When suspiciously tainted milk kills three wholly irritating women, they inexplicably come back from the dead a few hours later with mysterious decomposed faces and ravenously start eating the penises of oversexed men in rural France. If that doesn’t sound entertaining, then I’m sorry, I can’t help you.

Using the age-old social issue of waste pollution near graveyards as a somewhat acceptable reason for the zombie ladies, there is enough talk about toxic seepage and water tables and possibly fracking to fill a sizable revision of the Kyoto Protocol. But — and correct me if I’m wrong — I don’t remember that document having a spontaneous abortion in a bathtub, like Revenge of the Living Dead Girls does.

Called the “most extreme French gore film in history” by people with far more credentials than I, Revenge indubitably earns that title with as much cheap grue as possible, although I’m not sure who else is really reaching for those lofty goals these days. Like most Eurosleaze flicks, the screen is typically filled with more bare flesh than dead flesh, with mildly confused sex scenes happening every four or five minutes. Add a nonsensical ending that leaves so many more questions than answers and you’ve got a French horror flick that even Jean Rollin probably wouldn’t touch. —Louis Fowler

Get it at Amazon.

With actor Dave Franco casting his wife, Alison Brie, in his directorial debut, one can’t help but wonder, “How much of this is autobiographical?” For their sake of their union, I hope the answer is “none,” because no character in The Rental is what we would call “in a good place,” literally or figuratively.

Brie (The Disaster Artist) and Dan Stevens (The Guest) play spouses Michelle and Charlie, who do the Airbnb thing for a weekend getaway. Tagging along are Charlie’s troubled brother (Jeremy Allan White, Movie 43) and his bro’s good-influence girlfriend (Sheila Vand, XX), who happens to work with Charlie. The house is amazing; its owner (Toby Huss, 2018’s Halloween), much less so — definitely a creep and possibly a virulent racist.

Without getting into specifics that would spoil the film, the house — again, amazing — offers neither the serenity nor the sanity the couples seek. One red flag is the discovery of what appears to be a camera lens embedded in the showerhead. In the process, given the criss-cross-applesauce nature of the foursome, the lines of their relation to one another are bound to be redrawn.

While The Rental is ultimately a horror film, it only gets comfortable with that identity in the last 20 minutes. Until then, it treads the thriller waters with the occasional dip of the toe. More attention to the interpersonal drama is paid than expected, which gives a big chunk of the movie an ambling, possibly even improvisational quality. Turns out, there’s a rational explanation for that: Joe Swanberg, the king of the loosey-goosey “mumblecore” movement, is credited as co-writer. His first-draft vibe most affects the middle section, tugging engagement levels downward — having generally unlikable characters (although well-acted) further yanks that chain hard — until Franco finally commits to the frights he so skillfully sets up an hour earlier.

And wow, what a primal, powerful 20 minutes follow, right to a truly chilling montage that overtakes the closing credits. That’s the movie I wished The Rental were for the entirety, and why I suspect Franco’s follow-up will deliver more on that promise. —Rod Lott

Get it at Amazon.