The Well

2023's movie The Well lures viewers with Lauren LaVera (Terrifier 2 & 3) as the protagonist, Lisa, who travels to a small Italian village to restore a medieval painting to its former glory. Little does she know that there's much more to the painting, as it is bound by an evil curse. On her way to the house where she is to meet the woman who hired her and her seemingly stubborn daughter, she also encounters three backpackers. The audience follows their parallel storyline, though not necessarily to flesh out their characters but for different reasons.

Lisa's father, a well-known art restorer, was unable to restore the painting himself, so he sent his daughter. It quickly becomes clear that their relationship is somewhat strained, as Lisa mentions he is a very strict man. The painting must be finished within two weeks because, as the owner says, it will be part of an exclusive auction in London. This sudden deadline catches Lisa off guard and puts pressure on her work, prompting her to start the restoration immediately. However, she quickly becomes distracted by various things, as her character is overly curious. This tendency is slightly annoying to watch because you know it will inevitably get her into trouble.

The movie has a good and creepy atmosphere, and the painting definitely carries a mysterious aura. The film has a nice vintage style and looks visually appealing overall. The acting is mostly fine, with Lauren LaVera particularly standing out as she carries most of the film's weight. True to its title, The Well includes scenes involving a well, but since the primary focus is on the painting, the title feels a bit misleading. Whenever the well is brought into the story, the film shifts toward a tone of torture porn and gore. These scenes, while unsettling and somewhat out of place, weren't entirely unwelcome, as I do enjoy some good gore-and the movie certainly delivers on that front.

In the third act, the different elements of the story come together, revealing the truth about the painting and the people surrounding it. Unfortunately, the ending feels a little rushed and leaves many things unexplained, which was disappointing. The film also includes many predictable elements, but overall, I had a decent time with it. While it's not groundbreaking, I think it's worth a watch for fans of the genre. [5,7/10]

It's like lemonade. Little substance.

Were it not for the annoying sickening gore, it would be something to leave on in the background and occasionally glance up at.

With the gore you can't even do that.

Not once does it make you feel horrified, terrified, or thrilled in any way, and it doesn't grip you with intrigue, characters, or plot. You feel calm and occasionally disgusted. If the genre was called "disgust" instead of "horror" it would make sense. This way however, it's just not well made. If you want to watch gore go look at a slaughterhouse.

The cinematography is basic, the acting ok, the audio between irritating and incomprehensible. At one point a character repeatedly calls out for "tony". And i could have sworn it was "charlie"

It got 4 stars, because while it is nauseating and pointless, it isn't actively evil and damaging, and the plot is actually somewhat interesting.

To start with, this was not what I expected. After reading the reviews, I thought this is gonna be another poorly made "amazon prime" special - low budget, made with little talent to fill a time slot. I was surprised.

Firstly - I'm a huge movie fan and a massive indie horror supporter. I'm a filmmaker myself and produce folklore horror films based on Scottish Myths. So a folklore story based in rural Italy is right up my street.

For the first 20 minutes I was unsure, then something clicked and I started really enjoying it. Interesting premise, some creepy moments, well shot, surprisingly well acted, good creature / monster design and yes good gore if that's your thing.

I would definitely give this a go.

When I read the synopsis, I thought:" great, finally a horror that isn't about some group of friends getting killed, or a family moving into a haunted house etc.". Well, sadly it doesn't deliver what it could have been.

The story starts with the main character, a painting restorator, travels to Italy for a (duh!) painting restoration job. Along te way she meets some guys, who are traveling to a different destination but end as prisoners in the same mansion.

Here it already starts to go wrong. The movie immediately descends into torture p0rn the moment those prisoners are shown, which distracts from the supernatural theme and add little to the story. And who is that fat inbred motherf'er walking down below ? Why is he wearing that goofy face paint ? He adds little to the story other than just being the person who carries out some mundane torture scenes.

The so-called well, that the movie is named after, actually plays a little negligible role in the whole scheme of things, and maybe a different title would be appropriate. The ending is a total letdown and anti-climax, with lackluster acting of nearly every character involved except maybe Lauren LaVera, who somewhat manages to carry the whole thing and make the best of it.

It's a shame, because this movie really had potential. Oh well, I'm sure all those low IQ gore hounds that infest the horror fan base will get some enjoyment out of this.

"The Well", is where "Hostel" meets "A Picture of Dorian Grey", and indeed with some old school Italian gore direction, a la Umberto Lenzi. I've been waiting for this one since Stieges 2023 and Zampaglione (Tulpa)'s direction did not disappoint. La Vera (Terrifier 2) carried her "final girl" crown well, though obviously in a more demure manner. The acting by the four prisoners was excellent and the cinematography was top notch. The story was a bit thin but the gore and other visual effects made up for it in spades. Zampaglione truly got right that which Rob Zombie usually buggers up. He even had a family member who could kinda act in the film.