White Skin (2006)

Thierry Richard and his roommate Henri Dieudonné pick up a couple of hookers at a bar. Thierry hears a disturbance from Henri's room and finds him fighting with the girl. She has cut Henri's neck with a knife and jumps out of the window naked into the streets. Thierry falls in love with redhead Claire Lefrançois despite his genetic prejudice. He becomes obsessed which disturbs Henri. It's revealed that she has cancer, her sister Marquise is the one who attacked Henri, and her family consumes the life from their victims.It's a French-Canadian indie. The anti-redhead rant is interesting. It's a fascinating start with the action in the hotel room. Then it turns into a long tease. It's a bit slow in the middle. This is all slightly different from the normal Hollywood horror genre. It's very much appreciated but it isn't all compelling.

Nice guy college student Thierry Richard (a solid and engaging performance by Marc Paquet) meets and immediately falls in love with mysterious, yet bewitching redhead Claire (superbly played by the lovely Marianne Farley). Despite his aversion to redheads, Thierry just can't resist Claire. However, Thierry finds himself in considerable jeopardy when he encounters Claire's oddball mother and sisters, who share a very dark and disturbing family secret. Thierry's loyal, happy-go-lucky best friend and apartment roommate Henri Dieudonne (a marvelously hearty and likable portrayal by Frederic Pierre) tries to save Thiery before it's too late. Director Daniel Roby, who also co-wrote the smart and inspired script with Joel Champetier, grounds the compelling story in a thoroughly believable everyday world which in turn makes the more horrific elements of the plot that much more chilling and upsetting. Moreover, Roby brings an intriguing air of mystery to the picture and nicely maintains a spooky tone throughout (the bleak wintry Canadian locations go a long way to enhance the overall eerie and unsettling mood). Kudos are also in order for the uniformly fine acting by the capable cast: Richard, Farley and Pierre all do sterling work in their roles while Jessica Malka likewise excels as Claire's crazed and vicious bitchy whore sister Marquise. Eric Cayla's bright, crisp cinematography and the funky, rattling score by Rene Dupere and Martin Lord are both up to speed. Best of all, there's even a potent and poignant central message about how far one is willing to go for love and a refreshing absence of any dumb obtrusive humor to diminish the severity of the horror. This movie offers proof positive that you don't need a lot of fancy special effects, excessive gore, or flashy film-making to create a strong and effective fright feature. Well worth checking out.

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.

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.