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Released by: Image Entertainment
Released on: March 11, 2003
Director: Pupi Avati
Cast: Lino Capolicchio, Francesca Marciano, Gianni Cavina, Vanna Busoni, Giulio Pizzirani
Year: 1976
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The Movie:
Pupi Avatis much-revered classic of Italian horror, The House With Laughing Windows, finally makes it highly anticipated official North American home video debut on region 1 DVD from Image Entertainment.
The story revolves around an artistic restoration expert named Stefano (Lino Capolicchio), who has been hired to work on a painting of St. Sebastian being tortured and put to death that adorns the wall of a local church in a small, sleepy Italian town. Originally created by an enigmatic painter named Legnani, the piece is rather disturbing and reflects the Saints death a little too accurately.
Rumors abound among the townsfolk about how the artist, who had a penchant for painting people in the throws of agony. It seems that he might have got his inspiration from real life events and situations that he not only witnessed, but may have actually had setup at the expense of some of the locals years ago while he was still alive.
When a series of murders starts occurring again, Stefano and his new girlfriend Francesco (played by Francesca Marciano) set out to get to the bottom of things and find out that the artists death was never confirmed all those years ago and that no one really knows what happened to him, or his two sisters.
Avati creates a rich and tense atmosphere from the very beginning with some intriguing sets and locations and a brooding minimalist score. His compositions are rock solid and the film is very pleasing to the eye, but at the same time it effectively captures a nice sense of dread that becomes only more intrusive as the film moves along.
While it moves at a slow pace and is rather mild in the sex and gore department when compared to some of the better known films of the same genre, The House With Laughing Windows is an engaging thriller with a nicely played ambiguous ending that comes right out of left field, but really does work.
I don't know that the film necessarily lives up to all of the hype surrounding it in certain circles, but very few films ever do. It still proves to be an enjoyable film and the way that the director uses the architecture in the small town (specifically the old house where Stefano is residing, the artists old house, and the church where Stefano is working) to symbolize the insanity and death occurring in the film itself is very effective and at times, down right creepy.
While it toys with some of the same themes as Dario Argentos work, it's a much more subdued effort and forgoes Argentos flashiness and stylization in favor of a more deliberate pacing. Rather than slap you in the face with its set pieces, the film unfolds ideas and themes as the characters unravel them, which in turn keeps you guessing and makes for an unpredictable finale.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Thankfully Image has preserved the anamorphic 1.85.1 transfer from the Italian release (which was transferred and restored from the original negative) for their disc as well, and it looks very nice. There is a bit of grain in a few scenes, most notably the darker moments, and a few small noticeable instances of compression problems are visible, but for the most part it's a very nice, sharp transfer. Some of the darker scenes do look a bit murky, but it's not hard to look past this, as the lighter scenes are almost perfect.
The film is presented in Italian with easy to read yellow English subtitles. There are three sound mixes on the disc - Dolby Digital Mono, Dolby Digital 5.1, and a DTS track (which was not included on the PAL disc). All three sound very nice, with little to no distortion or hiss present. Obviously the surround tracks are more active than the mono track, but it's nice to see the original sound mix included for posterity's sake on the DVD. The surround mixes aren't too over the top and they nicely compliment the atmosphere of the film at just the right moments.
Sadly, there are a few moments where the subtitles produce a yellow line at the bottom of the text that is a tad distracting, but that's the only real complaint that I have about this portion of the disc.
Underneath some pretty cool cover art, Image has included the fifteen-minute featurette ported over from the Italian disc with nice, clear English subtitles. The piece has interviews with Avati as well as composer Amedeo Tommasi, the films star, Lino Cappolicchio, and a few other crewmembers. It's an interesting look back at the film as Avati and his cohorts discuss working on the movie and dealing with such a small budget. Of interest to me was how many of the crew members had to wear different hats during the production. Avati also discusses his original ideas for the ending of the film, so in that respect there are some spoilers here, so those who haven't seen the film before are advised not to watch this featurette before watching the movie itself.
Also included are bios and filmographies, a small still gallery comprised of lobby card reproductions that runs roughly thirty five seconds, and the films original theatrical trailer. The restoration featurette from the Italian release has not been included, however the Italian release did not include the trailer or still gallery.
The Final Word:
While I don't think that the film lives up to all the hype around it, it's still a very solid movie that Euro Horror fans should surely check out on this very nice release from Image.