12 days of holiday horror: Inside depicts a bloody Christmas

For today’s holiday horror pick, let’s dig into something dark and bloody…because, let’s face it, the holidays aren’t jolly for everyone. Take Inside‘s Sarah for example; four months ago, she and her unborn baby survived the car accident that killed her husband.

It’s Christmas Eve, and her baby is past its expected due date, so she is scheduled to report to the hospital the next day. Instead of being excited about the prospect of becoming a first-time mother, Sarah is still numb and grief-stricken from the loss of her husband. She even turns down her mother’s offer to stay with her that night.

When a woman shows up at her door asking to use the phone, Sarah lies and says she does not want to disturb her sleeping husband. The woman’s response is that she knows her husband is dead. Sarah manages to keep the woman from pushing her way into the house, takes her photo as she stands outside, and calls the police. They aren’t any help, though, only offering to drive by occasionally to make sure all is well.

It doesn’t stay well for long, however, and the strange woman ends up inside the house, demanding Sarah’s baby and threatening her with a pair of scissors. This being a French Extremity holiday horror film, there is a lot of blood shed during the 82-minute run time, and there are also plenty of scenes that will make you squirm.

What made me the most uncomfortable were the scenes that showed us Sarah’s unborn baby in the womb. We see the effect her various injuries have on the fetus, and we even see it jerked violently at the impact of the car accident. It’s a surprisingly effective ploy, and made me feel much more squeamish than the ample amount of blood spilled.

Inside is one of those films that makes you care not only about the victim, but also, in a weird way, about the stalker as well. There is a reason she is so set on procuring Sarah’s baby, and it’s a surprising one.

Inside can be rented on a number of streaming platforms, including Amazon Prime and Vudu. Be aware there is also an American remake, which isn’t terrible – but doesn’t hold a bloody candle to the intense original.

Have you seen Inside? Is it on your wish list for holiday horror? Give us your opinion in the comments section.