In 1958, in the French Alp, the young servant Anna Jurin (Virginie Ledoyen) arrives in Saint Ange Orphanage to work with Helena (Dorina Lazar) while the orphans moved to new families with the administrator Francard (Catriona MacColl). Anna, who is secretly pregnant, meets the last orphan , Judith (Lou Doillon),left behind because of her mental problems, and they become closer when Anna find that Judith also hear voices and footsteps of children. Anna investigates the place trying to disclose the secret about the invisible children.

"Saint Ange" has a promising beginning that recalls Asian horror movies, and a very beautiful cinematography, but unfortunately it does not work since the story is terrible, boring and confused. I confess that I have not understood what this mess is about and the motives of Anna. One of the worse ghost stories I have ever seen. How can the producers of "Le Pact de Loups" waste money, their names and efforts in such crap? My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "A Profecia dos Anjos" ("The Prophecy of the Angels")

Certain films seem to attract a lot of negative comments. This is exacerbated in this IMDb forum where people decide to target movies they dislike and proceed to bash them, whether it merits such derision, or not.

Such happens to be the case with "Saint Ange", written and directed by Pascal Laugier. This French-Romanian co-production is not entirely without merits. Its creator doesn't deserve the barrage of hateful comments it has received in this forum.

"Saint Ange" falls in the category of horror. As such, it has some effective moments. The story resembles other films of the genre. The cinematography by Pablo Rossi is one of the strong assets. The musical score by Joseph Loduca and the editing by Sebastian Prangere work well with the atmosphere Mr. Laugier designed for the film.

As far as the acting goes, Virginie Ledoyen fares the best. Lou Doillon, who plays Judith doesn't convince. Mr. Laugier perhaps with better material will prove he is worth another chance, despite his many critics and the bashing his film has received.

No, it is not a slasher movie. The story is similar to the After Dark film Wicked Little Things, without the blood. It is classic horror with creaky pipes, and strange happenings, and the fact that you are never really sure if something is happening or if it is just in your imagination.

The main attraction is, of course, Virginie Ledoyen (8 Women),who gives us the extreme pleasure of examining every inch of her French beauty. She is the woman who was beaten and presumably raped by her former employers and comes to this remote orphanage that is shutting down.

She enlists the aid of Lou Doillon, another French beauty (even appears in the documentary French Beauty),to find out what happened 15 years ago. See, the story is similar to Wicked Little Things, as the prior inhabitants are still hanging around - or, are they? You are never really sure until the end, and even then...

A first feature film for writer/director Pascal Laugier makes one look forward to his second, Martyrs, this year.