The Well

"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.

Terrible, in every way. A non-existent film direction, embarrassing dubbing and a stupid script. They try to quote the Italian horror of the 80s but they end up trashy, the soundtrack is ridiculous to say the least and used at the wrong times. The only positive things are the protagonist's acting and the gore scenes. The rest is rubbish unfortunately. We see the passion for the genre but we don't see the talent or any other artistic ambition, this is not the Italian horror we need. Furthermore, it must be underlined that all the influencers who talk about cinema and who have expressed negative opinions and sensible criticisms on the film have been accused of incompetence by the film's official Instagram account. Except the director who accepted them. Shameful, that's not how cinema is made.

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.

There is very slow buid up. Plus the suspense they want to create that is also not engaging. I need 4 days to compete it !!

Still completed with skipping. There is only violence. No horror or no paranormal activity. You cannot make movie horrific by only using violence. Story is also boring and strange. Can't grip your audience. The actress did well with acting. What's with the well ??? There is better well in "Ring" movie. Here only cutting body parts makes you scare ! No scare also only feel weird. Expected good story but cannot match with even poster also. Only the tent scene is little scary.

Italian mastery fully delivered. I knew it already Italian horror movies from the past are famous for being super scary and very well done. Well, this one follows all the way! There are constant vibes of fear, suspense and discomfort. The brilliant cinematography help this out a lot. Most of the characters are quite petrifying and the monster is fantastically designed. Atmosphere is nightmarish as hell both in the house and "downstairs" and the more the plot is revealed the more you feel the tension increasing. It basically sticks to you all along, til the end credits, when you finally are allowed to breath a sigh of relief. By the way, what a shocking end! A special mention to the gore, so barbaric that it made feel me sick. Lauren is the chef's kiss.