News

Written and Directed by: Leonardo Araneo

Featuring: Roberton Zibetti, Marco Gandolfi Vannini, Aran Bertetto, Giovanni Guidelli

Reading a review of the latest direct-to-dvd found footage movie is about as exciting as watching one, as many of these features contain the same inherent flaws and weaknesses. So, to buck the trend, I'm starting my review of Back from Hell on a positive note.

The acting was pretty good and the entire cast was composed of adults, not a bunch of CW tween show "stars." And one character does follow the horror handbook and makes sure a supernatural being won't follow them.

But that's all I have. Back from Hell has a few interesting twists that might have differentiated it from the glut of found footage possession movies flooding the home market. But the script leaves too much unresolved and focuses too heavily on having the cast wander through dark locations as a means to generate suspense.

Inception Media Group has picked up two new genre titles for distribution.  First up is the Italian production Back from Hell, from director Leonardo Araneo.  Shot under the title Ex inferis, the film concerns six ex-classmates who decide to spend the holidays together and rent a manor in the countryside to forget the raving madness of the city life.

After getting to know a priest living in the adjoining church, the group's mood progressively deteriorates while strange, paranormal phenomena starts to occur in the house. The vacation turns into a nightmare when Giorgio, one of the friends, starts to show signs of diabolic possession. While Alessandro, his best friend, tries to find a scientific and rational explanation, the other friends trust the priest who feels Giorgio is possessed by the devil and tries to exorcise him. In the end, all the people will figure out what is happening goes over their ability to understand,...

Chicago – Though you probably don’t know his name, Christopher McQuarrie’s involvement might sell you on paying to see “The Tourist” even more than “A”-list stars Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. After all, McQuarrie is the writer behind 1995’s Oscar-winning magnum opus by the name of “The Usual Suspects”.

Rating: 1.5/5.0

While these two films both embarked on the pursuit of conning you into one belief and then twisting you into another, “The Usual Suspects” masterfully succeeds in every fiber of its being while “The Tourist” can’t even play ball in the same league. And to even consider “The Tourist” as Hitchcockian would be a crime of blockbuster proportions bestowed upon the true man of mystery.

Though McQuarrie’s words might be found somewhere in this Angelina Jolie model fest, the ink from its two other writers (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck and Julian Fellowes) clearly snuffs away McQuarrie’s natural skill.