Calvaire (2004)

I've been sufficiently distracted of late that I've been lax at posting new reviews and considered doing one of my periodic catch-ups, however there is sufficient to be said about a number of recently viewed films that I will try to post some individual entries as time allows.  This Belgian film intrigued me when I first read the reviews and I hoped to see it in the cinema, but it seemed to disappear as quickly as it arrived.  In a way this is not too surprising as nasty art house films for the horror brigade do not have much of a ready audience.  The story concerns a self-absorbed professional singer, but not one of any great talent or career, since the film opens with his entertaining at an old folks' home.  While driving South in deep fog his van breaks down and he is led by a very weird man who is searching for his lost dog to a nearby inn.  Here the nightmare really begins as the seemingly genial host (the inn, incidentally, is no longer in business) promises to arrange the repair of his van in addition to a good meal and a bed for the night.  Needless to say he has no intention of letting him go since in his insanity he has decided that the singer is his errant wife returned.  And the local villagers are no use either since they seem to be refugees from the nearest loony bin and ready to indulge in a touch of the "Deliverances".  One feels that not just our hero but the viewer as well has wandered into some kind of hell from which there is no escape.  So far so good, but against this weird storyline one has the annoyance of the occasional hand-held camera shots which add nothing, plus the fact that the film literally just stops without any meaningful clues to possible resolutions.