MALEFIQUE’s Eric Valette Is Back On Form.  The Trailer For HYBRID Arrives.

Oh, this does my heart good.

Several years back now French director Eric Valette made his feature film debut with Malefique, a film which I adore and believe wholeheartedly is one of the most confident and assured debut films I have ever come across.  It was a tight, confined space horror film; one that showed Valette was a master at manipulating location and character to maximum affect and showed he had far more concern for the classics of the genre - Rod Serling and The Twilight Zone in this case - than for any current trends.  It’s a truly great film, and one that is horribly underseen.

And so I winced when Valette was announced as the director of the Hollywood remake of One Missed Call, the second rate J-horror film whose original came while the movement was already in its death throes.  It came as no surprised when One Missed Call failed - and failed miserably - but still, it did so poorly that I worried that Valette might be done as a feature director, at least on this side of the ocean.

But no worries.  He’s back with Hybrid, a film that once again showcases what made Valette interesting in the first place.  He’s still nodding to another time - though a different era this time out - in an effort to put together what could be a fantastic nod to classic b film making.

Late one night, a mysterious car is brought into the Chicago police impound garage after a deadly traffic accident. The garage’s female mechanic, Tilda, and her young, hip fellow mechanics soon discover the car has a mind of its own: it morphs into different cars to confuse them and instead of needing an engine to run, it breathes. It’s a killing machine that is capable of outrunning and outwitting humans. In a high-octane fight to the death, it’s our group of determined humans versus the car in this supernatural action-adventure.

This is more a sales reel than a trailer - pay close enough attention to the audio and you can tell post production is not yet 100% - but it’s a fun one.  Check it below the break.