12/11/2007

This time around, appearances are not deceiving: if the look of Snakes Hall is not very reassuring, the secrets harboured in this eerie Midwestern mansion are even less so. Secrets that will threaten the life of Laura Morante, recently released from the psychiatric hospital where she ended up, overwhelmed by guilt over her husband’s suicide.

Thus, The Hideout [+see also:
trailer
film profile] marks a return to the gothic settings of Pupi Avati’s beginnings. “After making a number of autobiographic films,” said the director of House of the Laughing Windows, “I wanted to once again instil a direct relationship with audiences, I figured I could once again scare spectators”.

Thirteen years after The Childhood Friend, the new film by the prolific filmmaker is the fourth shot (in English) in the US, where Pupi Avati continues to find the both sleepy and disturbing atmospheres similar to his native Emilia province, and depicted in his nostalgic comedies and Po Vally-set horror films.

Along with numerous American character actors (first among them, Burt Young of Rocky) and the Italian crew, The Hideout also used numerous talented films artisans from Cinecittà, who built the interiors of Snakes Hall in Rome. Artisans the entire world envies us yet “who are used less and less,” explained Avati and his brother Antonio, his long-time producer, “to the point where our company, DueA Film, is the only one that has been shooting non-stop for five years in the studios, used these days only for television productions.”

Antonio Avati also announced that DueA (which produced The Hideout with RAI Cinema for approximately €5m) had just gained a partner in Mediocreval, who bought a 15% share in the company. “The agreement was sealed this morning, and we hope it will set an example. This is the first time a bank is going into business with a film production company. Italian cinema needs courageous and original initiatives like one to get out itself of a difficult moment”.

“It also needs genre films,” suggested Pupi Avati, who with The Hideout hopes to conquer international markets as well. In Italy, the film comes out November 16 on over 200 screens through 01 Distribution.

(Translated from Italian)