if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Blistering performances.

Like them or not, I have to support movies like this. Nowadays, 95% of all horror movies involve ghosts, possession, exorcisms, haunted homes, found ghost footage, etc. Not all home invasion thrillers are great, but at least they fall in the crispy 5% of horror I enjoy.In this movie's defense, it came out in 2012. Before, during and especially since that time, there have been many home invasion thrillers. I'm okay with that as long as they're made right. Most, if not all, feature a minimal budget and shooting in all-but one location and not rely on cheap "ghost" scares, it's a positive for the producers. Since I disavow ghosts, spirits, haunted hotel rooms, etc, the real scary movies are the ones that could really happen. Such as home invasions. This one isn't so much a twist on the H.I. subgenre, but it does contain some incredible cinematography, acting, dialogue and frights.Yet another shattered family mourning the loss of a child excludes themselves in a cabin in the woods. All-but immediately, the creepy neighbors with no sense of timing, introduce themselves and invite their way into our hero family's home for some quality dinner time. It doesn't take a genius to figure out this isn't gonna end well.While the movie's not perfect and the last third is whack, the build-up and fright-factor is on high-alert. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed other home invasion films more, but the good here severely outweighed the bad and is a total recommendation for fans of the subgenre.***Final thoughts: It's August. We're not even half-way through (tomorrow'ish) and I cannot stop thinking of my favorite month of the year: October. I just adore everything about that month leading up to my favorite holiday and an entire 31 days of horror movies. Since I'm so restless for my favorite month to arrive and my craving to see new-to-me horror movies was seriously strong, I turned to a fantastic guide to horror movies: The Fright File, by Dustin Putman, a friend of mine.This great movie review book has all the classic horror movies, like Halloween and the Scream series, but it also contains more evaluations from Dustin on lessor known gems, such as this one. I probably would never have heard of this thriller if not for The Fright File book.If this sounds like a commercial and endorsement for 'The Fright File: 150 Films to See Before Halloween,' you are smart. Now go to http://www.thefrightfile.com/book/ and get your copy today. Especially now so you'll have time before October really hits and you should be able to find/purchase most of these movies.

I typically don't read don't read reviews of a film, or even know what the synopsis is, until I seek the flick itself. I'm a horror nut so if the film is horror that's good enough for me. Like anyone else, I like to be surprised. A lot of times the studios or promoters miss their own mark and market the film as what it's not. For instance, I stayed away from "Enemy At The Gates" because it seemed to be just a sappy love story with war in the background. It wasn't.I've been looking for extreme horror lately and I kept on seeing this title pop up so I decoded to check it out. Just the title alone, "In Their Skin" sounds like it'd be a companion film to "Martyrs," So I rubbed my hands in anticipation, turned down the lights, and put this on. Boy, was I disappointed.Firstly, it was shot on digital media. The look and sheen of the movie was so smooth that everything looked plastic. The mother was an awful actress with horrible makeup. I'm not saying that everyone else was Academy award but she was a low point. The plot is a complete ripoff of "Funny Games" so it gets zero points for that. And, even though the movie looked cheap, I kept on thinking, "I guess they poured all their budget into the upcoming special fx which would be the intruders making "Martyrs" of the family.." Boy, was I wrong. No one had their skin removed. I was robbed! Nothing of the sort happened.The reason I gave this 2 stars, despite the massive holes & horrible script, is because I felt sorry for all those involved in it's creation, from the actors to the director to whoever made the film look as pale and lifeless as a corpse. "In Their Skin" is recommended viewing if only to show film students how to not make a movie. The 2 stars is also for the fact that they did make a movie. When was the last time I made one?

Mark and Mary and son Brendon retreat to the family's remote holiday house in order to recover from a tragedy, only to find that the new neighbours have it in mind to find out as much as possible about them, kill them, and steal their identities.This film has a good cast (albeit the two male leads are each playing the part the other should have played), good performances, and an intriguing (if underwritten) character in the baddie's "wife". On the other hand, it has a very slow start, a plot we've seen a hundred times, victims who annoyingly fail to take advantage when they have the upper hand, a climax which is over and done with in no time flat, and a desaturated colour palette.Is the good sufficient to outweigh the negative? That's your decision. For me, it was borderline.

Mark Hughes (Josh Close) travels to his isolated cottage with his wife Mary (Selma Blair) and their son Brendon (Quinn Lord) to recover from the loss of their little daughter. In the morning, Mark wakes-up with a family dropping wood on their porch. Bobby (James D'Arcy), Jane (Rachel Miner) and their son Jared (Alex Ferris) tell that they are neighbors that brought the wood to welcome them and Bobby asks if the HMark wouldn't like to have dinner with them.During the dinner, Mark has an argument with Bob and expels him and his family from his house. Soon they find that their house is under siege of Bob and his family that invade the house. When Mark's brother Toby (Matt Bellefleur) arrives in the house to visit his brother and his family, Mark and Mary learn how insane the psychopath Bob is.Michael Haneke's 1997 "Funny Game" is one of the most disturbing movies that I have ever seen. Living in a big city where we see violence on the news everyday, that sadistic movie really scared a lot since the plot is realistic and totally believable. In 2007, there was a stupid and unnecessary remake also by Michael Haneke spoken in English."In Their Skin" is rip-off of "Funny Game" with good performances but with flaws in the story. First, I do not understand how vulnerable the American residences are, with glass windows and no protection in a situation of burglary like the Hughes cottage is. But the worst is why a man in possession of a revolver inside his house would leave his wife and son alone in the house expecting to escape from an armed psychopath. But the situation is not totally impossible to happen. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "Em Sua Pele" ("In Your Skin")