Aurora (Daniela Virgilio) and her boyfriend Rino (Daniele Grassetti) are having a bad day-for one thing, a trio of thugs decide they want some fun, and after they are saved, it turns out that their savior's family has some really ugly secrets.
An Italian tribute to 70's and 80's Grindhouse fair, "Last House In The Woods" could best be described as "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" meets "The Last House on the Left" with a dash of "Mother's Day" thrown in. The film obviously has plenty of love for old school Exploitation flicks, and also boasts an effective score and top notch gore FX by Sergio Stivaletti ("Cemetary Man.")
Yet, it never really reaches it's full potential. Sure, you aren't exactly looking for an original type of horror movie, but it doesn't help when you realize that you could be watching other, better Horror Exploitation movies from the 70's and 80's instead of this. Here, not only have you seen it before, but you've seen it done considerably better. It also doesn't help that the acting is largely poor, with the exception of Gennaro Diana as Antonio and Santa De Santis as Clara. Sure, you can throw in all the Chainsaw action, gore, and cannibalism in the world, but it doesn't make up for it.
To be fair, director Gabriele Albanesi definitely shows some potential, and could possibly pull of a good horror movie. Sadly, this isn't it, but damn it, he at least puts effort into it, which counts for something. Plus, it's nice to see a gory Italian horror flick that's recent-too bad it ends up, as James Brown once said, "Talking Loud and Saying Nothing."
An Italian tribute to 70's and 80's Grindhouse fair, "Last House In The Woods" could best be described as "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" meets "The Last House on the Left" with a dash of "Mother's Day" thrown in. The film obviously has plenty of love for old school Exploitation flicks, and also boasts an effective score and top notch gore FX by Sergio Stivaletti ("Cemetary Man.")
Yet, it never really reaches it's full potential. Sure, you aren't exactly looking for an original type of horror movie, but it doesn't help when you realize that you could be watching other, better Horror Exploitation movies from the 70's and 80's instead of this. Here, not only have you seen it before, but you've seen it done considerably better. It also doesn't help that the acting is largely poor, with the exception of Gennaro Diana as Antonio and Santa De Santis as Clara. Sure, you can throw in all the Chainsaw action, gore, and cannibalism in the world, but it doesn't make up for it.
To be fair, director Gabriele Albanesi definitely shows some potential, and could possibly pull of a good horror movie. Sadly, this isn't it, but damn it, he at least puts effort into it, which counts for something. Plus, it's nice to see a gory Italian horror flick that's recent-too bad it ends up, as James Brown once said, "Talking Loud and Saying Nothing."