Il bosco 1

This movie would would be totally lame and would never receive a 9 star rating if it didn't have such rad gore. sure it's nowhere near as sweet as EVIL DEAD but what is? plus what do you expect from the French? Italy can often make up for it's lame attempts at ripping off American films by offering lots and lots of gore but i've never heard of the French doing the same. anyway that's what happened with EVIL CLUTCH... the movie itself totally sucks but there the gore is so rad that it doesn't matter. basically if you love gore and can get past the goofy French accents then this baby is not to be missed; but if you're looking for a well thought out original plot than run for it. hey it's got cool zombies and lots of splatter and that always rates good in my book.

A vacationing couple (Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni and Diego Ribon) head up into the Alps and end up running into a lady who begs them for help from some attacker. They drive her to a small village, she runs away, they meet a local crazy with a voicebox who warns of witches, they go camping, run into the woman again and get attacked by her. Oh, and this femme fatale has a large claw that extends from her groin and tries to kill people. This Italian film is heavily influenced by THE EVIL DEAD, but you can see director Andreas Marfori just doesn't have the talent to pull it off. It is like he watched Raimi's film with no translation. It is a shame as the film has many things going for it (nice camera work, great locations, tons of gore), but Marfori just can't get it to gel thanks to his incredibly wonky staging. He also overdoses on the use of the steadicam. The final scene with Coralina walking away from the carnage while followed by the steadicam goes on so long that it becomes a joke. Just when you get tired of it, the director then cuts to her continuing to walk with the camera in front of her for another minute or so. Jeez, such a shame.

An American woman played by Italian actress Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni of "Opera" fame is vacationing in Venice and decides to go with her local boyfriend on trip to the Alps.They run into a witch who says she was attacked and they give her a ride into town.There they meet a crazy guy on a motorcycle who speaks using a electrolarynx.They hike into the mountains and run into both of these people again up there.They also meet a zombie,who is chasing 'em without reason and promptly uses a fishing pole to catch a girl.The funniest thing is titular 'evil clutch'-a giant bloodthirsty claw protruding from witch's vagina.Hell yeah!This cheap and silly Italian "The Evil Dead" clone offers few amusing moments and plenty of grue.Lovers of bad cinema will be pleased with such oddity.

I like analyzing films like this because they're simple in style, but challenging to separate the faults and things the filmmakers did right from one another. The good things first: "Evil Clutch" tries to take itself seriously and does okay at it MOST of the time, has some good gore, gets pretty weird and imaginative at times (even if it is in that school of "Evil Dead" rip-offs, that being a film that ripped off the 1971 "Equinox" itself), and has almost non-stop scenes that are fun to watch when you're in a very anti-yuppie mood (which I always am). Leave it up to yuppies to not listen to the only likeable character when he warns them about the demonic happenings abounding in the woods, including one of the greatest lines of dialogue: "Do you really think that you're so far from horror?" Now for the not-so-good things: What would have been a good, dark splatter film is spoiled by some very laughable creature effects that are on par with Ed Wood's octopus from "Bride of the Monster", the stupid idea that we're supposed to believe that the wussed-out yuppie heroine can make a bunch of torches before a zombie walking toward her can come about seven inches closer to her, and a slow pace that would have been more interesting if the viewer were only given some people to root for other than the sadly under-used weird guy who warned those yuppie jerks not to go out into the woods in the first place. A fair movie, not terrible, but not even close to great by any means. Out of curiosity, I would like to check out the uncut version, but I've got to wonder if a bloodier version would elevate the quality of the film in any way other than a higher gore quotient.

In EVIL CLUTCH, a young, vacationing couple is thrust into a nightmare world of supernatural insanity and gore.

This movie could be viewed as either an Italian homage to the far superior movie, THE EVIL DEAD, or as a blatant ripoff thereof. Or both. Check out that swooping camera shot, running along the ground! Sound familiar?

The odd, overly "mysterious" story line is just a lumbering skeleton to cover in the blood, pus, and various other goo.

The couple is plagued by a demon in human form, as well as a chatty man on a motorcycle. This allows for the display of suitably disgusting special effects.

Actually, the worst aspect of this whole movie is the insufferable nature of the two, principal humans involved. Every time they open their mouths, it's like we're being hit with a fist! This also causes the scenes in between deaths to be interminable!

WORST SCENES: #1- The "argument" scene, where the couple blathers incessantly after lashing a zombie to a wagon wheel! #2- The -almost- demon love scene! Both gross and idiotic, this is where the title comes into play! #3- The zombie-with-a-fishing-pole attack sequence!

If you've committed some great sin lately, simply subject yourself to this, and be free!...