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Back from Hell (2011)
Inception Media Group
DVD Released: 10/16/2012
All Ratings out of
Movie:
1/2
Video:
Audio:
1/2
Extras:
Review by Mike Long, Posted on 10/18/2012
Even casual observers of movies know that trends come and go. Certain types of movies or genres become popular, dominate the market, and then are replaced by a new flavor of the month. For example, zombies and vampires have been very popular, as of late. Has any trend ever died off the way that Italian horror movies did? From the late 1960s to the early 1990s, horror movie fans could rely on a steady stream of weird and outrageous movies from Italy. Directors like Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci amongst others, cranked out movies on a regular basis, with a few classics emerging. But, this regularity seemed to suddenly stop about 20 years ago, and it's never re-emerged. As with most things, I'm sure that there's an economic basis for this, but fans certainly miss them. Now, a very, very small renaissance appears to be happening. Earlier this year, U.S. audiences saw the release of
Ubaldo Terzani Horror Show, and now we're getting Back from Hell (AKA Ex Infernis).Back from Hell opens with a group of friend -- Sarah (Manuela Parodi), Mark (Aran Bertetto), Claudia (Jennifer Mischiati), Andrew (Marco Quaglia), Alex (Marco Vannini Gandolfi), and George (Roberto Zibetti) -- arrive at an old monastery in the Italian countryside. (The DVD box states "Six ex-classmates decide to spend the holidays together and rent a house in the countryside to forget the raving madness of city life." This also matches a synopsis written on IMBD.com by someone who claims to be the director. However, in the movie, it's implied that they are there because Sarah, who is an architect, has been asked to look at the property for renovations. This may be a small matter, but it's one which shouldn't be open to debate.) The group meets Father Elia (Giovanni Guidelli), the priest who oversees the property. They settle in and over dinner, a heated debate about religion begins. They then decide to have a seance. (I've watched the movie twice and I'm still not sure why they break out the Ouija board.) Some odd things happen during the seance and Andrew is found wandering in the woods later that night. Then, George begins to act strange, carving strange symbols on the wall. Father Elia is convinced that George is possessed, and when strange things continue to happen -- and the group realizes that they can't leave the area -- they agree to an exorcism. However, this ritual reveals that something truly unique is happening in the monastery, something which will have worldwide repercussions.
Despite the fact that the sub-genre hasn't been getting as much attention as of late, the "found footage" trend does continue and Back from Hell shows that the Italians want to get in on the act. (Joining the Spanish who brought us
Atrocious last year.) European movies have always had a unique look and feel, so it's interesting to note that this Italian entry doesn't look all that different from its American cousins. (Of course, the could be intentional, as this Italian film features the actors speaking English, perhaps to give it a more international appeal.) As I've continued to see "found footage" movies, I've begun to compile a list of rules for making a good movie in this genre, something which is apparently a huge challenge. So far, I've come up with two rules; 1. Try to pick an original topic (Note to everyone on the planet -- exploring an abandoned hospital has been done. Pick a new idea.) 2. Don't make all of the characters jerks. (Everyone in real life isn't a jerk, so why should they be in movies?)Back from Hell certainly gets the first part of that equation right. At first glance, this appears to be in the vein of other religious "found footage" movies like The Last Exorcism or The Devil Inside. We get the usually rhetoric and an exorcism scene in which the "possessed" simply seems to be really constipated. But, around the 50 minute mark, the story takes a turn towards the unique. I won't give anything away, but allow me to say that demonic possession suddenly becomes the least of their worries. The story becomes very ambitious and kudos to Writer/Director Leonard Araneo for attempting something different. However, the movie runs into two problems at this point. Despite the interesting ideas brought forth in the story, the actual action in the movie comes across as cliched, as the final 30 minutes features the kind of running around in the dark which we've seen in other "found footage" movies. The other problem is that Araneo's idea bites off more than it can chew, especially for this kind of movie. The story gets into religious history and the ending implies that the problem is bigger than anyone imagined. (Trust me, I don't enjoy having to use a search engine to look up words while the movie is still playing.)
So, with Back from Hell we get a decidedly mixed bag. In most ways, the movie looks like many other entries into the "found footage" genre. We get the same sort of dark shots and nausea-inducing photography which we've seen before. Despite the thick accents, the acting is above-par, as Araneo has opted to do some very long takes here. The movie has some creepy moments and there's one scene where the movie does something shocking. However, the last 20 minutes get bogged down in enough plot for two movies and the ending wants to be bleak, but it leans farther towards confusing. For his first film, Araneo has swung for the fences and comes up short, but I admire the fact that he tried something slightly different.
Back from Hell convinced me that casual seances are normal in Italy on DVD courtesy of Inception Media Group. The film has been letterboxed at 1.78:1 and the transfer had been enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs. Being a "found footage" film, we deal with the limitations of the genre when rating the quality of the transfer. The opening scenes, when the group arrives at the monastery during the day, are very sharp and clear, and look very good. From then on, the bulk of the film takes place at night. Many of the shots are lit by flashlight or candlelight and come off as somewhat dark. The "shaky cam" delivers some blurring of the image at times. And, of course, we have intentionally pixellated images. So, the transfer delivers the movie as it was meant to be seen. The DVD carries a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track which delivers clear dialogue and sound effects. This is a fairly effective track, but none of the elements really impress here. We get some nice subwoofer effects at times, and the stereo and surround channels are occasionally used to highlight off-screen sounds, but otherwise the track is pretty mediocre.
The only extra on the Back from Hell DVD is a TRAILER for the film.
Review Copyright 2012 by Mike Long