THE TRAILER FOR “THE COTTAGE 2 – THE DEMON OF THE WOOD” IS RELEASED: the trailer for the second horror film in the “THE COTTAGE” saga made in Italy.
The Cottage 2 is an Italian horror film that nods to the tales of Howard Phillips Lovecraft and Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead. Here’s the trailer, plot, and cast.
The first details and teaser trailer for “THE COTTAGE 2 – THE DEMON OF THE WOOD,” the horror film shot in Emilia Romagna, have been revealed. Written, directed, and produced by Italian filmmaker Davide Santandrea, a participant in the Lenola film festival “Inventa un Film” with four of his films.
THE COTTAGE 2 – THE DEMON OF THE WOOD is produced by Long Black Veil Productions and presents a story divided into three feature-length films. This film saga is called “JOIN THE EVIL” in English, while for Italian distribution, it is titled “THE COTTAGE.”
The first film, called “THE COTTAGE” (Join The Evil I – The Cottage), was shot in 2021 in Castelnuovo and Ricò, two hamlets of Meldola, in the same locations where the film “Join Us In the Name of Blood” was shot.
The idea was born almost as a joke, to do something with friends and spend a summer together, without knowing that the film would achieve some success. Due to a lack of funds, Santandrea had to do everything: from director to camera operator, from director of photography to makeup artist for the protagonist’s demon.
There were five actors in total, and two of them were his longtime friends: Mauro Casadei played the lead comic character “Vincent Ascia,” and Davide Bella played the archaeologist Pedro Caranza.
The other actors were people Santandrea selected later: Alessandro Corzani (Pedro Caranza’s son), Marina Jane (the sexy girl who appears in Vincent’s dreams), and Giulia Lombardi (Sandy, Vincent Ascia’s girlfriend). Despite being shot with very modest means and practically at zero cost, the result was a success: the film, distributed in 2022 directly by the production company in Emilian-Romagnol cinemas, had a good audience response.
When the film was uploaded to the Long Black Veil Productions YouTube channel, it was viewed by over 34,000 people.
The completely unexpected success of the first film (given the modest means with which it was made) pushed Santandrea to continue the project, moving on to filming the second chapter entitled “THE COTTAGE 2 – THE DEMON OF THE WOOD” (Join the Evil II – The Demon’s of the Wood), this time with professional equipment and resources purchased with the earnings from the first film.
THE DEMON OF THE WOOD was filmed in September and October 2022 with greater involvement of actors: in addition to friends Mauro Casadei starring as Vincent Ascia and Davide Bella (Bruce), there are Marina Jane (Sharon), Veronica Grasso (Shelly), Valentina Buono (Sandy), Alessio Scimonelli (Rick), Amadou Duval (Scoot), Graziella Polmonari (Mary), Romina Tognarini (Abigail), and Alfio Privitera (Prof. Pedro Caranza).
The locations are the same as in the first film, in Castelnuovo in particular, in the haunted house with “real spirits” (according to recent research by the Perspective Paranormal Research Group) and in the woods adjacent to the ruins of the ancient castle of Castelnuovo.
This time, the filming work was divided within a technical team that includes Davide Santandrea as director, Elton Gjika in charge of photography and filming, while Davide Bella, in addition to acting, also serves as the camera operator.
“The Cottage 2” will have its first screening on August 9th and, therefore, Long Black Veil Productions has decided to release the official trailer for the second film that previews the release of the movie.
The film will be distributed in theaters and will also participate in various festivals and screenings. Additionally, the film will be available on Amazon Prime and other streaming platforms at a later date.
But the director’s innovations, who is a volcano of ideas and produces films almost every month, don’t stop here. Starting May 29th, filming for the third and final chapter titled “THE COTTAGE 3 – THE END OF THE NIGHTMARE” will begin immediately. However, the director explains that the final chapter leaves a window open so that the saga can continue with other chapters if it receives good attention.
The third chapter confirms the participation of many actors from the second film, but changes the actor playing Vincent Ascia, who will be portrayed by the Modena actor Giuseppe Scaglione. Nicola Capelli (in the role of co-protagonist Charlie), Stef Maister, and Manuel Spano will also join the cast.
AS THE DIRECTOR TELLS IT…
The Join The Evil saga, according to Davide Santandrea, is a mixture of comedy and splatter horror. The comedy comes from the main character of the saga, Vincent, who can’t seem to do anything right. Vincent Caranza, also known as “Vincent Ascia” to his friends, is the hero who gets into a lot of trouble. He’s a lumberjack who didn’t follow in the archaeological footsteps of his father, the archaeology professor Pedro Caranza.
He’s a womanizer, a nerdy loser, someone who drinks and only thinks about sex and himself. He’s the one who comes up with the craziest ideas and uses his axe as a weapon to defend himself against the undead. For the humor and creation of the character, Santandrea was inspired by Jerry Lewis, Laurel and Hardy, The Three Stooges, and Popeye. The humor of the character “Vincent” is based on the American slapstick comedy.
The horror of the saga comes from an inspiration from the American writer Howard Phillips Lovecraft and the movie Evil Dead 1981 by Sam Raimi. In the story, Professor Caranza finds some Sumerian tablets, translates them, and writes a book that then becomes cursed: every time the formulas contained in it are read, the ancient demons, the demonic guardians of the gate to hell, inspired by Lovecraft’s stories, Azathot, Yog-sothot, and Nyarlathotep awaken.
These are the three demons that unleash hell in the “Il Cottage” saga and turn people into the undead. The book that is written based on the translations of the Sumerian tablets is inspired by Lovecraft’s stories and the famous book Al Azif (the Necronomicon) written by the mad Arab Abdul Alhazred.
THE PLOT OF “THE COTTAGE 2 – THE DEMON OF THE WOOD”
After the death of the archaeologist Professor Caranza and his brother Eric in the cottage near the woods, Vincent Ascia decides to rent his father’s cottage to the elderly Mary and her daughter Abigayl.
Upon moving into the cottage, the two women are confronted with the curse of the place from the first night: Abigayl finds the book of Kutu in the house and, by reading a formula, awakens a supernatural force that kills the elderly mother and turns her into a zombie.
The terrified daughter escapes into the woods, where she loses the book and is chased by the demonic force.
After a few years since the disappearance of the two women, Vincent Ascia moves into the cottage with a group of hippie friends: Sharon, Scoot, Shelly, Sandy, Bruce, and Rick.
During a picnic with his girlfriend Sharon, Scoot finds the cursed book of Kutu in the woods, written by Professor Caranza, and by reading a formula, he awakens the forces of evil. Sharon finds her boyfriend dead and transformed into a horrible monster, and she runs towards the cottage.
The friends do not believe what happened to Sharon in the woods; they rather think it’s a prank by Scott and, despite Vincent Ascia’s invitation to be cautious, they send Bruce to look for him.
Since Bruce is also late to arrive, Shelly, Vincent’s sister, decides to go into the woods to search for them. In the woods, Shelly will be injured and attacked by the spirit of the woods. Meanwhile, Scoot, who is no longer human, arrives at the cottage and begins to harvest his victims.
Sandy, Vincent’s girlfriend, is immediately killed brutally by Scoot. Vincent manages to tear Scoot into pieces, and it is at that moment that Shelly returns, seriously injured. When Shelly also transforms into a zombie in the cottage, hell breaks loose in a lake of blood…
You can watch the trailer at this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0IKxlAz2ns
You can find the teaser at this address:
