Breathing new life into the home invasion subgenre of horror, Ils is a white-knuckle, suspenseful treat of a film.  When a French couple in Romania find themselves under siege in their remote country house by foreboding, hooded strangers, just getting through the night becomes a matter of life and death struggle.  Where similarly-themed films such as Funny Games worm their way into your worst nightmares by letting you get to know the sadistic villains, Ils keeps the identities of the couple’s tormentors shrouded in mystery; the overall feeling is one of random violence that is unnerving in its anonymity.   The film manages a tense, claustrophobic atmosphere—the use of sound is particularly affecting, achieving a level ofunheimlich just this side of off-kilter.  Though the films loses steam in its final third, Ils is still one of your best bets for summer horror fare.

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