So now and then Belgium do come forward with a horror flick. This one here is filed under horror but it isn't your usual horror, and if I say, Fabrice du Welz as director it will ring a bell for those geeks out there. Calvaire (2004) was a well made horror from this director and also not for everyone.

Alléluia is losely based on the Lonely Hearts Killers Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck who searched for loneley women to seduce them and finally kill them. It's a bit of the same here. Gloria (Lola Dueñas) is a lonely woman with a kid searching for the real one. When she comes across Michel Bellmer (Laurent Lucas also in controversial Raw (2017)) she falls in love with him and adores him a bit too much. He's a womanizer but she can live with that she thinks and they start a relation only to go badly wrong due Gloria being jealous Michel making love to the women.

There's a lot of characterization taking place so the real action or horror isn't the main part in this story. Still there are killings and it's in that part that some are offended because it's eldery women who are seduced. For those searching for a next Clavaire this will not deliver but those who can take a story with a few bloody moments it will be your thing. Even as you have to wait over 35 minutes before the first killing appears it never becomes boring at all.

Gore 0,5/5 Nudity 1,5/5 Effects 2/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

I'm not really a fan of modern-day serial killer films, unless they happen to be made in the East (a region that continues to put out excellent examples of the genre, including THE CHASER and KILLERS). I love the old classics such as 10 RILLINGTON PLACE, but too often these modern versions merely serve as an excuse for torture porn (as in the execrable Spanish H6: DIARY OF A SERIAL KILLER) or are far too arty for their own good.

ALLELUIA falls into the latter category, and only now do I realise it was directed by the same guy who made the equally lacklustre CALVAIRE. The story is about a couple of weird characters who go on a killing spree and cut up various middle aged women, but there's hardly any more plot to it than that. Instead, director Fabrice Du Welz is content to focus on one bad taste scene after another, whether it be the violence inherent in the premise or unpleasant scenes of explicit sex between middle aged characters. I thought I was watching STRANGER BY THE LAKE again at some points!

Despite the presence of some familiar actors in the case, including THE RETURNED's Laurent Lucas, this isn't really an actor's film as the director is too involved with trying to make it look stylish and arty. Instead, it looks cheap and grubby, and the subject matter is so off-putting that I could barely watch it. In fact, I hated ALLELUIA from beginning to end and found no redeeming values in it whatsoever.

This is yet another remake of the Honeymoon Killers. It is very loosely based on the infamous Martha Beck and Raymond Fernandez lonely hearts murderers. The real life killers would answer ads and Ray would seduce widows with Beck posing as his sister. They would take the money and run after killing the old ladies. This Belgian version changes the tale dramatically with the pair seducing younger women. The acting is good but I was not thrilled with the story line. I recommend The Honeymoon Killers as a much better movie. Tony Lobianco and Shirley Stoler are perfectly cast as the murderous pair.