(1999) **1/2
Alice convinces her boyfriend Luc to help her murder one of their high school classmates. Once the deed is done they head off on a robbing spree, and finally to the forest to dispose of the body. Unfortunately, their footprints, which they thought they would use to track their way back, have disappeared and they find themselves hopelessly lost in the deep, dark woods. When they discover a cabin amongst the trees, they think they’ve hit the jackpot with food and shelter, but instead they find themselves becoming the prisoner of a crazy secluded trapper.
Criminal lovers, like many French films, is a bit peculiar. It’s not your typical being held captive by a mad man tale. You don’t find yourself sitting on the edge of your seat biting your nails in anticipation of the captive’s possible escape or demise like you would in a film such as Wolf Creek. This film just doesn’t have that tone or tension, and it doesn’t because that’s not what it’s about. It’s more about sexual appetite…remember this is French, and so the viewer’s expectations are less fixated on the characters’ survival and more on wondering what direction this movie may take.
It certainly travels to strange places, but nothing to faint over. It has some interesting moments, but honestly I really wasn’t taken by its major theme, and I found Alice and Luc to be quite unappealing. She’s bitchy, whiny, and entitled, and he’s passive and pathetic. It’s not a total dozer, but it certainly doesn’t make my list of must see French horror.
