Them is a French horror that only runs one hour and 14 minutes. This means that every little second is meant to count and there is not a lot of dead time (no pun intended). While this movie is constantly in motion, it feels almost too sporadic and energetic. The lighting is constantly on and off, the camera is shaking about, and things are constantly rattling. Many times I thought throughout this movie that it was meant to have a supernatural ploy, but it ends up being a group of killers wearing a bunch of north face jackets. This is not a disappointment, since these killers have more thrills in the chase rather than the actual finality of death. This results in the killers teasing or playing with both the main character, Clementine (Olivia Bonamy) and her husband, Lucas (Michael Cohen).
The beginning of the movie is also a plus. It has nothing to do with the main story, but it immediately gets the audience in a sensitive spot for scares. Honestly when I think about it, there really isn’t that much of a story. Clementine and her husband moved from France to Romania, where she teaches and he is a writer. That’s about it and then all hell breaks loose. For all of the flash and rush, the ending of this movie is honestly a bit of a let down for me. It's not that the ending is not terrifying, because it is, but I just felt so overwhelmed by the constant running. I think this movie could have benefited from being a little bit longer. That way I could have fallen in love with the characters a little bit more, which would have made me a bit more emotional about the finality of the ending. I also have a hard time believing that a group of killers could have pulled off some of the things they did. Making fake noises and what not is easy, maybe even manipulating the television can be done, but doing all of those things at once with coordination is pretty challenging. Obviously they rehearsed their moves before the real thing. I am a stickler for intelligent survival skills. If the protagonists in a horror film act like idiots, then that will notch down a rating for me. Clementine and her husband were pretty impressive with their ability to survive, even though Lucas click, clack, and clanged his way through forests with no care for the loud noises he was making.
I think the real scary aspect of this movie is its relevance to the real world. If a group of killers decided they wanted to mess with a couple until they murdered them, then what is to really stop them? Walls, doors, windows, whatever, if a group of people wanted to storm into your home and kill you before you had time to call anyone, then they probably could. With that being said, this movie gave the scares and terror that many people seek in a horror film, but if you are looking for an actual story that will draw you into the horror, then it is not going to happen while watching this film. Horror island receives a group of killers that like to mess with their victims, but could they really tease and play with the serial killers already stationed here? Regardless, the rollercoaster ride that the viewers experience gives some nice thrills, so just sit back and enjoy this movie for what it is, a quick bang that brings some shrieks.
If you liked Them, you might also like Scream.