Rent Switchblade Romance (2003)

Brilliant! - Switchblade Romance review by Avijit

Unnervingly Brilliant! End - of - discussion as far as psycho-thrillers go! Can teach Hollywood a thing or two about edge-of-the-seat excitement and tension!

Gore ahoy - Switchblade Romance review by sb

FILM & REVIEW https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338095/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_6_nm_2_q_switchblade Second French film of the day and a greater contrast you could not get. Around the turn of the century ( which dear god is getting on for a quarter of a century ago) there were a series of films that got dubbed as New Extreme French Cinema. It was a movement where directors would push just how they could go with audiences and included Bais-Moi , Irreversible and Martyrs and this fits neatly into the genre. Two friends Marie (France ) and Alexia (Maiween) are travelling to the latters parents remote farmhouse. They arrive late so not much in the way of interaction. - then the door bell goes and it’s the trucker from hell who proceeds to stalk and slaughter the entire family He abducts Alexia in his truck and Marie stows away to rescue her as his trawl of violence continues ….but something isn’t quite right… As an exercise in tension and sheer terror it’s very effective with a gore count off the scale…..i guess it’s up to the viewer if they buy into the ending but i found it be one of the more interesting twists in the genre so 4/5

Twisted slasher from France - Switchblade Romance review by NP

Also known as ‘High Tension’, this is a violent French slasher directed by Alexandre Aja. Two appealing best mates Marie (Cecile De France) and Alex (Maiwenn Le Besco) are visiting Alex’s parents who live in the remote countryside. It’s not a complete surprise when people start getting carved up in some graphic and impressively staged set pieces. That’s the story for most of the film.

For such subject matter, I found the relentless ‘going through the motions’ of such a genre film tough going after a while, and the antagonist is somewhat underwhelming, both in terms of presence and physicality. Just an ordinary, middle-aged man, really.

When filmmakers (or writers of fiction in general) choose to plant a big twist toward the end of a story, it presents a huge risk. For the biggest misfire I’m aware of, we have to travel all the way back to 1935’s ‘Mark of the Vampire’, where all the carefully layered and staged elements that made the viewing experience so delightfully gothic were all undone when a giant revelation ripped the ground from under the audience and destroyed the atmosphere. As far as twists go, I either love them or hate them.

Except for here. The reveal is expertly done, and very well played. And yet as soon as it happens, I wasn’t sure whether it actually made sense or undermined much of what we’d seen thus far. Ultimately, I recommend just going with it. The twist may not stand up to scrutiny, but is undeniably entertaining, and answers as many questions as it poses. My score is 7 out of 10.