Between the years of 2003 and 2009 – it seemed as if nothing was going to stop the wave of horror that was coming out of France. Films like High Tension, Calvaire, Inside, and Martyrs showed us images of impossible violence. More often than not, these films were as beautiful as they were disgusting. That’s what set them apart. However, something happened as the years rolled by. I’m not entirely sure what caused it to this day. Some of the filmmakers went on to large international and mainstream success, but others simply seemed unable to follow up with anything of substance. After a while, the French flood turned into a light drizzle… then all but vanished here in the United States.

You can probably tell that i was quite fond of these films. Luckily, Fright House Pictures is on the rise. I’m not overly familiar with their works at the time of this writing, but I have had a brief conversation with Director Fabien Delage. He is attached to several of their projects, which range from a paranormal investigation mockumentary of sorts (Dead Crossroads), to an upcoming anthology film (3:15am), to his first feature film: Cold Ground. All of these show great promise. Unfortunately, I’m unable to get a grasp on Delage’s talent due to lack of material. Dead Crossroads looks wonderful, but currently has no English subtitles. Season 2 has been given the green light and seems to have a bit more funding behind it. Hopefully that means they get some international assistance and provide some subtitles for us non-French speakers.

Is French horror back? It’s hard to say. While Cold Ground certainly looks unique and original, it’s a far cry from the beauty we are accustomed to seeing. Nevertheless, it does look extremely interesting. We will be keeping you up to date on its progress, as well as the progress of all other Fright House releases as news becomes available. Until then, check out the pitch video for Cold Ground as well as the trailer for Dead Crossroads:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOKC1OmdzxQ

 

Is French Horror back? Fright House Pictures aims to find out. ModernHorrors.com takes a look.