Amer

★★★★

(2009)

This wonderful Belgian French production from a few years back is certainly style, style and more style; It’s lengthy near perversive camera work and hypnotic horror editing may be a little too much for those not schooled in the work of the Dario Argentos or the Mario Bavas of the world. But, for those who are, the film is a blast; bristling with an off kilter sexual energy and pummelling in it’s use of sound and music. It’s essentially a “Giallo” split into 3 sections regarding a woman’s relationship, or should that be non-relationship, with the opposite sex. Of course, for a film to put all of its eggs in one basket, it is ludicrous in it’s perseverance with a single scant theme but it’s made with such technical glee that, if you love film making, you won’t mind one bit.

A girl haunted by a dark figure in her house, a young woman discovering her power over men of all ages and a return to her childhood home are the sections here, and very boldly drawn out they are. Shot with obvious influence of the masters of the spagetti thriller, directors Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani expertly manage to make their audience jump, gasp and even groan and the ninety minutes breeze by and what’s more, with hardly a word spoken. The hand full of lines which are uttered in the film have little significance along side the pairs beautiful images and their deft knowledge of the genre’s editing style and music.

Though little is known about our girl Ana (Cassandra Forét, Charlotte Eugéne Guibeaud and Marie Bos) at any stage in her life apart from her, run ins with various horrible ogling men and her anxiety about “you know what”, the actresses portraying her are excellent even in silence. It’s style over substance approach, lingering summer blouse in the wind shots and it’s often relentless experimentation in horror has given some detractors enough rope to hang Amer but, with it still lingering in your mind days after, you’ll hopefully begin to realise that there is something else going on here.

As it turns in to a sheer slasher film in it´s closing part, dazzles with it’s use of block colouring and crash zooms, repetitive editing and 60’s soundtrack, it’s hard to deny that Amer is a strangely effecting film for better or worse. It also contains one of the most horrifyingly tense murders we’ve seen for a long while. Highly Recommended for fans of the Italian horror mystery classics, especially Suspiria to which Amer nods towards several times.