In the tradition of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Psycho and Deliverance
The honest and hard-working singer Marc Stevens is on his way to a Christmas gig when his van breaks down on a road near a remote village. A loyal young man guides Marc to Paul Bartel’s hotel and that’s where the madness really begins. Bartel is overly friendly at first but gradually his traumatized mind begins to mistake Marc for his own adulterous wife who left him. That’s when the nightmare begins for Marc and he’s tortured, forced to dress as a woman and have sexual intercourse. Even when he manages to escape into the forests he isn’t safe, as all the local rednecks are deranged deviants as well.
The film plays with disorientation a lot, so you’re not sure you can really trust what you are seeing. By the time the end of the film rolls around it’s built to such an intense cacophony of audio-visual mayhem that it’s really hard to just keep a grip on how you feel about the film.
If you’re a fan of offbeat cinema that makes you feel uncomfortable and horrified, “Calvaire” should be on your watchlist.