3 out of 5

Director: David Moreau, Xavier Palud

Them (“Ils”) generally gets lumped in with that wave of French horror that popped up with High Tension – Martyrs, Frontiers, Inside, etc. It’s much less violent of much simpler than these films, which also gives it the ability to be much creepier and more effective. Them takes the format of a classic horror film: idealized couple is suddenly stalked by an unseen horror. In this case the couple is presented fairly realistically, and the horror takes the form of a home invasion. Your set is an isolated house (for most of the movie) and Them takes advantage of this, putting its characters and and attackers through various pieces of the house, chased from one sense of safety to the next. What made Them slightly notorious was its revelation of who’s doing this and “why,” but it also deflates the film somewhat. Everything with horror movies is context: the classic example being how “Halloween” was only scary with music. …And scares are only scary, generally, with some kind of understanding of what’s motivating the source of the scares. A lack of motivation can suffice for this, but the balance is precarious. And in many ways Them upsets this balance toward the end of the movie, starting with relate-able fears based on unknowing and isolation that change in scope and thus deflate slightly. It’s still absolutely worth watching, and alone, in the dark, will have you jumping at sounds and noises, but is overall not as creepy as, say, “Paranormal Activity” or as affecting as the complex “Martyrs.”