Malefique (2002)

“Malefique” is a French horror film about four men locked in a prison cell together who find a spell book that could possibly help them escape. This movie feels like it had a very low budget due to the film quality and lighting but the acting from the four principal characters more than makes up for that. It’s not a great movie but it keeps the viewer engaged and has an interesting storyline. It feels like it was written by someone who is big fan of H.P Lovecraft or even early Clive Barker because it most definitely has that kind of vibe. My main complete about watching this film was trying to get the damn DVD to play the movie in French with English subtitles; the first several attempts ended up with an English soundtrack and subtitles. I have never encountered such a reluctant DVD menu before!

The film opens with the Charles Danvers, a convict who has collected and written down various spells in his diary and is attempting to escape from his prison cell. The spell must have worked because he is never seen again and his name becomes almost legendary within the prison. Flash forward to today and the movie now focuses on Carrere who is serving time for a multi-million dollar fraud scheme. Unknown to him, his wife turned him in and divorces him while in prison, taking over his company and keeping their son to herself. In the prison cell, Carrere meets his new roommates. There is Marcus, a cross dressing violent man who looks like a French version of Meat Loaf’s character from “Fight Club”. Then there is Lassalle, a quiet intellectual who allows Marcus to violate him in order to keep the peace within the cell. Finally, there is Paquerette, a mentally challenged man who cannot stop eating things; in fact, he ate his little sister and that is why he is here in prison. The three men are all accused and convicted of murder, so Carrere tries to be careful while trying to include himself into their world after he learns that he isn’t going to be getting out nearly as soon as he had first hoped. It’s Carrere who first finds Charles’ book and recites a spell without realizing what he’s doing. With encouragement from Lassalle, the group tries a few spells in hopes of finding the one that Charles used to escape. When Paquerette  tries to eat the book, it strikes back at him, killing him in gruesome fashion. Marcus is outraged by this but Lasselle calms him down enough for the three to keep trying. When attempt after attempt fail, Marcus throws the book out the window, only for their new fourth roommate to come in with the same exact book in his possession. There is no doubt that the book has plans for the men and they explore that path is far as they can go.