The Well

Opening in 1993 art restorer Lisa (Lauren LaVera) on a bus to small village in Italy acquaints herself with a group of American biologists there to catalogue the local plants.

Pleasantries exchanged they separate with Lisa on her way the home of Emma (Claudia Gerini), a duchess, residing in a country villa that befits her title. The job is to restore a fire damaged painting before a tight deadline and auction.

The pressure is on, not only to complete the job but to live up to the standards of her restorer father who put her name forward. The job is tricky not helped by the gloomy surroundings, noises and Emma’s mysterious daughter Giulia (Linda Zampaglione) who’s described as having a personality disorder.

Meanwhile the Americans have managed to get themselves into a very sticky situation. Imprisoned around a very ominous looking well, with a painted face, huge mute jailer feeding what is in the well while taking care of his prisoners needs.

One thing that director Federico Zampaglione and co-writer Stefano Masi haven’t skimped on are the hues and designs as the film at looks both gorgeous and grotesque. The villa’s interiors are as sumptuous as its dungeons are grim. And within the dungeon and well resides a monster created by the myths of the villa and a very good special effects team.

The performances are fine with the cast working from a script that leans towards plot development rather than character. The former is solid if not anything too original but well thought out and moves the film forward as new elements are introduced, though not over-complicating matters. That is until the final stages when it all starts to look a little rushed.

The film while set in 1993 for reasons explained later in the film, could have been set at any time. But the whole production is placed squarely within the Italian, and/or Euro horror sub-genre of the 70’s and 80’s with its gothique ambience and strong violence.

The Well received its UK premiere at Glasgow FrightFest 2024.