 though.

absolute crap

[liveheroes · 1/10 · 18 February 2002]

I cannot imagine seeing a more stupid movie this year. This is absolute crap. I like the director though and he has made some okay movies like Team Spirit and Alles Moet Weg, but I have no idea why he wanted to make this. So yes, it is the first Belgian thriller ever. It is also the first Belgian entry for next year's rasberry awards. The acting is okay, the scenery as well (hey, it shows great views over Ghent in the beginning of the movie), but the story is just so ridiculous and unbelievable... The special effects (well, when they start killing people) is so unprofessionally done, it's a laugh. Jan Verheyen presents cult movies on friday nights at one of the Flemish television channels (Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Cannibal Holocaust, etc...) and makes compilations of the most stupid scenes in movie history... The chances of Alias becoming cult are small, but I guess it won't be long before we will see bits of this movie in one of his compilations.

Good acting, nice camera-work, bad ending

[Keyser_H · 4/10 · 22 March 2002]

okay,

some patriotic voice in my head says to be not too hard for this 'piece of art'.

The movie starts very good. The camera finds the right position at any time. The acting is realistic and sober. The dialogues are good.

There's a lot of suspense, the tension is rising every minute. I thought the story would turn out to be quite complex and intriguing. Halfway the film there were a lot of possibilities to get to a great final.

But Mr Verheyen had something else in mind. intrigue? complexity? a real plot? I didn't find it. The movie ends like any ordinary slasher, and not even a good one. The 'mother' is supposed to be a real freak, well ... she is. but they made it to easy. voyeurism, killing, orgies, sadism... you cant name it or she's involved with it. and that's all that character is made of, no depth, no real emotions.

The actors gave the best they could. There were some real good prestations. a good story on first sight, but it get really bad and ordinary once you get over the hour watching.

as a real Belgian, you have to see it, but don't watch it twice!

Best Belgian Thriller Ever

[DJPilly · 10/10 · 31 January 2002]

When going to the sneak-preview at Kinepolis Brussels, I was surprised to see such a great movie been created by a complete Belgian cast.

2 Girls are making a citytrip and are filming everything. When a little later, a girl falls out of a window, it's caught on their tape, just as a car theft a few moments later. When their camera gets stolen, a handsome young guy helps them to find it back. One of the women falls deeply in love with him and spends the night with him (without having sex). It's the beginning of the end of her relationship. But is the man as lovely as he looks?

After "Team Spirit", this is another great movie by Jan Verheyen. Where his other movies are merely stuff for relaxed watching on a saturday evening, this one gives you sometimes the creeps. The excellent music and beautiful photography create an environment of fear and suspence.

The actors are playing in one of their bests appearances ever. The rookie - Eva - is playing like she's done it a million times, but actualy it's her first movie.

I want to recommend this movie to everyone, who is sick and bored of always watching the American concept in movies and wants to give an excellent thriller a chance.

Could it be...a Belgian giallo?

[Coventry · 9/10 · 1 December 2004]

My beloved Belgium country never was a great cinema-nation, but there certainly are directors here with vision, talent and ambition. Jan Verheyen is one of them! He's a real film-buff with a passion for vicious horror movies and rare cult gems. With 'Alias', it feels like he finally had the opportunity to do what he really wanted to do. It is, in fact, one giant homage to the style of film-making he loves so much. Alias is a nearly authentic giallo! The plot is nonsense, the characters are deranged and the climax is exaggeratedly gore. What few people realize, however, is that it's MEANT to be like this! Gialli (originally these were extremely violent and explicit Italian film-noirs / murder mystery films) aren't about logic or credibility…they're about experimenting with themes and adding as many twists 'n turns as possible in order to fool the audience. Verheyen approaches the subgenre like a real pro. To the already quite demented plot, he adds perverted undertones like voyeurism even a variant on the Oedipus theme. The plot involves two women who, during a daytrip in Ghent, coincidentally videotape the suicide of a young girl. Well…it appears to be suicide but closer analysis of the tape proves that the girl was murdered instead. And it looks like the handsome man they met the same day knows more about it. The girls' private investigation leads all the way to a hidden mental asylum carrying many secrets…

Personally, I think this is great stuff. Verheyen focuses on the strength of the genre (the visual flair) as well as the weaknesses (plot, dialogues…). The opinions on this film were very divergent. Since it contains a lot more violence and sleaze than the average Belgian film, it received some negative criticism. I can easily imagine why people didn't like the vulgarity of the screenplay but that's mostly because they're not familiar with the rich horror genre Alias brings tribute to.

Very nice movie: A true dutch language Giallo has come to our screens!.

[rgelmers · 8/10 · 18 February 2005]

I think this movie was quite successful in its purpose. Although the movie had a slow start it certainly made up for that loss in the last 45 minutes or so. The first half hour it looked like it was going to be one of those 13 in a dozen Hollywood flicks with no own identity at all. After those 45 minutes it became apparent that this was not the case.The madness and sick twists at the end are totally unexpected as Dieter seemed such a nice guy. the scenes at the psychiatric hospital were my favorites. The ending was entertaining. I can see this kind of movie isn't everyones cup of tea but one cannot deny this movie has something to say for it. I think the overall rating of 5,9 is a tad low and I would definitely rate it a 7 (my vote is an 8 but that is because I am really into this kind of flicks).

I recommend anyone to give this a try and people who like strange twists and horror / thriller / Giallo genre movies should definitely watch it.

From pretty slick to pretty sick!

[bioscoopzaal · 8/10 · 11 February 2002]

"De Alias" is Belgium's first true high-profile exploitation movie. You might not guess it by the looks of the poster, and even the trailer merely suggest a slick thriller, but nothing could be further from the truth. Director Jan Verheyen artfully combines a romantic encounter with some pretty twisted twists.

"De Alias" gets off to a tense start, when a man is being dragged from his isolation-cell in some loony-bin, is being put in a car, smacked in the face and driven off a cliff. The police barely has a clue what might have happened, so the case is quickly closed.

Flash-forward to the city of Ghent, where two girls (newcomer Hilde De Baerdemaker and Veerle Dobbelaere) by accident film the apparent suicide of a beautiful young girl, who jumps naked out of a forth-story window. A little later, the girls are nearly robbed of their camcorder, if it hadn't been for a mysterious stranger (Geert Hunaerts), who beats up the thugs and returns the camera. Eva, one of the girls, is immediately smitten with the hero, and decides to go for a drink with him. But little does she know that the stranger may, or may not have anything to do with the girl's suicide earlier on ...

When reading this, you might think that this looks like the outline for yet another predictable thriller. Wrong! Screenwriters Verheyen, Dirickx and Koeck have made considerable effort to create a twisty, yet believable story, that goes pretty far, without losing it's credibility. The first half of the film moves along smoothly while introducing the characters, raising the tension and revealing the true identity of the mysterious stranger. But it's only in the second half of the film that the plot takes a turn for the worst and the pace really picks up. The viewer is being thrown from one revelation into the next, while the protagonists are dropping like flies. Voyeurism, sex, violence, incest ... you name it, "De Alias" has it all, and still manages to be neither gratuitous nor tasteless. Director Jan Verheyen is obviously very fond of the '70s trash-cinema and enthusiastically recycles those themes into a truly exciting and gripping film. Some films he may or may not be paying direct homage to are "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre", "Psycho" and "Se7en". Just look at one of the final scenes, where the protagonist is invited to a macabre dinner-party, or the scene where the killer's father is reloading his gun, while his terrified victim has to watch him. Truly cinema at it's weirdest.

Despite all these merits, the film does have a couple of flaws, not in the least the terrible performance by Veerle Dobbelaere. She simply isn't up to par. For some reason she doesn't look the part and has difficulty making her character believable. On the other hand, the performances by Hilde De Baerdemaker and especially Geert Hunaerts, are excellent. The direction and photography are exceptionally good (especially for a Flemish film), the music is appropriate and for once the dialogue isn't predictable and idiotic.

In short: like Verheyen's previous film "Team Spirit", "De Alias" is one of those rare Flemish films that succeeds in being different, without forgetting to be good. If you enjoy a weird film, you might like this one. (7.5/10)

Keep going on with this kind of movie's, Jan!

[P.lolita · 9/10 · 3 May 2002]

WOW!! First I saw Panic Room with Jodie Foster, that was a great movie! Than one hour later I saw Alias, that one was BRILLIANT!! So now I ask myself those people who voted for this movie, what did you had in mind to see for a movie? You all can't be seriously to give this movie that low???? 5.9???????? God, I think the people who voted so low never saw a good movie before, so if you want to see a bad movie go to a Dutch movie with a lot of sex and stupid lines or go to ALI G that might be the movie you want to see, the worst movie ever made!

Thank you Belgium for this fantastic thriller, it was excited from the start and the end is excellent very surprising!!!!! And for those which voted that low, go and see the movie for a second time maybe you do understand that this is a good movie after all!

flemish but very good - bizarre combination

[Takin · 10/10 · 16 February 2002]

This is one of the greatest flemish films ever created ! People who doesn't like flemish films have to see this one, it's really something else and it is better. Well done Jan !

Great Flemish movie!

[raptor1982-1 · 9/10 · 14 January 2003]

This if the first Flemish movie (after Team Spirit) that I really like. It has everything you need: good acting, good story, good soundtrack,...

Jan Verheyen has done a good job! 9/10