In Their Skin (2012)

In Their Skin (formerly "Replicas") is Regimbal's directorial debut, but armed with a strong cast and a solid screenplay, he creates a web of worthwhile scenes that will stick with the viewer. Perhaps misguidedly toying with the horror genre early in the film, he chooses the focus on the drama, the characters and story and let you decide if you are endeared, amused, scared, uneasy, entertained or otherwise.

Regimbal stays with this beautiful ambiguity for most of the feature and gets fine-tuned performances from his story and character-driven cast that allows for the "replicas" to reveal themselves slowly, but surely. The suspense is high and the dark humour as well. A beautiful piece with a slow burn pace. We left the Montreal FantAsia screening and director Q&A with more questions than answers, but with deep satisfaction of exploring a compelling concept with complexity, dexterity and depth.

Fmovies: "In Their Skin" follows a fairly common premise among post-millennial horror films: a family vacationing in a remote summer home find themselves trapped and preyed upon by a group of killers. Here, the family is an unsuspecting wealthy couple who has just lost one of their two children; playing counterpart is another family who yearns to live as them.

While the central premise of the film is certainly straightforward and unoriginal (comparisons to "Funny Games" and "The Strangers" are inevitable), the spin here with the antagonists attempting to simulate lives of opulence and wealth is certainly different; the problem is that this central difference does not necessarily elevate the film's other shortcomings.

Things start out fairly standard, and suspense is built tenaciously over the first forty-five minutes to an hour quite impressively. The problem? It disappears once the antagonists take full hold. This could partly be a scripting issue that leaves the film feeling uneven, but it's also an issue of performances— as good as James D'Arcy is, I had trouble believing him in this role, especially as the film progressed; Joshua Close's performance was slightly more believable, but even still, both of the male leads seemed miscast. Selma Blair and Rachel Miner however both work really well in the film; Miner is especially phenomenal here. The film ends with the suggestion of a family restored, but the details of the horrendous events that precede it seem undercooked by the end.

Overall, "In Their Skin" is an unusual mashup of home invasion thriller conventions with vague social commentary and a problematic chemistry among the cast. The first half of the film is remarkable in building a sense of realistic suspense, but the film dovetails into mediocrity once the villains take charge. While not a bad film by any means, it still leaves a great deal to be desired in terms of scripting and casting. Worth a watch for the moody cinematography and applause-worthy buildup of tension no less. 5/10.

"In Their Skin" is another movie that came and went without anyone paying too much attention to it and while it's not likely to win any Oscars it's still a pretty good genre picture, in this case 'the family menaced in their home by malevolent neighbours'. The couple are Joshua Close, (he also wrote the script), and an excellent Selma Blair and, let's just say, they aren't wanting for a penny while the vicious couple who treat them very badly indeed are Rachel Miner and a very creepy James D'Arcy. If the film has a fault it's that D'Arcy and Miner are such obvious nut-jobs from the first time we see them any self-respecting couple who meets them should run in the opposite direction as fast as possible and anyone who's seen either version of Michael Haneke's "Funny Games", (both vastly superior to this), should know what to expect. Still, this delivers the requisite frissons and chills and should make you think twice before spending your vacation in a lonely house in the middle of nowhere.

In Their Skin fmovies. The only difference between this movie and Funny Games is in this movie it is a psycho family, some nudity and sex scenes and a few more gunshots. Other than that I couldn't believe this movie script didn't get thrown out as a complete knock off of Funny Games.

Now if you have not seen Funny Games, then I suggest you pick your villain. If you want to see two psycho young men torture a normal wealthy family, go see Funny Games. If you want to see a psycho lower class family torture a normal wealthy family, see this movie.

Both movies have great casts and great acting but I would have to give this film a slight edge in that category. However, when it comes to the disturbingly psychopathic factor in the villains, I give that edge to Funny Games.

All in all, don't waste your time like I did with this movie if you have seen Funny Games. Definitely a good experience I imagine for those who haven't.

OK! From the off I have to say I'm hardly the right person to take as gospel as regards a review for yet another home invasion movie. I have grown increasingly jaded with this sub-genre of horror, it seems that every year a handful of these type of movies get trundled out and suckers like me keep watching in the hope of finding a gem amongst the rough rocks.

In Their Skin isn't a gem, in fact it's not exactly a must see frightener, but it at least tries to add something to an already stagnated sub-genre of film. Namely an identity theft angle that veers away from the usual "oh they are just psychos or hoodies" line of thinking.

There is a raft of reviewers out there in internet land drawing comparisons to this being a Funny Games knock off. Now regardless of how I personally feel about Hanneke's work, is that what people are doing now? Fans of his film(s) expecting a Selma Blair, Joshua Close, Rachel Miner and James D'Arcy starring movie to take home invasion horror to a new level? When it's directed by an unknown? Really?

For an hour writer and directer Jeremy Power Regimbal favours the slow burn approach, and it works because the cast are very committed, and in the case of adult villains D'Arcy and Miner there's some bona fide creepiness about their respective mannerisms. It's only when things shift away from rumbling unease into psycho/sexual territory that the fledgling director loses control and sinks to formula conventions to get his shock and awe.

Not a must see, but in the context of boorish fodder like The Strangers, or higher budgeted fluff like The Purge, then this is well worth a look by those not expecting a whole new dimension of home invasion horror. It does have merits that doesn't waste your time, and beside which, James D'Arcy in this looks uncannily like Norman Bates, so that has to warrant a look! 6/10

Mark Hughes (Josh Close) travels to his isolated cottage with his wife Mary (Selma Blair) and their son Brendon (Quinn Lord) to recover from the loss of their little daughter. In the morning, Mark wakes-up with a family dropping wood on their porch. Bobby (James D'Arcy), Jane (Rachel Miner) and their son Jared (Alex Ferris) tell that they are neighbors that brought the wood to welcome them and Bobby asks if the HMark wouldn't like to have dinner with them.

During the dinner, Mark has an argument with Bob and expels him and his family from his house. Soon they find that their house is under siege of Bob and his family that invade the house. When Mark's brother Toby (Matt Bellefleur) arrives in the house to visit his brother and his family, Mark and Mary learn how insane the psychopath Bob is.

Michael Haneke's 1997 "Funny Game" is one of the most disturbing movies that I have ever seen. Living in a big city where we see violence on the news everyday, that sadistic movie really scared a lot since the plot is realistic and totally believable. In 2007, there was a stupid and unnecessary remake also by Michael Haneke spoken in English.

"In Their Skin" is rip-off of "Funny Game" with good performances but with flaws in the story. First, I do not understand how vulnerable the American residences are, with glass windows and no protection in a situation of burglary like the Hughes cottage is. But the worst is why a man in possession of a revolver inside his house would leave his wife and son alone in the house expecting to escape from an armed psychopath. But the situation is not totally impossible to happen. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Em Sua Pele" ("In Your Skin")