Infested

I'm definitely not a fan of spiders, but my curiosity lured me to the cinema to see Infested, as I have a bit of a thing for animal horror movies (about overgrown crocodiles, snakes, boars, sharks, etc.). Sébastien Vaniček's film impresses with a soundtrack I would have expected in a film about drugs or the mafia rather than deadly eight-legged creatures - though drugs are often mentioned. As far as the action-horror level is concerned, it works on the whole; here I would highlight especially the scene with the flashing corridor, which gave me solid goosebumps. But the overall experience is noticeably marred by the characters and their actions, it was really hard to root for them to escape the "web of death". (2024-06-05)

Attack the Block for entomology. The scene of walking through the hallway to the garages, which felt like a challenge from Fort Boyard accompanied by shouts of allez, allez, vas-y, vas-y, served as a turning point where arachnophobia started to be somewhat forcibly replaced by capiophobia (fear of two-legged arthropods with pincers). At the same time, the inverse relationship began to be confirmed: the bigger the spider, the less authentic the sense of dread (the bathroom attack remained unsurpassed). When the problem on the outskirts of society was finally brought down, I remembered Kandisha by the duo of Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury and started wondering if there was something deeper to be found behind it... (2024-05-06)

In the history cinema dating back more than a century, we can count the number of high-quality arachnocentric horror movies on the fingers of one hand, or maybe both hands if we squint our eyes. And I am pleased that their ranks newly include this French spider spectacular.  However, the experience that it provides depends heavily on the extent of your arachnophobia, because it’s not about likable characters or nice landscapes. It rather takes place in an apartment block on a French social housing estate and its protagonists are rebellious odd-jobbers and adolescents whose survival will be of no concern to you until the final quarter of the film. But the apartment building has a brilliant circular design patterned on a spider web, the spiders multiply rapidly and actually look like real, live spiders (in a French genre film by young enthusiasts!), and more than one scene is so intensely scary that you’ll get goosebumps and hold your breath. The fourth star is for the cinema experience with good sound. [Sitges Film Festival] (2023-10-12)

What an intense ride. I haven't squirmed in my seat like that in a long time. Vermines is an instant classic, right up there with Arachnophobia in the spider horror subgenre. The filmmakers nailed the perfect blend of practical effects, CGI, and live spiders, making it incredibly effective. If you have a severe fear of spiders, this film will leave you physically unsettled. I never expected something like this to come out of France, and even more surprising, it's a debut. I'm looking forward to seeing more from Vaniček in the future. (2023-10-12)

Vermines is a bit like Arachnophobia in the French way. You get rather unconventional and not very likeable characters, a grimy slum setting and a very limited amount of humour, but you also get solid action, very indiscriminate spider terror and a few scenes that will make you uncomfortable in your seat. The film uses real creatures in many scenes, and when it goes into computer-generated effects, it's not noticeable at all, so the realistic visuals do a lot for the viewer's effect. There probably aren't that many good spider horror movies historically, but this one can easily count among them. (2023-10-12)