The House with Laughing Windows (1976)

- La casa dalle finestre che ridono
Superb!!!, 18 February 2005

The House with Laughing Windows is about as close to perfection as I've seen. The movie filled me with an uneasy sense of dread like few movies are capable. The story involves an artist, hired to restore a painting in a church. The more he learns about the paining and the original artist, he becomes obsessed with discovering even more. He receives threatening phone calls telling him to leave. Soon, his only friends in town begin to disappear or worse, die. What's behind the mystery of the painting that scares the locals so? Anymore of the story would be far too much.

The direction and editing in this movie are sublimely perfect. As far as I'm concerned, there is not a wasted scene. Every moment serves to push the plot along at an enjoyable, leisurely pace until the movie just drips with atmosphere and dread. The acting was, for the most part, a notch above the standard Italian fare from this period. And, whoever scouted and found the locations used in this movie should have received some type of award. You couldn't have done any better if you had the money to build the sets from scratch. This movie is an absolute must for fans of Italian horror.

I've watched the Region 1 subtitled version. The image is very good and the sound is clear. This DVD features a nice "making of" featurette with the director.

10/10