I’m someone who likes to research more than watch films. My watchlist is longer than Santa’s naughty or nice list. Throughout my years of research, a film has come up many times, but it has never really stuck on my radar. That’s when the venerable Brooklyn Horror Film Festival decided to put it on their lineup two years ago, practically revitalizing hype for one of the most underseen and underappreciated New French Extremity films of all time. Let me say, I’m upset that it took me this long to watch Calvaire.
Calvaire follows Marc Stevens (Laurent Lucas), a traveling singer on the way to his next gig. On a dark and stormy night, his van breaks down. A kind young man, Boris (Jean-Luc Couchard), just so happens to be on this isolated road looking for his dog Bella. Boris leads Marc to Mr. Bartel’s (Jackie Berroyer) Inn for the night. When Marc wakes up, he finds that Mr. Bartel has towed his van to the Inn and plans to help him get it fixed. But all is not as it seems when Mr. Bartel’s intentions go from kindly to creepy. Now, Marc must do everything he can to escape the brazingly brutal Bartel.
Calvaire marks the first of two New French Extremity films that are technically Christmas films! And as someone who doesn’t like Christmas, that makes me happy! This film starts off very tame and unsuspecting. Marc first meets Boris, who is generally offputing and weird, but overall a nice guy. And Mr. Bartel comes off as sweet, caring, and generally innocent! This film is writer/director Fabrice Du Welz’s debut feature film, and for a first film, it’s impossible to state just how well it’s conceived. For an extreme film, the writing is stellar, the characters are well-crafted, and the pacing is brilliant. The film’s ramp-up works exceedingly well and creates an overall unassuming nature. It’s not until the cracks start to form and the ugliness starts to show that you feel the true terror of their situation.
One of the most impressive aspects of Calvaire is how reserved, but effective, the violence is. As well as to whom it happens. Horror is wrought with misogynistic violence. For a genre that’s as progressive as it says it is, it sure doesn’t shy away from harming men and torturing women. Just look at Terrifier, one of the genre’s most popular franchises. The fact that Calvaire switches up the victim and puts Marc directly in the killer’s crosshairs is impressive and refreshing. In fact, because people like Damien Leone prefer killing women, it’s stimulating to watch a man be the brunt of the violence. Interestingly, Marc is put in this predicament because Mr. Bartel is generally unwell and thinks Marc is his former wife, Gloria, who left him.
The violence here is not excessive and overly bloody, but it’s painful to watch. Seeing Marc get crucified and forcibly have his hair cut is incredibly difficult to watch. But it never feels too over the top in a way that would feel fake. Bartel’s mental break is difficult to watch, and Jackie Berroyer handles the character with extreme precision. One of the most fascinating moments of Bartel’s character is the moment when his character starts to slip, and you see the facade shattering, but Marc doesn’t. Bartel says he’s going to make a phone call, but you don’t feel like he’s making a phone call. Or when Bartel tells Marc to sing a song, and when Marc stops after a few lines, Bartel responds with, “I didn’t tell you half of my joke.” These small moments reveal how intricately crafted Bartel’s antagonist is and just how much time and effort Fabrice Du Welz put into this terrifying tale.
Calvaire is far from the most extreme and grotesque entry in the New French Extremity movement, but it’s one of the most put together. Each moment slowly builds to the next, rather than a barrage of hate and violence. This isn’t your standard gore film, it’s a well-oiled machine from a filmmaker who knows a thing or two about horror. Knowing that this is Fabrice Du Welz’s debut feature amps up my excitement to watch the rest of his films.
