VARIETY review of Gabriele Albanesi's THE LAST HOUSE IN THE WOODS (IL BOSCO FUORI)

FOR TRAILERS & STILLS, SEE THE BOTTOM OF THIS ARTICLE

"Though its Japanese release title is the cheesy 'Italian Chainsaw', writer-director Gabriele Albanesi's first feature, 'The Last House in the Woods', is less in line with current horror trends than with the homegrown gialli and more controversial U.S. drive-in terrors ('Last House on the Left', 'I Spit on Your Grave') of the 1970s and early '80s. Unpredictable, sometimes harrowing tale of a young couple fighting for their lives amid countryside peril may tick off auds looking for a standard-issue genre ride. But this crafty low-budgeter merits specialty DVD release in most territories, with theatrical possible in areas friendly to foreign-language horror.... Tale mixes everyday horrors (the thugs' violent loutishness) with more macabre ones, as black comedy strains with genuine sympathy for believable characters undergoing extreme abuse. Aurora, in particular, is lent more complexity than the usual 'Final Girl'. (The difference between something like this and, say, the 'Hostel' movies is that by depicting their victims as one-dimensional cannon fodder, latter pics seem to side with the torturers.)" -- Variety's Dennis Harvey

Distribution rights for Gabriele Albanesi's The Last House in the Woods (Il bosco fuori) are being offered for sale by Minerva Pictures Group s.r.l.. The movie had what appears to have been its world première at the Ravenna Nightmare Film Fest in Italy on October 6th of last year. Epcott Co. Ltd. (K.K. Epukotto) released it on sale DVD (ALCD-0096; NTSC, region 2, Italian w/ Japanese subtitles) in Japan on May 25th, under the title "Italian Chainsaw" ("Itarian Chênsô"); the DVD is available for order from ScreenAnarchy affiliate YesAsia.com (Hong Kong) Ltd..

The screenplay for The Last House in the Woods was written by Albanesi. The movie stars Daniela Virgilio as Aurora, Daniele Grassetti as Rino, Rino Diana as Antonio, Santa De Santis as Clara, David Pietroni as Cesare, Geremia Longobardo as Ginger, Cristiano Callegaro as Diego, Luigi Campi as Osvaldo, Valter Gilardoni as Emidio, Fabiano Malantrucco as Giulio, Francesco Lopez as Andrea, Elisabetta Rocchetti as Elena, and Enrico Silvestrin as Luca. Sergio Stivaletti was responsible for its special effects.

Here's a synopsis for The Last House in the Woods from the official website for the movie: "Aurora (Daniela Virgilio) and Rino (Daniele Grassetti) are two youngsters who decide to go look for a little privacy with their car in the woods one night. Unfortunately very soon a group of bullies (David Pietroni, Geremia Longobardo and Cristiano Callegaro) assaults them, and when everything seems lost, an older couple (Rino Diana and Santa De Santis) steps in and takes their defenses. Antonio and Clara, these are their names, invite Aurora and Rino to their house in the woods, to calm down and forget this bad moment. The two accept this kind invitation, soon to discover...."

Here's a description of The Last House in the Woods from the website of Sci-Fi-London: "Chainsaws, continental chavs and cannibalistic children -- the Italian splatter movie is back!

Aurora and Rino are making out in the woods when a local gang assaults them. Just when everything seems lost, an older couple, Antonio and Clara, step in to save the day.

They invite Aurora and Rino to their house in the woods to calm down. The two accept this kind invitation, only to discover it was the worst decision they could have made.

With references to the seventies shockers such as LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (1972) and THE HILLS HAVE EYES (1977), this film is a dark, hard edged horror, while the film's style and themes betray a debt to Italian gore classics such as BAY OF BLOOD (1970) and the films of Dario Argento."

For more information on The Last House in the Woods, see ScreenAnarchy's eighth, seventh, sixth, fifth, fourth, third, second, and first articles on it.

Those who are interested in The Last House in the Woods may also wish to read the ScreenAnarchy articles on Eros Puglielli's Eyes of Crystal (Occhi di cristallo), Alex Infascelli's Hate 2 O -- a.k.a. "H2Odio" -- Ted Nicolaou's The Etruscan Mask, Ilmar Taska's Thy Kingdom Come, Stefano Bessoni's Imago Mortis, Giovanni Pianigiani's Darkness Surrounds Roberta, and Andrea Molaioli's La ragazza del lago.

The Last House in the Woods teaser trailer #2 (Italian w/ English subtitles; downloadable 4.6 MB MOV file)
The Last House in the Woods teaser trailer #2 (Italian w/ English subtitles; downloadable 5 MB WMV file)
The Last House in the Woods teaser trailer #1 (no dialogue; downloadable 3.8 MB WMV file)
The Last House in the Woods teaser trailer #1 (no dialogue; downloadable 2.2 MB MOV file)

The Last House in the Woods official website
GOMORRAHY.com: The Last House in the Woods (w/ 2 trailers, 9 stills, etc.)
Epcott: The Last House in the Woods Japanese sale DVD
YesAsia.com: The Last House in the Woods Japanese sale DVD

Variety: The Last House in the Woods review