Coventry 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.

José Luis Rivera Mendoza (jluis1984) 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

scace-2 I can't believe all the low ratings for the French film Deep in the Woods. There are incredible young actors, notably Clément Sibony, and an especially hot Vincent Lecoeur. There is explicit lesbianism. It includes a very tense, satisfying Old man/young hunk(Lecoeur) bedroom scene. There is pot smoking and a rather unusual party scene. While the nudity is minimum, this is a French retelling of a familiar childhood tale. The film may seem overall simplistic but a deeper viewing will show it operates on several levels. I enjoyed listening to the french dialog while using the english subtitles. The film commentary was fair. The musical score is good. The budget on the film was small. This is incredible when there are many comments that the film is more style, than substance. (Perhaps I'd give more credence to Decoteau's constant poor mouthing if he created stylistic touches similar to Lionel Delplanque.) The film is not fast paced. It can be considered slow, with a pace similar to The Talented Mr. Ripley, but I think it's a masterpiece... but perhaps I was just mesmerized by Lecoeur!

BillyBC (*1/2 out of *****) This goes to show that even the French put out some serious garbage in the world of film from time to time. This one, for example, is horrid. The interesting (albeit derivative) premise, the spooky setting, and the cinematography are all quite good, but, unfortunately, the whole thing falls apart real fast under its own incomprehensible pretensions.A group of attractive, young actors travel to an old mansion way out in the country to perform for an eccentric millionaire and his weird, mute son. The woods surrounding the mansion just happen to be the hunting ground for a serial rapist/killer who targets young girls. But, forget all about that, because, as soon as the good-looking group gets to the old guy's house, odd characters start popping up and bizarre things start happening -- you know, the usual David Lynch/Dario Argento kind of stuff -- except Delphlanque doesn't have an ounce of the artistic mastery or the subtlety to pull any of it off. Character motivations, most of the plotting, the dialogue (some of which, granted, could be the fault of American dubbing) -- is some of the worst I've ever encountered in a movie like this. In one scene, for example, everyone is sound asleep except for the main female star (Clotilde Courau), who is wandering through the mansion by herself. So, she enters one room and suddenly finds all of her friends dancing real slow and suggestively with each other, including her girlfriend. The scene ends and everyone acts regularly, as if nothing happened -- suddenly, they're all just wide awake and dancing to loud music! Okay, whatever, sure! And then, in the next scene -- after being warned by a (typically weird) police detective (who just happens to walk into the room) that a killer is on the loose -- they're all suddenly outside and walking around through the woods after midnight!The story tries to follow the trace of a murder mystery, but it takes way too many irritating turns into contrived Lynchian territory (in an early scene, the young boy stabs his own hand with a fork at the dinner table, and, after the father explains that he always does that, the guests are like, `Hm, well, how 'bout that -- so, when do you think we're gonna get paid?' and stuff like that.)There are some gory murders and a couple steamy sex scenes, but there are also loooong scenes of characters walking up and down stairs and through dark rooms. And, I swear to God, everyone pauses for about 30 seconds before responding to each other in this maddening mess -- I guess that helps stretch what could have been a 45-minute movie into an hour and a half. Do not be fooled by anyone who tries telling you that this movie is as good as (or, God forbid, better than) a typical Argento flick, because it is not. In spite of its professional camera work and some hints of creativity here and there in the direction, this turkey is no better than any early-'80s, American slasher flick.Lowlight: In a painfully forced attempt to misdirect our suspicions as to who the killer is, one of the actors tries to shoot Courau with a nail gun, but she somehow easily blocks it with a pipe or something, and, in the very next scene, the two of them are outside together, trying to start the car as if nothing happened. There are so many idiotic scenes like this that it just made me sick. I admit it -- I took the damn cassette out of the VCR! I didn't care how it ended! I couldn't take it anymore!