At the moment the bet represented by The well appears to have been won. It is Federico Zampaglione himself who certifies it in a post on Facebook in which he writes that "with over 17,000 spectators... it is officially the totally independent Italian horror film far from large distributions... which has grossed the most in the last 15 years".
It wasn't easy given that the film was released in the middle of August with few screenings, mostly at night, all without taking into account the absurd ban on children under 18 which, for a horror film, seemed like a real punishment.
Instead The well is also preparing to be distributed in 104 countries, including the United States.

It would be all too easy to ruin the party by focusing on the defects of the film, which there are, starting with a dubbing that has, rightly, received unanimous criticism and which often makes us hope for the death of the protagonists in order to never hear them again.
But Zampaglione loves him; 'horror and a knowledge of the genre and its rules which ensures that the director knows well what the public wants, also because the first potential spectator is himself.

It almost seems like the leader of the Tiromancino makes the films he would like to see and he does it with passion, without getting too big or putting on the airs of a great director.
The well reminds one of those 80s b-movies often made for the video cassette or television market; on the other hand, we are talking about a super independent film; made in record time and with a low budget.
The main story is that of Lisa Gray (Lauren LaVera) who arrived in Italy, in the small town of Sambuci, to restore a painting owned by Duchess Emma Malvisi (Claudia Gerini) .
It's impossible not to think of the atmosphere of The House with Laughing Windows by Pupi Avati which is just one of the many suggestions present in the film.
While Lisa is intent on reporting (literally) When a picture that appears increasingly macabre comes to light, a very different fate awaits the three hikers they met a few days earlier.
It is precisely in this part of the film that Zampaglione gives his best, in the description of the filthy cave where the ours, with the evil well of the title at the center with its dark presences.
It is a real death party, led by an enormous silent and deformed giant (Lorenzo Renzi) who offers us a series of brutal murders and bloody, with excellent old-fashioned special effects, lots of cruelty and buckets of blood.
There is little to say, we are dealing with a murderer that we will hardly forget.
As often happens, more than the plot, which would have deserved greater development, what matters are the atmospheres that manage to bring together a dark castle that seems to come out of a gothic Hammer film with the most modern torture porn.
As in Immaculate, we wander through dark caves, among echoes of Mario Bava and Lucio Fulci, without forgetting the many quotes from Dario Argento but also from the cinema of Brian De Palma.
The game of quotes could go on forever and is obvious but not however, we must think that The well is limited to this; Zampaglione puts his best foot forward and it shows.

The best The well is reserved for the last part which even gives us a beautiful and unexpected poetic and touching moment concerning the character of Giulia ; the daughter of Countess Malvisi, played by Linda Zampaglione, daughter of the director and Claudia Gerini; impossible to say without ruining the lovely surprise

Equally successful is the final twist which completely reverses the roles; once again The well reminds us that the real monsters are us so-called normal people.
Zampaglione manages to make us feel pity for what the monster should be and sorry if it's not enough for a horror film.< br />