#Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo

[fathersonholygore]

Father Son Holy Gore Does Fantasia 2024

One of the joys in my film writing career over the past handful of years has been covering Fantasia, and yet again, for my 6th year in a row, I’ll be covering the festival in 2024. The genre films that come to the festival are some of the best you’ll see anywhere; they come from all over the world, thankfully finding a home during the summer at Fantasia. While a lot of attention and press…

[midnightmurdershow]

Livide (2011) Directed by Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury

[six-demon-bag]

THE DEEP HOUSE (2021) dir. Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury

[ohmelinoe]

À l'intérieur (2007), dir. Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury

[sesiondemadrugada]

The Soul Eater (Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury, 2024).

[filmreveries]

Inside (2007) dir. Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury

[esqueletosgays]

INSIDE / A L'INTERIEUR (2007)

Director: Julien Maury & Alexandre Bustillo Cinematography: Laurent Barès

[saturnidaes]

À l'intérieur (2007)

[cemyafilmarsiv]

Livide directed by Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury

[dare-g]

Inside (2007)

[adamwatchesmovies]

Leatherface (2017)

While I didn't enjoy this film, that doesn't mean you won't. No matter what I say, the people involved in this project did it: they actually made a movie. That's something to be applauded. With that established...

No long-running slasher series can resist telling us what happened before the killer got their favourite weapon, superpower, or iconic mask. These misguided efforts at expanding the characters always disappoint. There are now two prequels in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre series. The first, released in 2006, told us what happened before the 2003 remake. Now, the 1974 Tobe Hooper classic has received the same treatment. This is not a good movie but for what it’s worth, it’s the best of these “slasher origin” movies we’ve ever received. Before I tell you why, what’s this movie about?

In 1955, Verna Sawyer’s sadistic children are taken away from her and sent to a mental institution by Sheriff Hartman (Stephen Dorff), who believes the family is responsible for the death of his daughter. Ten years later, nurse Elizabeth White (Vanessa Grasse) and patients Jackson (Sam Strike) & Bud (Sam Coleman) are taken hostage by Ike (James Bloor) and Clarice (Jessica Madsen) following a riot that sees many patients and staff killed. As they travel the countryside, leaving a trail of violence in their wake, the police close in.

With the children’s names changed upon admission to the Gorman House Youth Reformery, neither the characters nor the audience know which of the three men is Jud Sawyer, the boy who will one day grow up to become Leatherface. Astute viewers can probably deduce who it is, but there’s still a mystery as we watch the events unfold and wonder what will turn them into the killer we know. This uncertainty is what elevates this film past the likes of A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Child, Rob Zombie’s Halloween, 2011’s The Thing, Hannibal Rising and other horror prequels. At least this one has ambition. It wants to tell a new story. In fact, if it weren't for one scene towards the end, you probably wouldn’t know Leatherface is a prequel, and I mean this in a good way.

Directors Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, along with writer Seth M. Sherwood have made a film that stands on its own… except when it doesn’t. In the opening scene, we see a young Jud receive his first chainsaw and you will roll your eyes. Still, it’s a breath of fresh air compared to what we've been subjected to by this series before. As of 2017, there are 8 Texas Chainsaw movies. Most of them simply regurgitate what we’ve seen before. Their stories are so bad they would need at least 4 passes through the ringer to become worthy of viewing… and at the end of the process, you’d just have the original movie so they’re utterly pointless. Revise this story 4 times and who knows? I know it sounds like a backhanded compliment but you don’t understand just how awful some of the TCM movies have been.

So it’s the cream of the crap essentially. I appreciated many things this film does but I still would never call it good. A full moon turns to a quarter moon and then a full moon again within the span of a few minutes. The evil characters are so evil they feel out of place. Everyone else is often too unlikeable for you to care what will happen next. The gore is excessive, certain characters or plot points are introduced and then disappear as if forgotten. Ultimately, by being a prequel to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, all this movie does is remind you of a better movie you’d rather be watching.

And so, we’ve finally come to the end of the series. What a downhill ride it’s been. If I were to rank them all from worst to best, I’d go #8: Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. #7: Texas Chainsaw 3D. #6 Texas Chainsaw Massacre III. #5 Texas Chainsaw Massacre IV: The Next Generation. #4 Texas Chainsaw Massacre II. #3 Leatherface (not too bad, eh? Though this mostly speaks to the inhumane wretchedness of the other movies rather than this one’s quality). #2 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) and #1 - of course - the original. Now, let’s hope we can finally put the series to rest on this “high note”. (On Blu-ray, May 31, 2019)

[schlock-luster-video]

On March 7, 2018 Leatherface debuted in the Philippines.

[facesofcinema]

The Deep House (2021)

[1day1movie]

Le Mangeur d'Âmes (The Soul Eater) (2024) Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury.

[fathersonholygore]

[Fantasia 2024] THE SOUL EATER & The Human Terrors of Storytelling

The Soul Eater (2024)Directed by Alexandre Bustillo & Julien MauryScreenplay by Annelyse Batrel & Ludovic LefebvreStarring Virginie Ledoyen, Paul Hamy, Sandrine Bonnaire, Francis Renaud, Malik Zidi, Cameron Bain, & Lya Oussadit-Lessert. Crime / Horror / Thriller ★★★★★ (out of ★★★★★) DISCLAIMER:The following essay containsSIGNIFICANT SPOILERS!Avert thine eyes,or be corrupted forever &…

[cinefilesreviews]

Review: The Soul Eater -- Fantasia Festival 2024

The Soul Eater is screening as part of the 2024 Fantasia International Film Festival, which runs from July 18 to August 4. In the rural town of Roquenoir, France, a series of murders and kidnappings have taken place. One survivor, a young boy, says it is the work of the “Soul Eater,” a creature of urban legend that steals children away into the woods. Two investigators working under different…