THE LAST HOUSE IN THE WOODS

Aurora and Rino have just broken up, but Rino wants to rekindle his relationship with the girl and invites her out one last time. After parking in a secluded spot at the edge of the woods, the two are attacked by a group of thugs. Antonio and Clara, a couple passing by, come to the rescue of the two young people, forcing the criminals to flee. The couple invites Aurora and Rino to their home to call the police and recover from the shock, but upon arriving at the cabin in the woods, the two realize they have gone from the frying pan into the fire! Step by step, Italian genre cinema is beginning to re-emerge. It is still a cinema in its infancy, often entrusted to small productions and forced into low visibility, but it already carries a significant charge to inspire hope for the future. "Il bosco fuori" is one of those semi-independent productions that has managed to stand out from the wild pile of obscurity and found a home video distribution, after a brief appearance in a Roman cinema at the end of August (the only theater equipped for projection in the new 2K digital format). Certainly, young director Gabriele Albanesi has had a lot of luck: associate producers of the caliber of the Manetti Bros. and Sergio Stivaletti, also involved with special effects and makeup, and a distribution company (Minerva Pictures) ready to spread the work nationally and internationally (abroad the film was distributed with the enticing title "The Last House in the Woods"). But beyond the privileges that the director and his feature film debut have enjoyed, "Il bosco fuori" is a truly remarkable film. The strength of this film does not lie in the well-known plot, which blends "The Last House on the Left" with "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" and a touch of "Phenomena," but in the genuineness with which it has been carried out. Taking as reference famous films for the history of postmodern horror and reworking them to the needs of a national production is a sign of narrative ability and a sure love for the genre; it is very noticeable that Albanesi grew up with the films of Hooper and Craven, and the influence of these fundamental films is evident, beyond the plot itself, in the essentiality of the narration, the roughness of some formal solutions, and the search for style. The low budget has certainly contributed to the success of the minimalist rendering of the entire operation as well as to a rare underlying genuineness, but Albanesi also demonstrates a good quality directorial style, characterized by zoom-ins that could be defined as almost "Fulcian" and the good choice of some shots. Stivaletti's special effects are, as usual, excellent, and there is a really frugal use of blood and atrocities of all kinds, so much so that the restriction to viewers under 18 is the true calling card of this film. The cast is made up of new faces to the public (with the exception of the cameo of the Manettian guest stars Elisabetta Rocchetti and Enrico Silvestrin), in some cases endowed with sure talent (see Daniela Virgilio and David Pietroni), in other cases a bit more awkward and out of place. The photography does not always appear functional, in some points excessively dark and in others incredibly baroque (the basement of the house), as do the music by Filippo Barbieri and Federico Bruno, which often seem inadequate to underscore the scenes of tension. In conclusion, "Il bosco fuori" is a pleasant surprise that comes to us from our own country, which has been resting for too long from horror productions. A small, courageous film in its mix of nationality and internationality and at the same time funny and cruel in describing an unusual example of the disintegration of the family institution. It will certainly not be the lifeline for Italian horror nor that masterpiece that will give new life to the genre, as some have prophesied, but it remains a very pleasant white fly in the worn-out Italian cinematic panorama.