Deep in the Wood - 2015 film review

Deep in the Wood is a short but intriguing Italian film, which I watched in a sub-titled version. It was made last year, and originally titled Il Fondo al Bosco. It's set in a remote Alpine village, and stars Filippo Nigro and Camilla Filippi as a couple whose lives are torn apart following the disappearance of their four year old son Tommi, who gets away from his Dad, who is taking part in a festival where the locals disguise themselves as devils.

We see Tommi wandering into the woods, towards a lonely cabin, but then he goes missing. The father is suspected of doing away with him, but released by the police because of a lack of evidence. His troubled mother attempts suicide, but the couple stay together, very unhappily for five years. And then a boy is found. Could it be Tommi The police say that DNA testing proves that it is.

So far, so good. But the boy's mother doesn't believe her son has really returned, and her father is equally sceptical. Tommi's Dad is overjoyed that his son is back, though the boy remembers nothing about his old life, and nothing is known about what he might have been up to in the meantime. The family dog takes a dislike to the boy, and we start to wonder if there is something devilish afoot.

I was pleased that the twisty storyline resolved itself without resort to the supernatural, avoiding a flaw which I think marred another grim movie, The Reeds. The isolated location is evocatively portrayed, as in The Reeds, but the tale holds together much better. Overall, I thought this was a satisfying film, whose excellent premise was not ruined by an explanation that didn't hang together. The lead actors do a good job, and this is definitely worth a watch.

The Reeds - film review

I decided to watch The Reeds, a relatively little-known horror film made in 2009, some time after undertaking a hugely enjoyable boat trip on the Norfolk Broads this spring. When I learned that a Broads boating trip was the setting for the movie, I thought it would be interesting to see how it captured the setting that entranced me. And the short answer is that the film does convey the mysterious atmosphere of the Broads, and the eponymous reeds which line the labyrinthine waterways, very well indeed.

That said, I can imagine that the tourist authorities in Norfolk will not have been keen to publicise this film, as it deals with some really rather horrid mishaps endured by half a dozen young people when they hire a boat from a grumpy old bloke called (perhaps with heavy symbolism) Mr Croker.

The six protagonists are not characterised in any depth, although one young woman has clearly had a troubled upbringing, and one of the blokes is rather too keen on looking for trouble to have much chance of survival in a story like this. The group come across a rather menacing group of youngsters, and there are some similarities in the early stages to films such as In Fear and Eden Lake.

But as the boating party gets lost in the reeds, and Very Bad Things happen with increasing frequency, it becomes evident that something else is going on. There are supernatural elements to the story, and an oddly convoluted plot, which seemed to me to lack coherence Overall, I didn't rate the screenplay highly, but the atmospheric photography of the Broads was good enough to make me glad I watched the film. But don't let The Reeds put you off taking a trip on the Broads - on a lovely day, it's a truly magical way to travel around a gorgeous part of the world.