Calvaire (The Ordeal)

Put "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," "Delicatessen" and "Deliverance" through a blender, spike with a splash of Luis Bunuel and Brit black-comedy series "The League of Gentleman" and you'd approximate the splendidly creepy Brussels pate that is "The Ordeal". Marc Stevens is a bland-featured itinerant singer working the wedding-reception and old-folks-home circuit crooning cheesy love songs. Although curiously asexual, Stevens nevertheless is an inexplicable hit with the ladies. En route to his next Christmas Day gig, his car breaks down in a remote woodland area and the first intimations of pic's genre roots shoot through when a deranged local named Boris suddenly appears at his window looking for his dog. Boris leads Stevens to a dilapidated inn run by Paul Bartel. Bartel issues ominous warnings not to go down to the village and calls are made to a mechanic on a phone you just know is disconnected. Clearly unhinged, Bartel reveals that his wife, a singer like Stevens, left him for another man, and tries to forge a bond with his guest by insisting he's an "artiste" too... (Variety)