Livid is a French horror film released in 2011. It is Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury's follow-up to Inside. While there are some grisly moments, the film is considerably less gory than its predecessor.
It's young Lucie's first day as a trainee in-house caregiver. She visits Mrs. Jessel, an old woman who lies in cerebral coma, by herself, in her large desolate house. Learning by accident that Mrs. Jessel, a former dance teacher of repute, supposedly possesses a treasure somewhere in the house, Lucie and her friends William and Ben decide to search the house in the hope of finding it. At night, they get into the house, which reveals itself to be increasingly peculiar. Their hunt for Mrs. Jessel's treasure leads them into a horrifying supernatural series of events that will change Lucy forever...
Note: Given the nature of the film, spoilers are unmarked.
This film provides examples of the following tropes:
- And I Must Scream - Anna is stuck for years in a statue-like state. It's unclear how conscious she actually is.
- The Cameo - Béatrice Dalle, the star of Inside, has a brief cameo as Lucie's dead mother.
- Clockwork Creature - A flashback shows that Jessel implanted some sort of clockwork device in her daughter's back.
- Creepy Ballet - The villain is a ballet teacher who is also a vampire, and she and her daughter would feed on her students. Ballerina ghost mooks also feature at one point.
- Eye Scream - Anna and later Lucie have their eyes stapled shut.
- Grand Theft Me - Mrs. Jessel's plan is for Lucie and her daughter to switch bodies.
- Our Vampires Are Different - They need blood and can't stand the sunlight but besides that everything seems to be up for grabs. For example, Mrs. Jessel has aged considerably.
- The Renfield - Mrs. Wilson appears to be this, procuring young children and killing them for blood for Mrs. Jessel.
- Taxidermy Terror - In addition to the usual stuffed heads on the walls, there also creepy dolls with animal heads that seem to have a life on their own.
