The House with Laughing Windows
by Pupi Avati
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Bob Tonelli, Francesca Marciano, Gianni Cavina, Giulio Pizzirani, Lino CapolicchioDirector: Pupi Avati
Writer: Gianni Cavina
Cinematographer: Pasquale Rachini
Writer: Pupi Avati
Producer: Antonio Avati
Writer: Antonio Avati
Producer: Gianni Minervini
Writer: Maurizio Costanzo
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Italian (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled)
Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 110 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-03-11
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Image Entertainment
Movie Reviews of The House with Laughing Windows
Movie Review: "The House With Screaming Windows" Would Have Been A More Appropriate Title For This Extremely Bizarre Italian Giallo
Summary: 5 Stars
Before I review the actual film, allow me to say that Image did an excellent job of restoring "The House With Laughing Windows" or else they found an excellent print. For having been originally released in 1976, the audio and video are superb. Speaking of audio, it is presented only in Italian with English subtitles. Perhaps it was never dubbed in English, having never been released in America. (However, one would think that it would have been dubbed in English for release in Britain.) The film, as well as the trailer, is presented in widescreen with its original theatrical aspect of 1.85:1. The trailer does not have English subtitles. Other special features include an interesting documentary on the making of the film (which now has a cult following), a lobby card gallery, and filmographies of the director and lead actor.
Directed by Pupi Avati (who co-wrote the screenplay for Lamberto Bava's "Macabre," a.k.a., "Macabro"), "The House with Laughing Windows" is one of the most bizarre Italian gialli I have ever seen. It has satanic elements and ranks up there with Aldo Lado's "Short Night of the Glass Dolls" and Sergio Martino's "All the Colors of the Dark," both of which are equally strange; however, "The House with Laughing Windows" is superior.
Stefano (Lino Capolicchio of Antonio Bido's "The Blood Stained Shadow") is hired to restore a church fresco which depicts the brutal stabbing death of St. Sebastain. He soon learns that the inhabitants of this small island town are a strange lot. The friend who recommended him for the job falls from Stefano's hotel room window. Though Stefano insists it was murder, the police rule it a suicide. Stefano begins investigating the fresco's dead painter Legnani who was known as the Painter of Agony. His perverse artwork depicted people in pain and suffering and it was rumored that he painted from real life. As Stefano unravels the secrets of the painting, more of his friends and associates begin to die.
"The House with Laughing Windows" is a creepy, atmospheric gothic horror/giallo. There are crumbling buildings, swamps, and canals enshrouded in fog; demented characters; disappearing corpses; and a secret burial site. Like many Italian gialli, the ending is strange, twisted, and perverse; it is rather shocking and unexpected. Stefano reminds me of Rosemary Woodhouse in "Rosemary's Baby." He too learns that you can't trust those around you.
"The House with Laughing Windows" is highly recommended for those who enjoy Italian gialli or European horror. I didn't find anything laughable about it. It would have been more appropriately titled "The House With Screaming Windows." Its victims certainly screamed a lot before dying.
If you like Italian gialli, I recommend "Deep Red," "The Bird with the Crystal Plumage," "Tenebre," "The Red Queen Kills Seven Times," "A Lizard in a Woman's Skin," "Murder Walks on High Heels," "Torso," "The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh," "What Have You Done to Solange?" and "Blood and Black Lace." I'm addicted to Italian gialli. I've seen over sixty.
Summary of The House with Laughing Windows
A remote Italian village harbors unspeakable secrets, as young Stefano ("The Garden of the Finzi-Continis'" Lino Capolicchio) discovers when he arrives to restore a local church's decaying, painted fresco depicting the slaughter of St. Sebastian. Townspeople whisper that the original artist painted directly from real life, with models tortured and murdered all in the name of art. Suddenly a new, terrifying chain of murders begins, and Stefano finds himself caught in a chilling web of madness and unspeakable horror from which he may never escape! This exquisite masterpiece of Italian horror seethes with menacing atmosphere and diabolical plot twists guaranteed to haunt your dreams. Never before released in America, "The House with Laughing Windows" (La casa dalle finestre che ridono) is the crowning achievement of internationally hailed director Pupi Avati (The Story of Boys and Girls, Zeder) and has been restored to its full gothic glory from the original camera negative.Art House & International DVD Video
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