Frightening, Highly Original Horror Masterpiece, Jul 26 2003

This shocker may be filled with lunatics, violent killings and an undeniably horrific climax, but it is filmed without any of the sleazy exploitation one might expect from the above synopsis. Pupi Avati directs the gruesome proceedings with masterful precision, utilizing a careful, leisurely pace in order to slowly build up a truly palpable sense of malice. While not failing to resort to some tried and true suspense techniques throughout, Avati finds it equally important to linger with moody, loving attention on the exceedingly desolate landscape surroundings and claustrophobic interiors. Cinematographer Pasquale Rachini's beautiful imagery creates a sure sense of place and atmosphere and helps make Stefano's growing feelings of isolation and dread all too real.

Lino Capolicchio plays Stefano with seriousness and intelligence, and his excellent performance is greatly responsible for the film's overall success; its impossible not to care about what happens to him in the film's disturbing, ambiguous finale. Francesca Marciano is equally fine as Stefano's love interest; their relationship is presented in a fairly realistic manner, and although inserting a romance into the storyline is more than a tad formulaic, Marciano is so charming and beautiful its certainly easy to see why Stefano falls for her so quickly.

Director Avati may have developed a solid international reputation as a serious auteur with a lengthy filmography full of critically acclaimed "arthouse" character studies like THE STORY OF BOYS AND GIRLS, but in the U.S. his reputation rests mostly on two cult horror films, ZEDER and THE HOUSE WITH LAUGHING WINDOWS. ZEDER has long been the most visible of the two, having managed a domestic release on videotape in the 1980's with the more exploitable title of REVENGE OF THE DEAD, as well as a (disappointing) DVD release in 2000 under its proper title. HOUSE, on the other hand, has languished in relative obscurity since its 1976 release in Italy, despite critical raves across the board, including from such estimable sources as Phil Hardy's THE OVERLOOK FILM ENCYCLOPEDIA: HORROR and VIDEO WATCHDOG magazine.

Now, finally, HOUSE has received a much deserved DVD release as part of Image Entertainment's Euroshock Collection. Thankfully, the print used is in stunningly pristine shape; the movie literally looks brand-new. The film's beautiful visuals are presented in their original aspect ratio, letterboxed at 1.85:1 (although the DVD's box claims 1.78:1). The Italian language soundtrack has optional English subtitles. Extras include a still/lobby card gallery, a surprisingly boring trailer and, most impressively, a short (subtitled) Italian language retrospective/documentary featuring a fascinating interview with Avati who obviously feels great love for this gem of a horror film. And so will you.

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Exceptional Italian horrorfest, Dec 29 2003

By	Jeffrey Leach (Omaha, NE USA) - See all my reviews

"The House of the Laughing Windows" centers on a painting in a church in the little village of St. Sebastian. This objet d'art is frightful looking thing mercifully unfinished by its deceased creator, but that doesn't stop a big city restoration expert from rolling into town when he receives an offer to clean the painting up. The priest at the church is nice enough to him, but the townspeople are downright hostile concerning this guy's presence. Only a female teacher in the village acts friendly towards the young man--real friendly, by the way--because she too is an outsider. The residents so despise his presence that someone sneaks into the church and vandalizes the painting, thereby destroying all of the progress made on it. Being a sort of curious type--I guess you would need to be if you wanted to restore ancient paintings--the man begins to investigate his surroundings and the history of the painting. He soon discovers more than he ever wanted to know about this odd little town and its frightened denizens. With the help of an alcoholic village outcast, he slowly unearths the grim story behind the painting as well as discovering the reason people do not want him to proceed with his work. The final scenes of the film show our restorer in serious trouble as he comes face to face with the meaning of the painting and the inspiration for its horrific creation.

"House of the Laughing Windows" possesses some imagery sure to deliver the chills. The painting sits looms over the proceedings like a dark storm cloud. Once you understand the story behind this object, the implications of it are downright deadly. I also enjoyed that creepy tape recording that pops up every now. The barely audible rasping on that tape provides one of the eeriest set pieces in the entire film. Moreover, greatly enjoyable is the uncloaking during the conclusion to the film, when our hero learns the terrible secret of the painting and why the townspeople knew mucking around with the past insures ghastly results. There is, of course, the house with the laughing windows, which serves as a major clue to uncovering the secrets of the painting. The house is a neat, if slightly strange, idea on the part of the director and screenwriter of the film. Throw in an effective soundtrack and "House of the Laughing Windows" may well rank as one of the oddest, scariest films to come out of Italy in a long time.

Avati's film does not rank as the best horror film from Italy, obviously. Mario Bava and Dario Argento have done much better films than "House." As good as this movie is, it still shares some flaws with other Italian films. The acting here is mediocre, not a huge shock considering the wooden performances that plague nearly every Italian horror film I have ever seen. The pace of "House" tends to grate on the nerves after awhile, too. There must be something in the water over there because anytime a horror movie from Italy runs for almost two hours you are sure to glance at your watch a time or two. The uneven pacing in these types of films often dilutes the impact of the very message the director tries to convey. It's a dilemma for someone like me because I cannot stand to see cut films, but sometimes movies flow better with certain scenes removed. In a perfect world, DVD companies would include a cut and uncut version of the film in order to let the viewer decide which one looks and feels better. I'm dreaming, of course, as only a few companies actually do this. Anyway, a tighter version of "House" might alleviate some of the time drag.

The disc presents "House" in widescreen, which is always nice. Although the transfer looks a tad soft in places, I thought the quality rated better than good. A nonsensical trailer on the disc gives you little idea of what the film is about, but is still intriguing nonetheless. Also thrown into the package is an interview with Pupi Avati and a few of the principals involved in the movie. This helpful extra gives you a little information about the film and what the creators hoped to accomplish with it, as well as how they feel about the movie twenty plus years after its initial release. I recommend "House" for all lovers of shriek cinema; it is a cracking good film with a conclusion that will stay with you long after the credits roll.

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