User reviews

This is a pretty odd little French slasher, that is more concerned about creating an artistic and dark atmosphere than telling a story.

You could say that this movie is taking a bit of a more artistic approach to the genre but unfortunately this doesn't exactly make the movie very interesting or exciting to watch. It does a horrible job at building up- and handling its tension and all of its other horror ingredients.

The film-makers had probably seen a couple of slashers but it doesn't feel like they understood the genre as well. They thought that it was enough to just have a dark atmosphere, throughout the entire movie but this dark atmosphere actually starts to work against the movie. All of the killings are way too dark for instance and it makes it hard to tell what is exactly going on at time. The darkness also ensures that the movie feels pretty tame with its gore, though with a bit more light the movie still could had been a gore-fest, since it has some pretty gruesome killings in it actually.

The story in its core is pretty standard but it loves to see itself as something clever and original. Not that the movie feels pretentious but it's just so that the average movie watcher will find very little original and surprises in this movie, no matter how hard the movie tries at times. You also really won't feel involved with the story at all, or with any of the characters that are in it.

Best thing I can say about the movie is that I didn't hated watching it. I therefore am also going to be quite mild with my rating but still it really isn't a movie that is worth checking out.

5/10

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Based on the title, DVD-cover image, casting choices and short synopsis, "Deep in the Woods" looks like a dumb and formulaic backwoods slasher/survival horror flick. And for about 50% that is exactly the case, but for the remaining 50% it's a surprisingly stylish, experimental and unsettling Goth-horror tryout. Writer/director Lionel Delplanque does a handful of brilliant things with the cinematography and thought up a few downright and genuinely disturbing aspects (the creepy little kid!), but unfortunately he also wanted to be too "American" when it comes to the rest of the screenplay. The teenage protagonists are utmost annoying stereotypes and they do the stupidest things imaginable, like going into the woods at night after they received specific warning there's a maniac killer on the loose. The deaths/killings are rather mundane and people keep appearing and disappearing without any proper explanation, but that about concludes the bad news. "Deep in the Woods" features a strong opening sequence and the interesting idea to process the Little Red Riding Hood fairy-tale into the script. Five obnoxious wannabe actors are heading out to a mansion the middle of a desolated forest, where they are hired to perform a private theater show to the grandson of an eccentric old man. Upon their arrival, they find out the old man is a crazed wheelchair-bound psycho with oppressed homo-erotic desires, his loyal servant is a perverted taxidermist and the grandson is a silent and autistic but terrifying child with a major trauma. Soon after their (abysmal) live performance on stage, the group find themselves pursued by a lunatic killer in a leather (!) wolf costume. Delplanque manages to insert several suspense-laden moments during the cat & mouse game and the climax, although preposterous and over-the-top, is quite exhilarating. It's very strange that Lionel Delplanque wasn't offered a one-way ticket to Hollywood after this (like his colleagues Alexandre Aja, Xavier Gens and Pascal Laugier), because his competent directing is undoubtedly film's biggest trump. I guess the script was ultimately too weak for him to become noticed.

I've seen plenty of horror films in many different languages. Sure, it looks excellent and the direction is good but the script and plot line sucks big time. It doesn't stand out from the crowd one iota. Just 'cos its french doesn't mean its any better than the american dross. Watch something else instead.

This "film" should be presented at all levels of film courses especially the scripting ones because it has so many flaws in plot and lacks so many parts of a feature film that one can hardly imagine better tool for explaining what should the story for the movie be like.I don't understand that high ranking it got and some comments about other levels of depths of the story made me laughing loud.After first 20 minutes I was angry at myself because I picked the film for my friends but then I was enjoying every illogical turn of the plot, dialogue and acting of characters under given circumstances just for fun.I have no doubt that had Monty Python been still in action they wouldn't let this one pass unnoticed-one of the most absurd charcters was the policeman/detective -when he first appeared on screen -just what was this? At the end one of my friends added "and now there will be a shot on a raven and finish" and after it happened just that we laughed through the credits maybe trying to forget how dull and boring this french "masterpiece" was.

I am a real fan of French movies. French os my second language, and I spent much of my formative years as a movie fan watching Belmondo, Jean Gabin, or Louis de Funes. However, this movie really disappointed me. Taking the European theme of the Red Chaperon, and turning it into a class B American tean horror movie is a performance on the wrong direction. No real thrill, a lot of blood and an average of a murder for every seven screen minutes, flat acting - this is what one should expect from this flip.

If the American studios put their eyes on this script, which might happen judging the lack of fresh ideas in Hollywood scripts lately - we might have a better quality American re-make of a French movie - for a change!

I had great expectations for this movie. Since I am a great fan of Dario Argento and his Italian giallos I was thrilled to hear about this french little "giallo-imitation". The beginning with a mother, her child and a murderer is stunning and kept me glued to my seat. After that we are suddenly in the company of five youths (three girls, two guys) in their early twenties and even if they are quite alright for this kind of movie, they are not very interesting.

Things perk up a bit when they arrive to their destination, a beautiful castle somewhere on the french countryside, and meet their host, a rather creepy guy in a wheelchair who makes sexual advances to one of the boys. He has an autistic son who stares ominously throughout the picture and he is quite eerie actually. The movie still looks great and there is a fair amount of tension for half an hour or so.

But after this introduction of almost all of the characters NOTHING HAPPENS for quite a while. We get quite a few scenes with some tension, but no payoff. Since it is a french production, they also throw in some female full frontal nudity in a lesbian love scene for those who like that sort of thing (I don't..). There is a police showing up from nowhere and he disappears just within a few minutes for some reason, only to show up briefly at the end. And the play these youngsters perform is truly abominable. If I had hired these actors I would have asked for a refund!

The final half hour is a little better (when the killings start - they are lensed in a loving, stylish and gory way), but unfortunately the story never gets really exciting or involving. Real suspense is sadly lacking for the most part. There is a great potential buried somewhere here, but apart from the gorgeous visuals and assured directing, it is mostly ignored. The acting is okay I guess (and most of the cast look good!). Clotilde Courau is an adequate heroine, but has tends to laugh hysterically in all the wrong places. It really got on my nerves in the end.

The camera LOVES Vincent Lecoeur but he hasn't a lot to work with like most of the others. * minor spoiler * The only part with some teeth is Axel de Fersen (the wheelchair guy) and actor François Berléand really hams it up entertainingly in that part. And the old horror movie cliché is still valid, a man or woman in a wheelchair certainly has some hidden secrets. *End of spoiler *

After all this you might expect me to dislike this movie. Wrong! I truly enjoyed it for a number of reasons. It's gaudy look and big-budget visuals (it really is a feast for the eyes). One of the first shots is a bird against a slightly cloudy sky and that image is almost worth the price of admission alone. The luxurious and atmospheric score that accompanies all the mayhem is classy and nice. The murder set-pieces that are choreographed with assurance and style. Let's just hope that this director can sink his teeth in a better script next time. Then we might TRULY be able to look forward to a great horror movie, one that even could become a classic within it's genre!

Nicely done French-made slasher is much better than some critics would have you think.

A band of young actors go off to an isolated mansion to perform a play. But once there a series of strange things leads the youths to believe that all is not right.

Overall a terrific foreign horror film. Director Lionel Delplanque gives a stunning visual sense to this film, whose story is a bit on the dark and bizarre side. The stalking/attack sequences are eerie and effective. The cast does well in their roles, Lecoeur, Sibony, and Courau being the best of the young stars. Berleand also does a good job with his especially weird character.

While some give this film the shaft as a direct-to-video flop, it's really much better than that. Give it a turn genre fans.

*** out of ****

DEEP IN THE WOODS (Promenons-nous dans les Bois)

Aspect ratio: 2.39:1

Sound formats: Dolby Digital / DTS

UK journalist Alan Jones credits this ultra-successful Gallic shocker with helping to kickstart the recent trend in French genre cinema (BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF, CRIMSON RIVERS, etc.), and it isn't hard to see why. Lionel Delplanque's hallucinatory fable attends the fortunes of five gorgeous young actors - two boys, three girls - during their visit to an isolated French château where they're hired to perform 'Little Red Riding Hood' for the oddball owner (François Berléand) and his autistic nephew (Thibault Truffert). News reaches them that a killer has escaped from police custody in the area, and when Berléand abruptly disappears (he's attacked in his bed), the actors are stalked by a murderous presence which kills them, one by one...

Though clearly influenced by its US counterparts (most notably PSYCHO and THE EVIL DEAD), DEEP IN THE WOODS also rehearses the core motifs of the Grimm fairytale ' Little Red Riding Hood' whilst simultaneously lifting most of its visual cues from European genre cinema, especially the films of Dario Argento, whose works are reflected in the classy camera moves, Gothic setting and dreamlike narrative structure; in other words, the plot meanders, but the movie LOOKS magnificent. However, we learn virtually nothing about the principal characters, except that they're sexually adventurous (two of the girls share a lesbian relationship, though one turns out to be bisexual) and that one of the guys (played by the impossibly handsome Vincent Lecœur, whose beauty is *worshipped* by Denis Rouden's appreciative camera) seems intrigued by Berléand's obvious attraction to him.

As the bodies pile up, Delplanque's screenplay (co-written with Annabel Perrechon) casts suspicion in all directions, but the resolution is frankly incomprehensible and the build-up is stifled by the director's insistence on turning cinematic cartwheels in an effort to supplement the meagre narrative. Thankfully, the closing sequences defy expectations (there's no prolonged battle between virginal survivor and monstrous killer, for instance), but the characters are mere ciphers, which makes it hard to care one way or the other. Sumptuously designed, the film is stylish to a fault, but it's also shallow and unscary, the work of an enthusiastic director trying too hard to impress with his feature debut. Co-stars include Denis Lavant (BEAU TRAVAIL) and Marie Trintignant (daughter of French film legend Jean-Louis Trintignant), who died in 2003 following a violent assault for which her boyfriend - French rock singer Bertrand Cantat - was eventually tried and convicted.

(French dialogue)

The director of "Deep in the Woods" shows a strong sense of visual style (there is, for example, a point-of-view shot from inside a bag!), but it's all for naught. This movie is a real mess; people appear out of nowhere and disappear into nowhere, and the main characters are a little too dumb, even for typical horror-movie "heroes". Give this director a decent script, and we might actually be onto something. As a side note, the stage play these kids set up is terrible enough to turn anyone into a killer. (**)

Deep in the Woods (aka:Promenons-nous dans les bois) is a sort of French spin on the glossy post-Scream teen slasher. All the ingredients are present, from the cast of beautiful young men and women, the hip soundtrack, right on down to the film's packaging, which looks straight out of Dimension's art department. However, all similiarities end there. Judging this "book" by it's cover would be a big mistake, because Deep in the Woods is more Argento than Craven, and is one of the finest examples of European horror to make it on to DVD.

The film opens with a long traveling shot of a woman reading "Little Red Riding Hood" to a child, and it's a dazzling introduction, with the camera peering through a keyhole and gliding into the room, leading up a truly unsettling murder. We are then introduced to our lead players, a quintet of actors hired to perform Red Riding Hood for an eccentric millionaire, Axel de Fersen(Berleand), and his autistic grandson, Nicolas ( a spooky kid named Thibault Truffert) . As the title suggests, Axel's home is an isolated castle deep within the woods, and from the moment the group arrives, there is an immediate sense of dread, with Axel displaying a rather nasty temperment,( as well as a bit of "affection" for Wilfried (Lecoeur)), a bizarre "game-keeper" named Stephane (Denis Levant) who hovers over Axel protectively, and, of course, the autistic Nicolas, who manages to be creepy just by sitting there. Meanwhile, the police are in hot pursuit of a serial rapist who has apparently taken up residence in the 10 kilometers of woods surrounding Axel's estate. Before long, we are thrown headlong into a Giallo-like murder-mystery that works quite well until the final act, where the film seems to run out of gas. Still, it's quite a ride while it lasts!

Delplanque's direction is the real star here. The bio on the DVD says he was only 27 years old when he completed Deep in the Woods, and I have to say, I was really impressed, if not downright shocked, by his ability to turn this relatively formulaic tale into a splendidly entertaining visual feast! If this is any indication of what this guy's next project will look like, get me my ticket now! From quick cuts, long shots, ingenious angles and some spectacular point-of-view stuff, the camera becomes as organic as the characters (and in some cases, more so). In the hands of a lesser filmmaker this film could have easily been a kill-by-numbers I Know What You Did Last Summer rehash, but Delplanque's unique visuals keep you glued to the screen until the rather unsatisfying conclusion.

As a whole, I highly recommend Deep in the Woods. It's leagues better than any of it's American counterparts (although so is sleeping or watching paint dry), and is sure to please fans of Argento, Bava, et all. The only complaints I have are the same complaints I always have with Giallo's and that is the cardboard characterizations and lack of logic in the script, although Deep in the Woods is actually pretty consistent in the latter.

As far as extras, there are a bunch, but they aren't all that. There is the whole cast/crew bios section, but, aside from the director, who cares? No one stood out as the next Gerard Depardieu, so I really didn't care what Maud Buquet had on her resume'. There are also two trailers which are virtually identical, save the French trailer shows full frontal nudity and most of the goriest bits, so, while it's great to watch, wait till you've seen the film before watching the naked ladies over and over. There is also a commentary by Brian Yuzna of all people, who is called "Horror Expert" on the liner notes. He reads from notes scribbled by Delplanque, and then throws in his two cents. His commentary is actually pretty cool, because he seems genuinely impressed with the director's work, but it would have been nice to hear from Delplanque himself, even if they had to subtitle his commentary. Rounding out the package are the nice English and French 5.1 audio tracks. Both the video and audio presentation are flawless, but since this is a 2000 release I'd expect no less.

All in all, a decent package of an above average flick by Artisan and a real treat for anyone who has yet to recover from the Dawson's Creek era of the horror genre. Pretty people CAN die in very ugly ways, after all!

This was more an attempt to get all three of the leading actresses naked than a serious attempt at a horror flick. It was boring and not to mention not the least bit scary. More than anything it lacked any kind of sense of direction - had a fragmented and disjointed back story that never did get explained and really bad acting to boot. The creepy kid was the scariest thing about the whole movie. I'm not really sure if the script was just this bad or the director was just trying to figure out ways to get the actresses clothes off. Although they were mildly hot, it didn't fit in this movie at all and actually just made the film seem silly. I've actually seen better story lines in cheap porn flicks than this.

In short, save your money and your time...this isn't even worth the price of a rental.

This movie started out so typically to be an American style teen slasher movie, I almost forgot it had a French title. Then the first thing that hit me was that these kids skin was too clear! Then they failed to generate any group cohesiveness that would indicate that they really knew each other and just weren't some random people thrown together to perform at a rich guys house.

Then we get the typical Vincent Price "welcome to my castle" introductions and I thought--this just might work as retro fifties schlock horror. The gratuitous nudity, all female, started to really get me interested, but bad (even worse than the kids) acting on the part of the background characters, totally lost me.

As mentioned before, the photography had a kind of a mixture of "Blair Witch Project" and "The Howling", with some interesting variations on some standard killings, that just seemed forced.

My recommendation: Get a prettier girl with better legs to wear the short skirts and do more Karen Black up the skirt terror scenes while she is being chased by the killer.

The story is about a group of young actors going to a rich man's mansion to perform the story of little red riding hood for his kid. The first 20 minutes of this film are excellent. A weird, claustrophobic atmosphere is set, and everything (music, titles, photography) flows from one thing to another and really drags one into the story. As I was thinking "there's no way they can keep up this level of quality for the rest of the movie", things began to slow down, plot was feeling constructed, rhythm and timing became awkward, and acting didn't stay consistent. There are elements indicating that the original story of l.r.r. hood is transposed to a modern era -the wolf and the hunter are there- but if there were other characters of the original story, then I didn't quite catch them. The whole feels very plot-centered, with the usual twists and explanation in the last 5 minutes. The only thing that can keep one interested is the photography - it's excellent.

A group of artists, composed of the young actors Wilfried (Vincent Lecoer) and Matthieu (Clément Sibony) and the actresses Sophie (Clotilde Courau), Mathilde (Maud Buquet) and the dumb Jeanne (Alexia Stresi), is hired by a millionaire, Axel de Fersen (François Bérleand), to present a performance of Little Red Riding Hood in his isolated castle to celebrate the birthday of his grandson. Meanwhile, the police advises that a serial killer is raping and killing young women in the woods around that area. During the night, the group feels trapped and threatened in the castle, guessing who is and where might be the killer.

"Deep in the Woods" is a very weird French B-Movie. The characters are badly constructed, the troupe of actors and actresses are very stupid, the locals are very bizarre, the story has many clichés and flaws, the screenplay is a complete mess and the acting of a great part of the cast is ridiculous. The photography is good, and probably this is the best this movie can offer. For Brazilians, I would like to present one additional remark: last year, the distributor Play Arte released the DVD "Wrong Turn" with the title "Pânico na Floresta" (which means "Panic in the Forest"). Now, the distributor "Europa Filmes" has just released "Deep in the Woods" with the same title in Portuguese ("Pânico na Floresta"). Therefore, the reader can imagine the confusion for a common Brazilian users, when he or she goes to a rental or to a store and gets the wrong DVD. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Pânico na Floresta" ("Panic in the Forest")

The movie itself was very confusing... even after viewing the entire thing I nor anybody else understood. In addition the first 30-45 mins of the movie were taken up mostly by sex scenes, one which looked like it might turn into an orgy and another between two girls. All in all it was not a bad movie, but it had a lot of holes in the story and too many sexual subplots.

Understanding that every one has their own opinion, I was shocked to find out that this movie only has a 4 point rating. Forget the rating and give it a chance. The movie is photographed extremely well. You rarely see this, especially in horror movies. I like to say it reminds me of Raimi. Along with the visuals, the story will keep you guessing. The last horror to do that for me was SCREAM. This is the non-literal adaption of LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD and is poorly marketed as an English teen slasher. I expected to laugh at this rental, as I love to do with every other B-movie. This is more. Simply, a great horror movie. Oddly enough, I am usually the one jumping in horrors and not my girlfriend, suprisingly we both were this time. Cough, but I did it in a manly way. ;) Regardless of the majority rating, take in consideration those who liked it. This movie is worth it if you like the genre. Oh, and watch it with sub-titles. Normally, I would say it wouldn't matter THAT much; however, like MONONOKE it is much better with it's original performances. I hope you give it a chance and enjoy the photography, suspense, and playfully amusing (read: gory) deaths.

By 2000, the post-Scream slasher wave was already pretty much over, but they didn't tell that to the French, because Deep in the Woods was shot and released right at the tail end of this wave and ended up going straight to video and DVD here in the states. It's a shame, too, because this is easily one of the most visually striking horror films of its time.

A group of young actors are summoned to a mansion in the middle of the woods to entertain a child. In classic slasher fashion, they end up getting picked off one by one in a variety of elaborate ways.

What Deep in the Woods lacks in plot, character development, and story logic, it makes up for in sheer style. It looks and feels less like a typical slasher and more like an Italian giallo from Mario Bava or Dario Argento. This keeps the film interesting when the story wanes here and there and not much is going on. It's not the most memorable screenplay in the world, but some of the stylized set pieces do stick with you.

A friend of mine let me have his DVD of this French slasher movie, he told me that he found it boring. Sadly I have to agree with him. The French title "Promenous - Nous dans La Bois" translates as "Let's Walk in the Woods" but for the English speaking world it was changed to "Deep in the Woods". The story is set at an impressive 19th Century rural chateau where a bunch of young actors perform a grisly play of "Little Red Riding Hood" to an audience of two - a strange and disabled millionaire and his mute, autistic son (read Creepy Kid). Add a little female full frontal nudity and so far so reasonably watchable. Unfortunately the pace becomes slow (boring) and the characters are very shallow, There is some blood but none of the kill scenes are memorable, and despite a few red herrings the identity of the killer at the end comes as no surprise. The movie does have an obvious European feel and look but it is also equally an attempt to emulate the American slashers, even the DVD's cover looks typical of any number of American stalk and slash flicks. This film apparently kicked started the modern French horror revival, so I am grateful for that, but far better entries such as Switchblade Romance would follow. Disappointing.