Resonnances – DVD Review

DVD Reviews, Reviews

In the world of micro-budget horror film dumpster diving, sometimes you have to wade through a lot of garbage in order to find the equivalent of a really cool vintage rug. It may still have some frayed edges, be caked in dirt and smell like it was pissed on by an asparagus-eating cat — buy hey, what did you expect? You found it in the garbage.

Resonnances is a French science fiction/horror/comedy written and directed by Philippe Robert. Shot on a budget that appears to amount to what loose change was found under the director’s couch, Resonnances is a testament to the creativity and flexibility that comes with a truly talented low-budget filmmaker.

Audiences will have more fun with Resonnances — in all its micro-budget glory — than they’re likely to have with a dozen budgetarily obese horror films from the Hollywood factory. Regrettably, it is not a perfect film. For all the zeal and passion that comes with the film’s first two acts, the film’s third act has an unfortunate leak — not too large to completely take you out of the movie but large enough to lead to the spilling out momentum like a busted piñata shooting forth candy. The cleverness and imagination is still there — it’s just lying all over the floor in a haphazard mess without any consistency or structure.

Resonnances stars Yann Sundberg, Romain Ogerau and Vincent Lecompte as three buddies on the way to a relaxing weekend cabin vacation with their women. For the first half hour or so, the film leisurely introduces the group of friends — using their humorous rapport to define and develop the characters. And the film does a good job at that too — building as strong of personalities in the trio as you’re likely to find in a lighthearted horror comedy. Yann (Sundberg) is an easy-going Romeo — anxious about his blossoming romance with a woman he considers to be “the one.” Thomas (Ogerau) is a slightly sardonic jokester who more often than not proves himself to be “that friend” — you know, the one nobody’s really quite sure why they hang out with him if he’s such an asshole. Finally, Vincent (Lecompte) is a socially awkward pop culture enthusiast who’d rather spend his evenings playing computer games or reading comic books than interacting with the rest of society.

The three are driving to meet up with their dates when they decide to pick up Sebastian (Patrick Mons), a hitchhiker who turns out to be an escaped psychopathic killer. Instead of immediately stopping the car and letting the angry, gun-wielding man go his own way, the three decide to keep him in their custody for whatever reason.  Soon, though, the group discovers there are more urgent problems than their poor decision making skills when the car is attacked and destroyed by a giant, underground dwelling monster.

If the film’s first act is a buddy comedy easily compared to Shaun of the Dead, Resonnances’ second act is a straight-up Tremors rip-off. The trio of friends — plus their newly acquired serial killer add-on — find themselves running from an alien monster that dwells in the dirt and is attracted to noises. Whether or not the film could be considered a homage or plagiarism is open to debate. More easily agreed upon, though, is the fact that the movie is pretty damn fun.

The three friends and their murderous new amigo have a wonderful chemistry — bouncing their fears and coping methods off of one another with an enjoyable banter that helps propel the monster movie from its low budget origins into something more memorable than its means.

As the trio of friends find themselves running deeper and deeper into trouble — chased both by the monster and the serial killer — the movie develops a fun energy that keeps things lively without overwhelming the good-natured feel of the characters.

Considering the DIY nature of the film and its low resources, the special effects really are quite impressive. The film uses a heavy amount of CGI and miniature work. While most of the special effects clearly reflect the limited budget, they are no more distracting that anything you’re likely to see in a Saturday night SyFy Channel original movie.

This is in large part thanks to the fact that the filmmaker chose to rest the film’s weight on the capable shoulders of a talented cast and a smart, self-aware script.  The film is genuinely funny — and not in a “look how amature this movie is” kind of way.

Unfortunately, the dialogue and performances aren’t quite enough to keep the steam going once its revealed how much of the film has been inspired by Tremors and the third act putters along to its easily discernible conclusion.

The film was shot in non-anamorphic standard definition video so the movie looks about as good as one might hope for considering the situation. The video looks pretty awful but is not distracting enough to take you out of the story. Letterboxed in a 1.85.1 ratio, the video is not formatted for widescreen TVs. Audio is in French Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 with English subtitles. It’s a bad transfer but Synapse Films did the best they could with what they were given while still retaining a faithfulness to the director’s vision.

Trailer — The only special feature included is a short theatrical trailer.

One of the biggest compliments I can give the film is that it seems to be a sure-fire pick to be noticed by a major Hollywood studio and have its remake rights sought. The film has just enough about it to like that I can easily imagine Hollywood wanting to get their giant hands over its heart and squeeze the lifeblood into a more malleable form.

While I’m not one to champion the idea of remaking foreign films at the drop of a hat, Resonnances is a movie that could benefit from a little extra work and development. With some of the film’s pacing issues resolved and some slightly better lightening, the film could easily have become the latest foreign import-turned-cult hit.

As it is, though, I still can see Resonnances becoming a fan favorite among monster enthusiasts — especially because I can only imagine Philippe Robert is going to have a long, successful career ahead of him. Resonnances is a declaration of a director who’s here to stay and has the voice to match. I, for one, am ready to listen to what he has to say next.


Synapse Films presents Resonnances.  Directed by: Philippe Robert. Starring: Yann Sundberg, Vincent Lecompte, Roman Ogerau, Patrick Mons, Sophie Michard, Johanna Andrads and Marjorie Duesset. Written by: Philippe Robert. Running time: 83 minutes. Rating: N/A. Released on DVD: December 14, 2010.

Robert Saucedo is an avid movie watcher with seriously poor sleeping habits. The Mikey from Life cereal of film fans, Robert will watch just about anything — good, bad or ugly. He has written about film for newspapers, radio and online for the last 10 years. This has taken a toll on his sanity — of that you can be sure. Follow him on Twitter at @robsaucedo2500.