In the wake of Terrifier 2, actress Lauren Lavera’s star is definitely on the rise.
Squeezing in between that and Terrifier 3, Lavera takes on the lead role in Federico Zampaglione’s bonkers, gory and haunting feature The Well.
Lisa (Lavera) is a painting restorer, who is travelling to a small Italian town to restore a painting on the request of her father; what she doesn’t know is there’s a bit more to this painting than initially thought.
Said painting comes from the 15th century, which should immediately send alarming bells ringing, plus visitors to the town have started going missing since Lisa’s arrival; coincidence?
The Well wears its B-movie qualities on its sleeve, in some cases relying on spectacle of plot coherence, but one thing is for sure, once you start to understand it more, you can simply strap yourself in and enjoy the ride.
The gore is downright nasty, giving Art the Clown a run for his money, with skin peeling, burning and limbs broken. Zampaglione doesn’t hold back, and The Well feels a lot better for it.
As for the titular well, there is a bigger plot to that which as arguably a secondary plot, doesn’t fully round out, but that’s a minor criticism.
Lavera is dependable in the lead, but it’s the weird, off-kilter atmosphere that makes this all the more compelling. If I had a comparison, I would say the excellent Spanish language series 30 Coins, where you don’t really know what will happen next; it has that air of unpredictability.
Zampaglione works on nightmare logic, which helps ease the plot along, just don’t look for anything deeper than surface level in some scenes.
I have to commend the practical effects too as The Well’s gore is something to behold. It’s visceral and it will really have you wincing or cheering depending on your gore stance.
The creature design here is fantastic too, falling somewhere between The Descent, Jason in Jason Takes Manhattan and The Flukeman from The X Files, its weird and so creepy.
The conclusion does feel like an episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer in its execution and the final shots felt slightly unnecessary but The Well is overall a great time and best watched with a crowd; especially those who don’t know what’s coming.
The Well is a visceral cautionary tale, which feels like it will really resonate with gorehounds.
The Well screens as part of Grimmfest 2024.
Bloody Flicks 