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The Worst Film Ever

Sick Product of a Sick System

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Based on the title, DVD-cover image, casting choices and short synopsis, "Deep in the Woods" looks like a dumb and formulaic backwoods slasher/survival horror flick. And for about 50% that is exactly the case, but for the remaining 50% it's a surprisingly stylish, experimental and unsettling Goth-horror tryout. Writer/director Lionel Delplanque does a handful of brilliant things with the cinematography and thought up a few downright and genuinely disturbing aspects (the creepy little kid!), but unfortunately he also wanted to be too "American" when it comes to the rest of the screenplay. The teenage protagonists are utmost annoying stereotypes and they do the stupidest things imaginable, like going into the woods at night after they received specific warning there's a maniac killer on the loose. The deaths/killings are rather mundane and people keep appearing and disappearing without any proper explanation, but that about concludes the bad news. "Deep in the Woods" features a strong opening sequence and the interesting idea to process the Little Red Riding Hood fairy-tale into the script. Five obnoxious wannabe actors are heading out to a mansion the middle of a desolated forest, where they are hired to perform a private theater show to the grandson of an eccentric old man. Upon their arrival, they find out the old man is a crazed wheelchair-bound psycho with oppressed homo-erotic desires, his loyal servant is a perverted taxidermist and the grandson is a silent and autistic but terrifying child with a major trauma. Soon after their (abysmal) live performance on stage, the group find themselves pursued by a lunatic killer in a leather (!) wolf costume. Delplanque manages to insert several suspense-laden moments during the cat & mouse game and the climax, although preposterous and over-the-top, is quite exhilarating. It's very strange that Lionel Delplanque wasn't offered a one-way ticket to Hollywood after this (like his colleagues Alexandre Aja, Xavier Gens and Pascal Laugier), because his competent directing is undoubtedly film's biggest trump. I guess the script was ultimately too weak for him to become noticed.

The debut of french director Lionel Delplanque is a strange horror film that serves as tribute to two apparently similar but different horror sub genres: The Italian Giallo and the American Slasher.The plot is quite typical: A group of young actors is hired by a mysterious rich man to go to his castle and perform the "Little Red Riding Hood" tale for his son in his birthday.The plot gives us everything a slasher demands: a young and very photogenic cast, a location where nobody can escape (the castle is located deep in the forest) and the "theme", in this case, the Little Red Riding Hood.Nevertheless, while the story moves pretty straightforward as any typical horror movie would go; the whole visual aspect is more in tone with the stylistic beauty of the Italian Giallo, with creepy Gothic atmospheres and a beautiful contrast of colors, red being the predominant of course.The cinematography shines and the visuals are of enormous beauty. The location is perfect for the movie and the handle of colors is awesome. Sadly (or fortunately?), most of the time this make you forget the clichéd plot full with twist ending.The acting is quite average, with François Berléand being the only worth mentioning, giving an outstanding performance as the eccentric millionaire. As many reviews have pointed out, the director seemed more concerned in the beauty of his composition than in directing his actors.The script is good, and even when it has scenes that border absurd (like any scene with the clichéd cop), it also includes beautiful surreal scenes, particularly in the killings; clearly inspired by Giallo movies.The film is worth a look, since the atmospheric suspense it develops is almost a rarity nowadays. Also, the beauty of its photography is something that must be seen to be believed. Don't expect too much and you'll be rewarded. 6/10

I had great expectations for this movie. Since I am a great fan of Dario Argento and his Italian giallos I was thrilled to hear about this french little "giallo-imitation". The beginning with a mother, her child and a murderer is stunning and kept me glued to my seat. After that we are suddenly in the company of five youths (three girls, two guys) in their early twenties and even if they are quite alright for this kind of movie, they are not very interesting. Things perk up a bit when they arrive to their destination, a beautiful castle somewhere on the french countryside, and meet their host, a rather creepy guy in a wheelchair who makes sexual advances to one of the boys. He has an autistic son who stares ominously throughout the picture and he is quite eerie actually. The movie still looks great and there is a fair amount of tension for half an hour or so. But after this introduction of almost all of the characters NOTHING HAPPENS for quite a while. We get quite a few scenes with some tension, but no payoff. Since it is a french production, they also throw in some female full frontal nudity in a lesbian love scene for those who like that sort of thing (I don't..). There is a police showing up from nowhere and he disappears just within a few minutes for some reason, only to show up briefly at the end. And the play these youngsters perform is truly abominable. If I had hired these actors I would have asked for a refund!The final half hour is a little better (when the killings start - they are lensed in a loving, stylish and gory way), but unfortunately the story never gets really exciting or involving. Real suspense is sadly lacking for the most part. There is a great potential buried somewhere here, but apart from the gorgeous visuals and assured directing, it is mostly ignored. The acting is okay I guess (and most of the cast look good!). Clotilde Courau is an adequate heroine, but has tends to laugh hysterically in all the wrong places. It really got on my nerves in the end.The camera LOVES Vincent Lecoeur but he hasn't a lot to work with like most of the others. * minor spoiler * The only part with some teeth is Axel de Fersen (the wheelchair guy) and actor François Berléand really hams it up entertainingly in that part. And the old horror movie cliché is still valid, a man or woman in a wheelchair certainly has some hidden secrets. *End of spoiler * After all this you might expect me to dislike this movie. Wrong! I truly enjoyed it for a number of reasons. It's gaudy look and big-budget visuals (it really is a feast for the eyes). One of the first shots is a bird against a slightly cloudy sky and that image is almost worth the price of admission alone. The luxurious and atmospheric score that accompanies all the mayhem is classy and nice. The murder set-pieces that are choreographed with assurance and style. Let's just hope that this director can sink his teeth in a better script next time. Then we might TRULY be able to look forward to a great horror movie, one that even could become a classic within it's genre!

A group of artists, composed of the young actors Wilfried (Vincent Lecoer) and Matthieu (Clément Sibony) and the actresses Sophie (Clotilde Courau), Mathilde (Maud Buquet) and the dumb Jeanne (Alexia Stresi), is hired by a millionaire, Axel de Fersen (François Bérleand), to present a performance of Little Red Riding Hood in his isolated castle to celebrate the birthday of his grandson. Meanwhile, the police advises that a serial killer is raping and killing young women in the woods around that area. During the night, the group feels trapped and threatened in the castle, guessing who is and where might be the killer. "Deep in the Woods" is a very weird French B-Movie. The characters are badly constructed, the troupe of actors and actresses are very stupid, the locals are very bizarre, the story has many clichés and flaws, the screenplay is a complete mess and the acting of a great part of the cast is ridiculous. The photography is good, and probably this is the best this movie can offer. For Brazilians, I would like to present one additional remark: last year, the distributor Play Arte released the DVD "Wrong Turn" with the title "Pânico na Floresta" (which means "Panic in the Forest"). Now, the distributor "Europa Filmes" has just released "Deep in the Woods" with the same title in Portuguese ("Pânico na Floresta"). Therefore, the reader can imagine the confusion for a common Brazilian users, when he or she goes to a rental or to a store and gets the wrong DVD. My vote is four.Title (Brazil): "Pânico na Floresta" ("Panic in the Forest")