Directed by Roberto De Feo and Paolo Strippoli. Written by De Feo, Strippoli, Lucio Besana, David Bellini and Milo Tissone. Starring Matilda Lutz, Will Merrick, Yuliia Sobol, Peppino Mazzotta, Justin Korovkin, Francesco Russo and Cristina Donadio.
Plot: 5 people, travelling by camper, crash and wake up in a seemingly impenetrable forest where they soon must fight to survive.
While NOT a “classic horror story”, this movie does have it’s merits, although there are too few in the end. We mainly follow Elisa (Lutz) who is actually on her way to her parents house because she is pregnant and her mother wants her to get an abortion. She’s unsure about the abortion though, but her mother has already set her up with an appointment. So she catches a ride through a rideshare app. An RV picks her up and she meets Mark (Merrick) and Sofia (Sobol), a couple on their way to a wedding, Riccardo (Mazotta), a doctor and Fabrizio (Russo), a vlogger who takes video of each of them before driving off.
The trouble starts when Mark, a real dick, gets drunk and takes the wheel from Fabrizio. Later that night, he gets into an accident, crashing the RV into a tree. When they all wake up from the accident however, they find that the whole RV has somehow been moved into a clearing in the middle of a very dense forest. The only thing in their line of sight is a rustic cottage, but they hesitate going inside. Their phones don’t work, the RV won’t start and Mark is now hurt, so Riccardo and Fabrizio go into the woods to look around. They find nothing but a few pig heads on spikes and become concerned. Meanwhile, back at the clearing, the house mysteriously opens and Elisa enters. She finds concerning things as well, like paintings of ritualistic sacrifices.
When they’re all together again, they agree to spend the night in the RV before making anymore decisions, but then they hear a girl screaming from the attic of the cottage and they run inside without much thought. Everything that happens from then on is crazy as hell. But is it any good. Sort of. Well, the acting is awesome, the effects are cool, there’s a bit of humor in the midst of all the carnage and certain aspects of the ending are great. But certain other aspects suck a lot.
They show a dead goat for way longer than is necessary, it’s not a traditionally scary film, when the truth is discovered, the motive doesn’t really fly for us and ultimately there’s just no real point to any of it. You see, there’s a twist towards the end of the film and we think it’s supposed to be very alarming, but it’s just not. It’s actually stupid and a bit silly. So, while we liked it enough to watch it all the way through one time, we probably won’t be watching it again. It was just a little too average.
I suppose I could list my favorite movies here, but instead I'll give you a strange glimpse into what makes me TaraRomero.
1. I met George Romero. He was the kindest and sweetest man. He talked to me for longer than he should have with the line getting longer. He also held my hand. And when he noticed the ladybug I have tattooed on my wrist, he said he liked it and asked me it's name. Till then, it had not had a name. Now, I call him George.
2. I love stickers. All stickers. I just adore them. I even ask for stickers for Christmas! As a matter of fact, the birthday that just past, every member of my immediate family gave me sticker packs as gifts. Affordable and extremely appreciated.
3. I have never put much stock in astrology or horoscopes, but I LOVE the magic of the MBTI. Omg. I am an INFP and it actually sounds just like me. Introverted mostly. Creative always. Heart before head and not the most logical. Totally me! For better or worse.
4. It's no surprise I count horror so high up on the list of things that make me, me. However, it's so within my soul that I was part of the Horror Club in college. Interesting bunch. And even took a Horror Lit class as an elective. I got an A.
5. Coffee always makes me happy. Always. I'm particularly fond of caramel macchiatos. But I'll drink black coffee if it's the only thing available.
6. I hate shock for the sake of shock and endings that depress me. I always mention the movies Within (2016) and the Eli Roth produced, written and starred in, Aftershock (2012), as proof of this distate I have. I abhor the idea that just because I like horror, some people think I'd actually praise a movie that lets you think the "Final Girl" just made it through the night, only to slap her in the face with a tsunami.
7. We are big time animal people. I mean, if I could, I'd have an elephant, a bear, a zebra, a penguin, an otter and a meerkat, living with me. Seriously though. We have 2 dogs right now and 2 cats. Both cats we picked up when they each came to our front door hungry. And both dogs we got from 2 different sets of neighbors. Both who, unfortunately, don't know how to care for pets long-term. But they're happy and healthy now!!
8. Revisiting my love of horror, one of the above cats, my cat, is a little black guy named Church. Because Pet Sematary. His middle name is even Pascow. To give credit where credit's due, the name was DJ's idea. But he loves horror too!
9. I'm big into art. Along with movie posters and an Anne Frank quote, I have some actual paintings on my wall. I really think Dali paints beautifully when he wants to. And if I don't get to see Michaelangelo's Pieta in person some day, I will be very disappointed.
10. Lastly, I find Emily Dickinson's poetry intriguing. I took an elective course about her as well. But do you know I injected horror even there? I was given a poem to dissect and I picked one on death, of course. Then, I researched old "Death Photos" and even printed out copies for everyone in the class. They were so interested in looking at them that it stopped them from all looking at me, and I was able to deal quite well with my stage fright. Haha
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