Once again, a title (in this case, a horror movie originally shot for Italian TV) is added to the "Demoni" series with no connection story-wise to the other entries. The title entity used to plague the childhood memories of famed horror novelist Cheryl (Virginia Bryant, who *was* actually in the second "Demoni" as Mary the prostitute). Now, she's grown up and married to Tom (Paolo Malco, "The New York Ripper"), and they take their son Bobby (Patrizio Vinci) on a vacation to an ancient villa in the Italian countryside. There, Cheryl becomes convinced that the ogre of her nightmares is a reality.
Directed, produced, and co-written by Lamberto Bava, who'd guided the only two official films in the "Demoni" series, "The Ogre" is a rather underwhelming psychological thriller. One may wish to enjoy it more than they end up doing, for it has good ingredients: good production design, decent atmosphere, a wonderfully creepy (but repetitive) music score by Simon Boswell, some fun effects, and an amusingly conceived monster. But the movie plods (and plods) too often, with the run time often devoted to Cheryl exploring her environs. The interplay between Cheryl & Tom, and the plot, are oh-so-familiar, as he is one of those stubbornly rational types who is always dismissing her notions and fantasies.
"The Ogre" is not really for hardcore horror fans, as they may feel cheated by the abysmally low "body count", the fact that any and all violence takes place off screen, and the fleeting use of nudity. Still, it has its moments, especially a late sequence wherein Bava was clearly inspired by Argentos' "Inferno". It's also rather similar to "The House by the Cemetery", and in fact, this supposedly started life as the original draft for the screenplay for that Lucio Fulci classic.
By the way, the kid in this movie can be annoying at times, but he's not likely to stick in peoples' craws the way that that OTHER "Bob" did in "The House by the Cemetery".
Not entirely bad in general; at the very least, it may appeal to genre lovers looking for something a bit more subtle than "Demoni" 1 and 2.
Five out of 10.
Directed, produced, and co-written by Lamberto Bava, who'd guided the only two official films in the "Demoni" series, "The Ogre" is a rather underwhelming psychological thriller. One may wish to enjoy it more than they end up doing, for it has good ingredients: good production design, decent atmosphere, a wonderfully creepy (but repetitive) music score by Simon Boswell, some fun effects, and an amusingly conceived monster. But the movie plods (and plods) too often, with the run time often devoted to Cheryl exploring her environs. The interplay between Cheryl & Tom, and the plot, are oh-so-familiar, as he is one of those stubbornly rational types who is always dismissing her notions and fantasies.
"The Ogre" is not really for hardcore horror fans, as they may feel cheated by the abysmally low "body count", the fact that any and all violence takes place off screen, and the fleeting use of nudity. Still, it has its moments, especially a late sequence wherein Bava was clearly inspired by Argentos' "Inferno". It's also rather similar to "The House by the Cemetery", and in fact, this supposedly started life as the original draft for the screenplay for that Lucio Fulci classic.
By the way, the kid in this movie can be annoying at times, but he's not likely to stick in peoples' craws the way that that OTHER "Bob" did in "The House by the Cemetery".
Not entirely bad in general; at the very least, it may appeal to genre lovers looking for something a bit more subtle than "Demoni" 1 and 2.
Five out of 10.