White Skin (2006)

The Worst Film Ever

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

La peau blanche, "The White Skin" is adapted from a dark fantastical (not fantasy) novel by Joel Champetier, a Quebecois writer. Two roommates pick up prostitutes in a bar, one of them being a pale skinned redhead and once in their respective rooms, one of the friends gets savagely attacked by the redhead. Months afterwards, the other friend starts becoming strangely fascinated with a red-haired female musician even though he suffers from a long-time phobia of redheads.This is a low-budget fantastical horror thriller (less than a million dollars) that relies more on story and characters than on special effects to get the viewer involved. I found the story engrossing and well told as the mystery progressively unfolds. The friendship of the roommates was credible and made them likable. I watched it in the original french so cannot comment on the English dubbing but the french dialogues sounded very true and good for modern Quebecois people. If you have stereotypes about Quebec and want to see an accurate and well-shot representation of urban Montreal in winter, rent this film. If there's one thing I found lacking, it was the chemistry between the roommate and the redhead musician. Their relationship is supposed to be not quite right, kinda weird, so it succeeds there but the fascination and "romantic" elements didn't come off strong enough. I would tend to put the blame on the actress playing the redhead musician. Emotionally-wise, especially the expression in her eyes, she was unfortunately lacking even when she wasn't supposed to be cold and distant.It's a slow build-up after the initial attack but I didn't find it boring in the least. This is a quality dramatic thriller that's more intimate and mysterious than flashy and horrific (although there are a few shocking moments). It shows you don't need a huge budget to make a good genre film provided you have good writing and a talented director. Having read the book previously, I would even say that the adaptation doesn't pale compared to the book and even that the ending of the film is better.Rating: 6 out of 10

Nice guy college student Thierry Richard (a solid and engaging performance by Marc Paquet) meets and immediately falls in love with mysterious, yet bewitching redhead Claire (superbly played by the lovely Marianne Farley). Despite his aversion to redheads, Thierry just can't resist Claire. However, Thierry finds himself in considerable jeopardy when he encounters Claire's oddball mother and sisters, who share a very dark and disturbing family secret. Thierry's loyal, happy-go-lucky best friend and apartment roommate Henri Dieudonne (a marvelously hearty and likable portrayal by Frederic Pierre) tries to save Thiery before it's too late. Director Daniel Roby, who also co-wrote the smart and inspired script with Joel Champetier, grounds the compelling story in a thoroughly believable everyday world which in turn makes the more horrific elements of the plot that much more chilling and upsetting. Moreover, Roby brings an intriguing air of mystery to the picture and nicely maintains a spooky tone throughout (the bleak wintry Canadian locations go a long way to enhance the overall eerie and unsettling mood). Kudos are also in order for the uniformly fine acting by the capable cast: Richard, Farley and Pierre all do sterling work in their roles while Jessica Malka likewise excels as Claire's crazed and vicious bitchy whore sister Marquise. Eric Cayla's bright, crisp cinematography and the funky, rattling score by Rene Dupere and Martin Lord are both up to speed. Best of all, there's even a potent and poignant central message about how far one is willing to go for love and a refreshing absence of any dumb obtrusive humor to diminish the severity of the horror. This movie offers proof positive that you don't need a lot of fancy special effects, excessive gore, or flashy film-making to create a strong and effective fright feature. Well worth checking out.

I don't know why, but I found this movie extremely enjoyable.I had heard of this movie before, and I saw it on Encore Love on a Saturday night, and I got interested. I started watching, and I found myself being drawn in.The basic story is about Thierry, a college student, meeting a red-head named Claire, whom he finds he has an odd infatuation with her, despite his dislike of pale women.Soon, they begin dating, and conflicts arise between Claire and Thierry's roommate, Henri, who was recently attacked by a prostitute (sounds weird, I know). Henri becomes suspicious when Thierry starts acting differently due to his relationship, and Henri starts investigating. Soon, Henri and Thierry discover the truth about the new girlfriend and her family.The plot is well thought out, and the characters express what the filmmaker wants them to express, whether it's to be likable or the most hated character in the movie. Claire starts out questionably shy, but I then found her to be a nice person, despite her withdrawals at first. Thierry and Henri are both portrayed excellently, as well as Henri's Aunt, who accurately acts as a knowledgeable person in all fields. Marquee, Claire's sister, is also portrayed perfectly, despite her being my least favorite character. She MAKES you hate her, while enticing you at the same time.The colors are beautiful. The camera catches a wide palette of bright colors in the background, making you look all around. Bright blues are a prominent color, but there are beautiful yellows and reds, too.Overall, the movie was flat out great. The ending was quaint and nice, the suspense scenes were just that: suspenseful, and the characters were portrayed perfectly. It isn't a movie I plan to go out and buy now, but if I were to see it on the TV again, I'd drop everything and try to watch it.Highly Recommended.

I saw this back at the 2005 Palm Springs International Film Festival. It was one of the few late night screenings that they show on the weekend so I like going to late night movies and choose to attend this but I really didn't know much beforehand on what it was about. Had I a better idea of it's storyline and plot I probably would have skipped it but I'm glad that I didn't because it was actually a pretty good movie and I got into and went along for the ride. The film's Director/Producer/Writer Daniel Roby was on hand to introduce the film. This is not a big film but it has a good look to it and a modern take on an old storyline that works. Good casting in this movie. I would rate it a 7.5 out of a possible 10 and recommend it but not for everyone.