Satan review

This gleefully-twisted horror flick from debut writer-director Kim Chapiron is a welcome sight for those who think French cinema is all middle-class types yakking at length about matters of the heart. Christmas Eve: a trio of young male Parisian clubbers (Olivier Barthelemy, Nicolas Le Phat Tan and Ladj Ly) are invited by the gorgeous Eve (Roxane Mesquida) to her parents’ country pile. This rural backwater boasts a grinning caretaker (Vincent Cassel), a sinister doll collection and plenty of inbred locals to scare the cosmopolitan guests.

Despite some pretentious touches – a night-spot named Club Styxx, a guard dog called Cerberus – Satan doesn’t take itself too seriously, hence the denture-sporting Cassel’s wildly over-the-top performance. Revealing an ear for such tangy slang as ‘cock-blocking’, Chapiron motors through the squirm-inducing fun, which builds to a suitably insane climax.