Top 5 Extreme French Horror Films

A L’Interieur (aka Inside)
Dirs: Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury
A very pregnant woman fends off a vicious attacker who is armed with a very sharp pair of scissors and wants to cut the baby out of her belly!

Haute Tension (aka High Tension aka Switchblade Romance)
Dir: Alexandre Aja
A woman flees a vicious serial killer. There are some flaws with the story but this one came first and opened the door for the rest. Aja recently made Piranha 3-D which is quite excellent.

Frontier(s)
Dir: Xavier Gens
Basically the French Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Here’s an old article on Frontier(s).

Calvaire (aka The Ordeal)
Dir: Fabrice Du Welz
A singer’s car breaks down in the woods and an ordeal ensues. Calvaire wasn’t actually made in France but it gets lumped in with the genre regardless.

Martyrs
Dir: Pascal Laugier
Apparently someone puked at the North American debut of this sadistic masterpiece. I was there but can’t confirm this happened. I can confirm there were a lot of people leaving the theatre with shocked expressions on their faces. Might be the best of the bunch. Here’s an interview with the director.