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Four desperate prisoners find a Necronomicon in their cell. What could possibly go wrong? (Everything. Everything goes wrong.)
TMDB
59
Rotten Tomatoes
66
Watch(US)

Maléfique (2003)

claustrophobic dreadsweaty paranoiaFrench prison grime

Overview

FantasyHorrorMystery

Four prisoners discover a handwritten book of black magic in their cell, and decide to use it to escape.

Flag of FRFRFrench
Content warning
necronomicon
desperation and damnationknowledge as prisonmasculine ego collapseescape as illusion

Standout Aspects

Practical Effects

Gross, tactile cell set that reeks through the screen.

Acting

Laroche's Carrère: a man unraveling in real time.

Direction

Valette stretches 90 minutes into eternal dread.

Best for:Solo: Late night, lights off, regret guaranteed.·Streaming: Skip the theatre—this grime belongs on small screens.
Heads up:Disturbing: Body horror that lingers; not for the squeamish.·Emotional: Hope dies repeatedly, then gets resurrected worse.
Eric Valette

Director

Eric Valette

ReleasedMay 7, 2003
Runtime1h 30m
StatusReleased

Vibe

Pacesteady
Intensityhigh
Tonedark
Feelheavy
Budget$1.5M·Revenue$398.0K
Fidélité Productions
Bee Movies

Top Cast

Gérald Laroche

Gérald Laroche

Carrère

Philippe Laudenbach

Philippe Laudenbach

Lassalle

Clovis Cornillac

Clovis Cornillac

Marcus

Dimitri Rataud

Dimitri Rataud

Pâquerette

Didier Bénureau

Didier Bénureau

Hippolyte Picus

Geoffrey Carey

Geoffrey Carey

Charles Danvers

Paul-Alexandre Bardela

Paul-Alexandre Bardela

Hugo Carrère

Yves Arnault

Yves Arnault

Le Directeur

Olivier Bouana

Olivier Bouana

Le Gardien de Prison 3

Ask about Maléfique

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Deep Dive

Trivia, insights & behind the scenes

Cultural

Pre-dates the 2000s French horror wave (Martyrs, Inside) but shares its nihilistic DNA—this is where the country's genre cinema got truly mean.

Trivia

The Necronomicon prop was allegedly so unsettling that crew members refused to handle it ungloved. Method production design.

YouTube

Maléfique (2003) - Trailer

Maléfique (2003) - Trailer

Gallery

Reviews

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Discussion

Reactions from the web

J’aimerais tellement pouvoir le regarder à nouveau en entier ! Ce film, c’est une pépite 👍🏼

@Logab13

Melhor filme

@edercruz5270

Perfect

@MARC-sk9lz

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