The Well

It's like lemonade. Little substance.

Were it not for the annoying sickening gore, it would be something to leave on in the background and occasionally glance up at.

With the gore you can't even do that.

Not once does it make you feel horrified, terrified, or thrilled in any way, and it doesn't grip you with intrigue, characters, or plot. You feel calm and occasionally disgusted. If the genre was called "disgust" instead of "horror" it would make sense. This way however, it's just not well made. If you want to watch gore go look at a slaughterhouse.

The cinematography is basic, the acting ok, the audio between irritating and incomprehensible. At one point a character repeatedly calls out for "tony". And i could have sworn it was "charlie"

It got 4 stars, because while it is nauseating and pointless, it isn't actively evil and damaging, and the plot is actually somewhat interesting.

2023's movie The Well lures viewers with Lauren LaVera (Terrifier 2 & 3) as the protagonist, Lisa, who travels to a small Italian village to restore a medieval painting to its former glory. Little does she know that there's much more to the painting, as it is bound by an evil curse. On her way to the house where she is to meet the woman who hired her and her seemingly stubborn daughter, she also encounters three backpackers. The audience follows their parallel storyline, though not necessarily to flesh out their characters but for different reasons.

Lisa's father, a well-known art restorer, was unable to restore the painting himself, so he sent his daughter. It quickly becomes clear that their relationship is somewhat strained, as Lisa mentions he is a very strict man. The painting must be finished within two weeks because, as the owner says, it will be part of an exclusive auction in London. This sudden deadline catches Lisa off guard and puts pressure on her work, prompting her to start the restoration immediately. However, she quickly becomes distracted by various things, as her character is overly curious. This tendency is slightly annoying to watch because you know it will inevitably get her into trouble.

The movie has a good and creepy atmosphere, and the painting definitely carries a mysterious aura. The film has a nice vintage style and looks visually appealing overall. The acting is mostly fine, with Lauren LaVera particularly standing out as she carries most of the film's weight. True to its title, The Well includes scenes involving a well, but since the primary focus is on the painting, the title feels a bit misleading. Whenever the well is brought into the story, the film shifts toward a tone of torture porn and gore. These scenes, while unsettling and somewhat out of place, weren't entirely unwelcome, as I do enjoy some good gore-and the movie certainly delivers on that front.

In the third act, the different elements of the story come together, revealing the truth about the painting and the people surrounding it. Unfortunately, the ending feels a little rushed and leaves many things unexplained, which was disappointing. The film also includes many predictable elements, but overall, I had a decent time with it. While it's not groundbreaking, I think it's worth a watch for fans of the genre. [5,7/10]

Italian mastery fully delivered. I knew it already Italian horror movies from the past are famous for being super scary and very well done. Well, this one follows all the way! There are constant vibes of fear, suspense and discomfort. The brilliant cinematography help this out a lot. Most of the characters are quite petrifying and the monster is fantastically designed. Atmosphere is nightmarish as hell both in the house and "downstairs" and the more the plot is revealed the more you feel the tension increasing. It basically sticks to you all along, til the end credits, when you finally are allowed to breath a sigh of relief. By the way, what a shocking end! A special mention to the gore, so barbaric that it made feel me sick. Lauren is the chef's kiss.

There is very slow buid up. Plus the suspense they want to create that is also not engaging. I need 4 days to compete it !!

Still completed with skipping. There is only violence. No horror or no paranormal activity. You cannot make movie horrific by only using violence. Story is also boring and strange. Can't grip your audience. The actress did well with acting. What's with the well ??? There is better well in "Ring" movie. Here only cutting body parts makes you scare ! No scare also only feel weird. Expected good story but cannot match with even poster also. Only the tent scene is little scary.

Terrible, in every way. A non-existent film direction, embarrassing dubbing and a stupid script. They try to quote the Italian horror of the 80s but they end up trashy, the soundtrack is ridiculous to say the least and used at the wrong times. The only positive things are the protagonist's acting and the gore scenes. The rest is rubbish unfortunately. We see the passion for the genre but we don't see the talent or any other artistic ambition, this is not the Italian horror we need. Furthermore, it must be underlined that all the influencers who talk about cinema and who have expressed negative opinions and sensible criticisms on the film have been accused of incompetence by the film's official Instagram account. Except the director who accepted them. Shameful, that's not how cinema is made.