House of Voices

source: House of Voices

I won't waste too much time reviewing this movie as it seems nobody that actually worked on it did either. There's no pacing, scenes are just thrown in to make you wake up as the story gets unbearably boring. One of these 5 second "jump" moments is actually the only decent part of the movie. The music is badly timed and for some reason, very loud. The acting is just awful, nobody is believable, nobody has tangible motives. The end doesn't make any sense. Some people seem to be still thinking about it but shouldn't feel like they're missing in an "I didn't get Donnie Darko" (great film) way because there's just nothing to get. You keep hoping that this will have a payoff like The Others, even one which you can see coming, but it doesn't. The end is just rubbish put together to wrap the film up and when the credits appear you feel robbed. It would have made a bad 15 minute movie, but as a full length feature it's just sadistic.

This movie is a well made suspense flick it will keep you on the edge until the end, this film is well made and beautifully directed, photographic scenes are superb and angles of the camera work are impressive, highly recommended, suspense at his best. I greatly enjoyed this film for its atmosphere and climatic ending. Yes, I do wish that it had been more explanatory, but the final scene has already burned itself into my brain I loved the slow, languid pace that it moves at. It has a very deliberate movement through what plot we get. The cinematography is fantastic. So many shots are absolutely gorgeous to look at. The direction, by Pascal Laugier, is superb. The acting is very good, Virginie Ledoyen is lovely as our star, Anna. She does a good job at trying to ground her character in the reality of the unreal situation. Lou Doillon is Judith and brings a nice crazy aura to the unbalanced orphan. Rounding out our main cast is Dorina Lazar is Helenka, who may hold the key to everything. We get small snips of dialog about Anna's past, about the kids, but nothing to really define her past, or to give any real insight into what happened there. Why is this mystery a mystery? What is being hidden and from whom? Why did Anna end up at this remote facility? The questions go on and on. 9 of 10 Judge it by yourself. Be prepared to be on the edge all the time. Won't let you down, it did not to me, anyway.

I noticed this movie had a lot of bad reviews, and they're wrong. Though it could do with a bit more explanation in some parts the overall movie is fascinating. It has a near perfect cast, small though it is, and beautiful music. Not to mention it's set in a gorgeous old house. If nothing else see it for that. I think the actual story was very well done, it's a change from the stock standard 'heroine' ideal by far. Maybe thats the part many people missed. The filming of it was beautifully done and built up the atmosphere very well, though sometimes it could seem a little slow. It was successful at being decently creepy without going too far. The costumes are great and subtly manage to change the mood of the film, something not easy to pick up on but it's there if you look closely. This is a film that you need to read into, it has many, many small details that could easily get overlooked since we're used to having clues and suchlike handed to us in most other films. The character development was easy to follow, nothing seemed out of place. Definitely a must see for people who like movies such as The Turn of the Screw. It has the same eerie atmosphere and a well built though small cast. It definitely leaves you with chills.

I'm confused as to why this movie has been rated so low by other users. The only conclusion I can draw is that these voters have probably become too accustomed to the current batch of brainless American ghost stories such as the second rate Ringu remakes, or the abysmal 'White Noise' style junk. Whatever the reason, I thought I ought to provide a counterbalancing verdict because this film deserves it. Saint Ange isn't a perfect film. It's not even a great one in fact... but it *is* creepy. And more impressively - a lot of its creepiest moments occur in broad daylight. It breaks many of the clichés of current horror, and it tells a story that is both disturbing and moving at the same time. It reminded me of the good old ghost movies like the haunting and the changeling. The directing, cinematography, acting and music are all exceptional. The only true problem I see is that the script can be interpreted in many ways... It doesn't explain itself with crystal clarity... but what is wrong with that? People loved Donnie Darko for exactly the same reason! All said and done, if you want a quality ghost story that offers a welcome break to the generally dire clutch of US horror on offer at the moment then this is a good one.

Out of the awful movies I've rented over the years, I seriously can not think of one that was worse than Saint Ange. There was essentially no plot whatsoever in this film. The girl arrives and we learn she is pregnant. All fine, but then we see Anna trying to inflict a miscarriage. OK, fine again. But then, what in the world is the significance of her voyage, to what seems like hundreds of feet below ground. The underground ward is in in seemingly immaculate condition and is home to a bunch of bald children. We see Anna go into labor. OK again. Well so how is she able to get back up to the main level. Maybe there is no answer to this question but surely there should be an explanation for why she IS found back on the main level, dead, clutching her still connected child??? If the movie was not terrible enough, in the last disturbing scene, we get to see a dead Anna nursing her dead child with the dead bald children observing. If anyone has any clarifications on any of these points I would love to hear about it.

This was one of the Halloween DVD's we rented. It was not a difficult movie to interpret but it really was lame. It was not a slasher flick, but it was more of a zombie flick that used a lot of clichés. The music, the camera shots, and the standard chicks in despair. Disturbing too, because kids are involved. Can't imagine why their parents allowed them to be in this movie. I had no problem with the ending because it was open to interpretation but the whole movie sucked so really there was no point. The other movie we saw this week was "High Tension" which was great. That's the one you should rent. "Saint Ange" is as dumb, unimaginative and amateurish as another Hollywood zombie movie you see everywhere on the Internet made by some 14 year old pimply kid in his parent's basement. It looked really low budget, so maybe that's why it sucked. It looked like it was made for 500,000 euros or something. Maybe with a bigger budget, they could have made it with a professional and skilled writer and director.

OK, I agree with most of the comments here but really the music of Joseph Lo Duca was not so bad. It was I think the best part of this banal movie. But for everything else? Absolute merde, as you French say. True, people here also fell asleep or walked out of the movie, which happens all the time with all the bad movies, even with 'special events' movies with the director and actors present, Italians are not shy to walk out or snore loud if they believe the movie is bad. We care of course but we are more honest about our feelings. When this movie ended, I had to go home and watch some real movies in my DVD collection just to cleanse myself of the disaster that is called "Saint Ange" and also it seemed much much longer than it's running time. It was more like watching a 3 hour movie probably because nothing was happening in the plot and I kept looking at my watch and waiting for the finale which is also hopeless and stupid but not surprising considering the rest of this movie was just as miserable.

When I watch a movie, I like to be entertained. When I watch a horror movie, I like to be scared. With "Saint Ange" I got nothing, I only got bored and mad at myself for wasting my money and time! Every person in the theater with me was also very upset. I counted maybe five people walked out, and everybody whistled in disgust when the movie ended. I think they tried to ask for their money back. I stayed because I did not want to waste my money, but now I think I should have walked out too! What to say of the acting? Well there is no dialogue really, and the only dialogue that was there was very poor and stupid, even in translation. The actresses in this movie are usually good in other movies but they were very bad in this one, because of the terrible script, the silly dialogue and the awful director. I almost wished they were killed off in the beginning, so they would not have to go through the rest of this boring movie the way the audience was forced to. What to say of the story? Nada! It's a big zero! It tries to copy "The Others" ("Les Otros") by Amenábar but this "Saint Ange" is just too awful it is not even worthy to compare it. With Amenábar, you get a good story, good thrills, good acting, good movie. With this Laugieri, you get nothing but a silly, boring, bad movie with nothing memorable. It is full of clichés and predictability's. There is one scene where the director tries to scare you but it only makes you laugh. That is when you know you are watching a really bad movie: it is when you are not scared in the places you are supposed to be scared, and instead you laugh or whistle. I was not moved at all in this movie and neither will you. I give this movie zero stars because it is really the worst movie I have seen in a very long time.

I only watched this movie because the trailer looked interesting. This movie just came out here in Spain last week and I am sure it will be gone before next weekend. While I was watching, I thought this must be a joke. A movie can not possibly be this bad! Sorry but yes, a movie can be this bad. The joke was on me and the other two people inside the theatre with me because it only got worser as the movie continued. And the ending was the stupidest ending I have seen in all of cinema. This is the worst movie of the year. The plot was ridiculous, the music was too much and the acting was not good either. Lou Doilon was not bad, she was the most like her character. But I noticed that when Virginie Ledoyan cries, sometimes she looks like she is constipated, sometimes she looks like she is laughing. This movie is a big disappointment, but I will be generous and give it 1 star out of 10.