The Last House in the Woods Movie Review, Trailer, Film Still and Poster

Italy 2006
Director: Gabriele Albanesi
Cast: Daniela Virgilio, Daniele Grassetti, Gennaro Diana, Fabiano Malantrucco, David Pietroni
Release Date: 2007
Rating: Unrated (DVD)
Running Time: 1 hour 25 mins 27 secs

The Movie Review

The Last House in the Woods film still 1

The Last House in the Woods film still 1


THE LAST HOUSE IN THE WOODS ( IL BOSCO FUORI )
Storyline:
Cast:
Ending:
Overall:

Is this the good ol' seventies? or is it nearly a decade after the millennium? The Last House in the Woods tugged me back for one hour and a half to the era where gore hounds roam the world happily. But before I review it, just want to put forth that it's not for ordinary moviegoers or even not for the regular horror aficionados.

Produced, directed, headlined all by Italian filmmakers and also shot in Italy. It tells about some unfortunate souls who end up stuck in an eerie house in the woods. But before the scene actually get to that. This horror movie opens with a family driving through the woods in the middle of the night. An accident happens which left one member of the family escaping the villain and frantically goes deeper into the darkness of the woods. Then the scene shifts into a couple in problems, Aurora (Daniela Virgilio) and Rino (Daniele Grassetti) where Rino tries to win Aurora back somewhere in the road when three thugs suddenly pull over behind their car and beats Rino badly and even tries to rape Aurora. Afterwards Aurora and Rino manage to seek refuge to the house owned by a nice couple Antonio (Gennaro Diana), Clara (Santa de Santis) and their son Giulio (Fabiano Malantrucco). Are the poor Rino and Aurora really already safe and sound? Does their misery end? But why would a middle-aged couple live alone in the middle of the woods?

The Last House in the Woods film still 2

The Last House in the Woods film still 3

Expectation is important. And I will try to give some insight for you just so you know what to expect and what not to expect. Il Bosco Fuori (the original title for the movie), is truly a pure horror movie with no comedy or whatsoever, but it relies heavily on the shock value of gore which most of them includes disembowelment, regular slashed throat and body parts munching. I guess much of the budget goes to red liquid and the gooey disgusting yellow one. And for this one, I truly appreciate the filmmakers effort to use the good ol' prosthetic instead of resorting to CGI. The blood, the body parts are perfectly resemble the real ones thanks also to the good selection of shot and colour used throughout the movie. The camerawork might be too over-stylized for some people, but I find it highly creative. It could set the audience mood for each corresponding scene. Zoom ins and close up shots, which usually when overused could be dizzy-inducers, are use evenly in this horror film.

Some properties and the set utilized for this Italian horror movie could be a bad thing or a good thing in the extreme ways, which means Hate-it-or-love-it kind of stuff. The killing tool are surprisingly still resort to the ever-notorious chainsaw and regular knife while the location is a notion to the 70s horror gorefest, then we also got the trailer, and most strikingly the hillbilly of Italian backwoods. But for those who are looking for women flesh, look elsewhere fellas. Those are absence in this title. The good thing is, the violence is not directed to women as in other misogynistic slasher films, however the most disturbing scene is not induced from physical violence but more of a psychological one which the violence is aimed towards a kid.

Now let's take a look at the flaws. I never thought that I would have to stifle a yawn or two while watching this crazy gory movie. The pace feels a drag at times with unnecessary scenes. And the acting is not an A-class, but it blends with the overall tune though. The thing is don't watch Il Bosco Fuori and expecting to see a really intense horror, it's kinda campy actually. And the expressions that the actors made are absolutely far from being terrible, but I just think they should have articulated their emotion better. Because this movie here has potential. Learn more and use more budget, then perhaps Gabriela Albanesi and his team would have released a really great entry. But future is future and now is now, and for now The Last House in the Woods is simply O.K., but still a couple of notches down from the bar of excellence.