Them

The lame thing about modern scare-fests like Saw is that they use very little film technique in conjuring their scares. Most of it is done through the gory special effects, and I greatly resent that. When a film is able to build tension and get you freaked out without showing you explicitly what you are being freaked out about, I appreciate both my own reaction and the skill of the film-maker. For large portions of them, this was the case, as a couple living in a big country house in Romania are tormented by a group of unknown (and unseen throughout a majority (and, I should say, the better part) of the movie) malefactors. The film is in French and runs for a brief 77 minutes (which I must say was rather refreshing), during which time the pressure is just continually ratcheted more and more until it is nearly unbearable, at which point I was screaming at the TV in order to maintain my sanity. My major gripe with it was the fairly lame ending, but moreso the lack of any deeper themes. This is something that I loved about the Orphanage (which had a similar amount of tension (and a few moments of great gore, which I never resented)), which, despite being a horror movie, also was able to touch on more meaningful and poignant themes (life/death as well as the importance and role of memory in our lives). These issues kept Them from being a grade-A movie for me, but if you want to spend a solid 77 minutes on the edge of your seat, I recommend it.