Synopsis
A few days before Christmas, traveling entertainer Marc Stevens is stuck at nightfall in a remote wood in the swampy Hautes Fagnes region of Liège when his van breaks down. An odd chap who's looking for a lost dog then leads Marc to a shuttered inn.
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Cast
- Laurent LucasMarc Stevens
- Brigitte LahaieMademoiselle Vicky
- Gigi CoursignyMadame Langhoff
- Jackie BerroyerM. Bartel
- Jean-Luc CouchardBoris
- Philippe NahonRobert Orton
- Philippe Grand'HenryTomas Orton
- Jo PrestiaFermier Mylène
- Marc LefebvreLucien
- Alfred DavidRoland
Recommendations
- 80
Salon
It's an intensely crafted and genuinely memorable horror film from a striking new talent. - 75
New York Post
Director-co-writer Fabrice du Welz has taken a clichéd premise and infused it with a stylish perversity that should have horror fans squealing with delight. - 75
San Francisco Chronicle
What sells this movie is the realistic attention to detail and the bravura direction of Fabrice Du Welz, who draws a gut-wrenching performance from Lucas, who cries, squeals and screams with the best of them. - 60
Empire
A black comedy with flashes of genius, but let down by a sharp slide into chaos. - 60
The New York Times
Calvaire is pompous, but not without talent or shivers. - 60
The Hollywood Reporter
By the time it reaches its final act, the film rivals its American counterparts in intensity if not quite in explicit violence. - 50
TV Guide Magazine
An odd blend of recycled American exploitation movie tropes and snarky Euro-art film attitude. - 50
New York Daily News
A Belgian "Deliverance," Calvaire (The Ordeal) not only treats us to a few good scares, it also teaches us that Europe has its own rednecks.
