Left Bank, titled Linkeroever in its home country, is a 2008 Belgian horror thriller starring an ensemble cast of Flemish actors.
Marie is a competitive runner on her way to the European Championships. Shortly after qualifying, she is struck down by an infection that leaves her immune system severely depressed and is told that she must do nothing for a month while recuperating. During this time, she falls for Bobby, a charismatic archer, and moves in with him in his Left Bank apartment complex. As Marie is recovering, she learns that the former resident of the apartment, a woman named Hella, disappeared mysteriously, and there is something sinister going on in the apartment complex.
This film exhibits the following tropes:
- All Hallows' Eve: The human sacrifice ritual occurs on Samhain.
- Brotherhood of Funny Hats: Bobby is the Dean of the Archer's Guild, a group who actively practices archery and ritually sacrifice a woman every 7 years to ensure a fertile harvest.
- Creepy Basement: Cellar 51 is where the horror happens...
- Human Sacrifice: The Archer's Guild used to sacrifice a young girl, burying her to appease The Dragon and to ensure a fertile harvest. They haven't stopped.
- Reincarnation: Marie is reborn at the end of the film as an infant.
- Wound That Will Not Heal: Early in the film, Marie runs despite being told not to. She falls and injures her knee, straining the cartilage. Through the course of the film, it progressively blackens, oozes, and grows hair before a rat burrows its way out.
