La peau blanche (2004) Reviews

• Enjoyable

  Franchescanado2006-08-26

  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.

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• Extremely Original – A Must-See

  claudio_carvalho2006-08-05

  While celebrating his anniversary with his black roommate and friend Henri Dieudonné (Frédéric Pierre) in a bar, Thierry Richard (Marc Paquet) is invited by Henri to a program with two hookers. They go to a motel, and Henri is attacked by his girl, being saved by Thierry. Later, Thierry meets the red-haired musician Claire Lefrançois (Marianne Farley), they have wild sex and he falls in love for her. But she tells him that she has a disease and she breaks with him. When Thierry meets Claire again, he finds how she may be cured. I loved this Canadian movie. I started watching the DVD without any clue about the genre, and based on the beginning of the story, I thought it was a dramatic romance. However, when the secret of Claire and her family is disclosed, I realized that it is a very well developed low paced horror movie. This genre is my favorite, and I confess that the excellent screenplay of this movie is really an extremely original story. The acting is great, but there is confusion in the concept of succubus, which is basically a female demon that drains energy from men through sexual intercourse with minor variations in the definition. I have never read or heard anything about cannibalism associated to succubus. My vote is nine. Title (Brazil): "Carne Branca" ("White Flesh")

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• Sank my teeth into it

  johno-212006-02-02

  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.

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• aka White Skin

  JayJay20032004-08-20

  I've seen this mystery-thriller-drama-horror flick at the FantasyFilmFest. We meet Thierry, who doesn't like red hairy women until Claire comes into his life. He falls in love with her, but (of course) something is wrong. Something is wrong with her family. Thierry's room-mate Henri is watching how Thierry is changing. He tries to warn him, but Thierry doesn't care... LA PEAU BLANCHE is located in Montreal and has some nice shots. This is no "lets take the knife and kill someone"-thing, LPB is more silent and spooky. If you liked GINGER SNAPS 1, this movie could be right at home in front of your TV with chips and beer.

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• Solid effort

  rstef12006-05-13

  I caught this movie on Encore one night when I was bored and had nothing better to watch. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by this unassuming little flick. At first I was put off by the dubbing job. The film is in French and the voices that they picked to dub the actors do not match well. It took me a while, but when the plot kicked in, I was able to overlook this small fault. And, boy, did it kick in when the two protagonists, Henri and Thierry, college students and roommates, go to a seedy hotel with two hookers. Henri's hooker, Marquise, turns out to be more than he bargained for when she tries to slit his throat. It's a startling development, for the viewer as well as the boys, and drags you right into the film. ***Major Spoilers Ahead*** The other student, Thierry, falls in love with a redheaded woman, Claire, he sees in the metro. He becomes so obsessed with her that he is unable to concentrate on his schoolwork and ignores his friend. In a bizarre twist, it turns out that Claire is the sister of the homicidal hooker who attacked Henri. Worse still, she has what appears to be cancer. Henri catches Claire in some odd (and fairly disgusting) behavior while staying at their apartment and becomes suspicious of her. Turns out he was right to be suspicious when she and her whole family turn out to be soul sucking Succubi. And you thought you had some bad girlfriends. I really enjoyed the script's take on the Succubes (the French spelling for Succubus). Unlike the typical presentation of these creatures as sucking the life out of men in a genteel and erotic fashion, these women literally eat their prey to assume the life force. This leads to a grisly and effective scene when Marquise devours Henri in front of a stunned Thierry. All the ladies do a good acting job (despite being hampered by the aforementioned poor dubbing) especially Jessica Malka who plays Marquise. She is by turns sensual and scary. Marc Paquet underplays his role which is realistic and okay, until the very end, when it becomes annoying. And therein lies the weakness of the movie. I found the end to be abrupt and it felt rushed after the pace and stylishness of the rest of the movie. Though it does add some welcome gore, I was hoping for a better denouement. I was disappointed in Thierry's ineffectiveness and general uselessness in the final scenes and questioned his behavior, given what had gone before. That being said, I still give this a seven out of ten for a fresh, intelligent and literate take on a story that we have seen before in various incarnations, but never quite like this.

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