Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

Bergorks If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

fedor8 I suppose it was about time someone approached the whole "living dead" shtick from a different angle, i.e. from a non-cannibalistic, non-flesh-ripping, non-moaning-and- walking-slowly-while-longing- for-fresh-live-human-flesh perspective.While "Les Revenants" doesn't tackle the subject stupidly, I do fell as if they hadn't gone far enough, as if they'd not gone much further than scratching the surface. There is mention of the financing, the pensions, old jobs, fear, re-introduction to society and all that, but I felt there was so much more that could have been included. In fact, a TV series should have been made out of this (were it not for the simple fact that nearly all TV series turn out crap), simply due to the large scope of interesting dilemmas and questions that the premise offers.The realism was somewhat lacking at the outset, as regards how the world reacted to the dead coming back to life. There would have been massive panic, plenty of chaos, emotions would have run high all across the board. Not in this movie. Here the living seemed to react with as much apathy as the dead reacted to having been risen. Everyone looks downbeat and morose, like in some daft Bergman drama. So yes, this movie's Euro-roots are showing. You'd expect scenes of people who have recently departed relatives and friends to rush to morgues and "zombie camps" – but no. The zombies walk around as if not too happy they'd been brought back to life, while the living watch the processions of zombies with almost as little emotion. This, of course, makes no sense whatsoever. Even an annual city parade evokes far more emotion. Even a game of bingo in a retirement home evokes more reactions, fcrissakes. But I guess the director was so focused on making a serious zombie film, a "zombie drama" if you will, that he subdued the emotionalism. He overdid it. This is the one aspect of the movie where the writer miscalculated when it came to human behaviour and the psychological impact of such a staggering event.The zombies are even described as "full of energy, always wanting to move about", which is kind of ironic since they looked so sleepy and disinterested.Interestingly enough, the director chose not to delve into the question of why it happened. Perhaps because if he had done so he would have had to go down the obvious route of admitting that such an event could only have been sponsored by a divine being, i.e. the Bearded One. Furthermore, if God existed and suddenly raised the dead, that could only mean that it was some kind of test for mankind. (The Bible is full of God's endless testing of his luckless human subjects/guinea-pigs.) Maybe the director wanted to avoid the whole religious aspect of it which is why no explanation was given for the bizarre occurrence.I guess if anyone truly insisted on an explanation of why God had risen 70 million dead, one could always use the tried-and-true, self-serving, all-purpose explanation, a perennial favourite: "He moves in mysterious ways".But what I really sorely missed in TCB was not an explanation. I missed seeing Geraldine Pailhas's breasts. The director teases the (male) viewer time and time again, but always only from behind, in the dark or showing too little. In the end we don't get to see them at all. So Geraldine's breasts are much like the premise here; a lot of teasing but in the end nothing. Still, an interesting movie.

Tim Lockwood I liked this film, but potential genre viewers beware, this is a subtitled French film, but since I enjoy both horror films and art house movies I had little problem with its leisurely pacing. Some reviewers have commented on a lack of horror, this is true, but there are plenty of unsettling scenes and the film has a genuine sense of unease hanging over it. It takes place in a high-rise suburb of the Ile-de-France, a region of Paris. There is something of a J.G. Ballard-like feel of dislocation to the urban surroundings that matches the inability of the returned dead to fit in with the lives of their previously grieving loved ones. Similarly, as in the short story The Monkey's Paw, it is perhaps better not to have your loved ones return from the dead because they may not be quite as you'd like them to be.It's a fascinating premise and goes to show how the zombie genre can be tweaked in to interesting new shapes. However, writer and first time director Robin Compillo does not explore the full socio-economic possibilities of the situation, let alone the potential for horror. He instead considers some of the emotional implications involved in regard to loss and wish fulfilment in relation to the returned loved ones. It might be hoped that They Came Back could kick start a new direction in the zombie genre, as a global phenomenon there are thousands of potential scenarios. However, it is unlikely this modest and thoughtful little chiller (imagine M.Night Shyamalan when he was modest and thoughtful) will have the same impact as Night of the Living Dead.

ThrownMuse This is a sci-fi/drama where the recently deceased all over the world return from the grave. The film focuses on a French town and how the authorities work to integrate the "returners," most of whom are elderly, back into society. While the "returners" seem to be sedated versions of their former selves, they also seem to be healthier than they were before they died. Central to the story is Rachel, whose is in denial of her husband's return. The acting and camera-work are both very stellar in this artsy film. At times, an eerie atmosphere is successfully created. There is something inherently creepy about a bunch of older people walking slowly together as if on a mission. The bird's eye "body temp" shots are also very unsettling. Unfortunately, that's really all there is to this excruciatingly boring movie. It took me two days to get through it because I kept falling asleep. Nobody in the film asks any of the most intriguing questions. What about people who were cremated or whose bodies were missing? Did they return? The returners' bodies apparently just appeared in-tact one day above their graves and then they were claimed by relatives or sent to special housing units. When the movie ended I had no idea what happened throughout any of the movie, so thumbs down on this one. It had so much potential but didn't do anything with it.

brian S. Umh, I know they embalm you when you die.. But, was this fact ever addressed in the movie? I was hoping to hear someone say: "Wow, isn't it remarkable that you can die and then be embalmed and then "awake" to be alive again?" This movie could have been written by a 9 year old.. How dumb.. Please, to the person who wrote and directed this piece of junk, what were you thinking? also, why were there no meaning of life questions that were addressed? For example, "what happens when you die?" "Is there an afterlife?" This movie could have been so much more.. But that would have required some intelligence and a small amount of imagination> I give it one star (out of 4)...