21/05/2021 - Ascanio Malgarini and Christian Bisceglia direct a well-made gothic fairy-tale set in Messina on the eve of the devastating 1908 earthquake

Ascanio Malgarini and Christian Bisceglia enjoyed a fair degree of international success with their first directorial effort, Fairytale (2012, released on DVD only in Italy), a horror film set in two different time-periods and rooted in Italy’s history, culture and lands (in this instance, in Latina, during the fascist era and the present-day period). The same format has been adopted for their second feature film Cruel Peter [+see also:
trailer
film profile], a well-made gothic fairy-tale unfolding in Messina, Sicily, during two distinct periods: the time just before the devastating earthquake of 1908 which reduced the town to rubble, and the present day, which sees the lost souls who were buried under the town’s ruins over a century earlier returning to avenge their deaths, not least the titular Cruel Peter, a well-groomed and smartly dressed “devil child” who nurtures an unbridled passion for pocket knives.

We’re in Messina in 1908. Peter Hoffmann (Aran Bevan) is a rich and spoiled 13-year-old boy with a particularly sadistic nature. He tortures animals, slashes little girls and humiliates the servants while enjoying the immunity granted to him by his mother, who has become especially overprotective ever since Peter lost his father. After he kills a dog belonging to the gardener’s son (Christian Roberto), however, the latter decides to teach Peter a lesson by locking him inside a box in an unknown location, just long enough to give him the fright of his life. But the earthquake and its devastating effects will render that location inaccessible forever.

Over a century later, English archaeologist Norman Nash (Henry Douthwaite) travels to Messina to head up the restoration of the city’s monumental cemetery. He’s accompanied by his 13-year-old daughter Liz (Zoe Nochi), who has been orphaned by her mum and has a particular penchant for spiritualism. But her desire to communicate with her deceased forebear results in her making contact with a whole other mother and awakening other ghosts from the past in a crescendo of visions, demonic apparitions, night terrors, mummies and exorcisms, which deprive everyone of sleep and peace at a furious pace, including Norman’s Messinese assistant (Katia Greco) and her old aunt (Aurora Quattrocchi), who happens to be the repository of local traditions and superstitions.

Immersed in sumptuous scenery consisting of ancient Messina homes – transformed into an efficient gothic set for the occasion – and nestled amongst the cemetery’s elegant, marble statues, the sea and the forest, Cruel Peter is a visually enthralling film, further enhanced by wonderful special and visual effects offered up by Leonardo Cruciano and Nicola Sganga of Makinarium (who claimed a David di Donatello award for Tale of Tales). Well-acted and well- put together (Bisceglia also penned the screenplay), this is a movie which keeps the viewer in a constant state of anxiety and unease, and if this is the ultimate aim of a horror flick, the filmmakers are bang on target.

Cruel Peter is produced by Armosia, Taadaaa, Makinarium and Smart Brands together with RAI Cinema, with the support of the Sicily Film Commission and their Contemporary Senses project. Sold by US firm Voltage Pictures and already acquired in over 60 countries, including the USA, Canada, the UK, China and Russia, the film is available in Italy from today, 21 May, exclusively on RaiPlay.

(Translated from Italian)