Once again France delivers a seemingly good horror flick up until the WTF ending. First with High Tension and now with Ils, or translated to "Them". This movie is the perfect example of how a low-budget horror film with a simple cast can be effective if you give it the right atmosphere. This movie will definitely give you the chills considering its all taken place in an old dark mansion. So the story, much like the cast, is quite simple -- a woman and her hubby are plagued by mysterious calls, and other unfamiliar events one night, from the TV turning off and on, to their car seemingly moved from the back to the front of the house.

Someone is essentially playing mind games with the couple, and we soon find out that they've got murderous intent, as apparent to the night before when they killed a mother and daughter duo on their way home. For almost an hour we witness our two leads as they attempt to flee and hide from whomever that's chasing them. We're not shown who they are, except for the faint silhouette of hooded individuals. They also emit some kind of odd, almost inhuman, noise, which adds to the already tense atmosphere during a lot of scenes.

For almost the first hour I was in love with this flick. It showed how with a strong and simple cast of two and a lot of dark low-light scenes can be in creating effective suspense. That and the fact that we’re not even shown anything on screen in terms of who or what’s out there adds to that creepy sensation, especially when they’re roaming around in the dark corridors of the huge mansion. It's all good until within the last 20-minutes. That's when we're shown who "Them" are, and believe me, you're going to be asking yourself “what's the big deal here?”, then maybe once the credits roll you'll likely utter “you can't be serious”.

Claiming to be based on "true events" (although there are no facts to prove this) the movie seemingly used the gimmick to wrap things up at the end. Leaving us to simply read what happens next before the final credits. What could have been a great movie ended up a good one with a crappy ending. Although I was almost swayed into giving it a borderline-negative review, because of the horrible ending, I decided to just give it the rating it deserves, because of the successful efforts that were put forth in the first part of the film. My suggestion -- turn the movie off when "Them" are revealed and make up your own ending. Don't be surprised if Hollywood attempts to remake this like any other decent Foreign horror film now-a-days.

A film that proves even with a low-budget and a cast of two, a movie can be just as effective, if-not, more-than standard horror from Hollywood. There are many creepy scenes thanks to the dark-lighting and moody atmosphere. Definitely recommended, but be prepared for the crappy, half-assed ending.