Deep in the Woods [VHS]

DEEP IN THE WOODS
[Promenons-nous dans les Bois]

(France - 2000)

Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Super 35)
Theatrical soundtracks: Dolby Digital / DTS

Five gorgeous young actors - two boys, three girls - are hired to perform 'Little Red Riding Hood' at an isolated French chateau, where they fall prey to a shadowy figure who kills them, one by one...

UK journalist Alan Jones credits this ultra-successful Gallic shocker with kickstarting the recent trend in French genre cinema (BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF, CRIMSON RIVERS, etc.), and it isn't hard to see why. Lionel Delplanque's hallucinatory fable is clearly influenced by its US counterparts (note the references to PSYCHO and THE EVIL DEAD), but it also rehearses the core motifs of the Grimm fairytale 'Little Red Riding Hood'whilst simultaneously lifting most of its visual cues from European genre cinema, especially the films of Dario Argento, whose works are reflected in the classy camera moves, Gothic setting and dreamlike narrative structure; in other words, the plot meanders, but the movie LOOKS gorgeous. However, we learn virtually nothing about the principal characters, except that they're free with their sexual favours (two of the girls share a lesbian relationship, though one turns out to be bisexual) and that one of the guys (played by the impossibly handsome Vincent Lecoeur, whose beauty is WORSHIPPED by Denis Rouden's appreciative camera) seems intrigued by the sexual interest paid to him by the chateau's elderly owner (Francois Berleand).

As the bodies pile up, Delplanque's screenplay (co-written with Annabel Perrechon) casts suspicion in all directions, but the resolution is frankly incomprehensible and the build-up is stifled by the director's insistence on turning cinematic cartwheels in an effort to supplement the meagre narrative. Thankfully, the closing sequences defy expectations (there's no prolonged battle between virginal survivor and monstrous killer, for instance), but the characters are mere ciphers, which makes it hard to care one way or the other. Sumptuously designed, the film is stylish to a fault, but it's also shallow and unscary, the work of an enthusiastic director trying too hard to impress with his feature debut. Co-stars include Denis Lavant (BEAU TRAVAIL) and Marie Trintignant (daughter of French film legend Jean-Louis Trintignant), who died in 2003 following a violent assault for which her boyfriend (French rock singer Bertrand Cantat) was eventually tried and convicted.

The film starts witha woman reading 'Little Red Riding Hood' to her child. She is then promptly strangled. The film then cuts to five theatrical performers(two men, three women) who are travelling to a chateau in the country to perform 'Little Red Riding Hood' for a boys birthday. Their host is creepy, wheelchair bound Axel de Fersen(François Berléand), the boy's father who offers them all a drink, and makes advances towards one of the men Wilfried.He has an equally creepy butler Stephane in tow. The troupe perform their play, but soon a policeman visits to tell them their is a rapist on the loose in the vicinity. He warns them to stay indoors, but ignoring his advice they go for a walk in the woods...
This film is a real missed oppurtunity, as it starts very strongly but then goes absolutely nowhere with all this promise. Okay, its visually stunning and is full of attractive young actors who keep taking their clothes off, but their is a distinct absence of a coherent plot. Its full of hoary old cliches, and ludicrous red herrings piled on top of one another, in attempt to create some mystery but instead just creating consternation in this viewer at least. None of the performances really stand out either, and in the end the supposedly shocking twist really is a bit of a let down. Theres nothing terrible about the film, but its nothing special either. Very disappointing. 2 out of 5

First came 'Ring' (1998) from director Hideo Nakata, an original and chilling supernatural spin on urban legends that featured a cursed videotape and a vengeful spirit who had a penchant for frightening curious teenagers to death and a haircut scarier than that guy's from 'Changing Rooms'. Nakata's 'Ring 2' (1999) soon followed: an almost-as-good-as sequel that maintained the original's ethereal terror but stumbled on an overwrought plot. But with a new director and new scriptwriter, it's all change this time around for the prequel, 'Ring 0' (full title 'Ring 0: Birthday'). Set 30 years before the events of Ring, the film introduces Sadako, a shy, young girl who is trying to hide from her murky past and is troubled by visions that she can't explain. But when members of her drama troupe begin to have strange dreams, and with a reporter intent on tracking her down, how long can the dark secrets of Sadako's origins stay hidden?

Beginning as a series of novels by Koji Suzuki (who also wrote the script for 'Ring 0'), and expanding into the film franchise, the Ring cycle seems to have captured the Japanese public's imagination. Besides breaking box office records, you can now buy Sadako dolls, and for the release of the latest film, several themed haunted house attractions were opened, with visitors encouraged to throw balls at employees dressed as Sadako as part of a Japanese tradition. For something so popular, the temptation may have been to deliver more of the same, but 'Ring 0' bravely, if not totally successfully, adds disturbing new layers to the myth and unveils an unexpected twist or two. The ending is already prescribed for us, and so we are forced to watch in a paralysed state as Sadako makes her inexorable descent into destiny at the bottom of the well. The main strength of the script is to make us empathise with this innocent young woman - she is as fearful of her mysterious powers as we are - and this is helped by a subtle performance in the lead role by Yukie Nakama that draws in the audience, making her inevitable fate even more chilling.

Like its predecessors, 'Ring 0' is painted with a stark pallet - it's shot in colour but the indelible memory is of it being black and white, and, whilst one of the strongest motifs of the series, the cursed videotape, isn't present, the imagery of Sadako herself remains eerily preserved. However, the change of director and scriptwriter is noticeable. The sheer unbridled tension that the original managed to stir up is noticeably absent from this film. It ups the body count but ends up short changing us on the psychological chills; it simply isn't as creepy as the original terrifying twosome. The often overly elaborate direction is partly responsible for this (the camera weaves and whirls excessively in too smooth a fashion) but the prime suspect is the fact that by explaining the past of Sadako, by making it understandable and even pitiable, the very power to scare is being diminished. The script knows this and tries to create more questions to re-inject the mystery (such as the issue of Sadako's true parentage) but these attempts tend to feel artificial.

With a dubious Hollywood remake of 'Ring' on its way, the story shifted to the USA and said to feature a girl whose psychic powers cause horses to commit suicide, we should be thankful that 'Ring 0' maintains the spirit if not the exhilarating quality of its precursors. Apart from delivering an interesting twist and a reasonable climax, it goes to prove the adage that often less is more. 'Ring 0' isn't bad by any means; it just feels a little superfluous.