The House with Laughing Windows

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Audience Member Pupi Avati makes two types of films: melancholic comedies about the utterly normal lives of utterly normal people from Emilia (la cena di natale, etc) and utterly terrifying horror films also set up in absolutely normal circumstances where absolutely normal people find themselves in really scary situations - think Profondo Rosso meets Polansky's The Tenant. When watching this film late at night on TV the lights went out and none of us would dare switching them on again. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Audience Member Pupi Avati made Zeder, the zombie movie that really isn't a zombie movie, so I was excited to see his take on the giallo, basing it on a story he heard about a priest being exhumed in his childhood. The Valli di Comacchio area has a fresco on the rotting wall of a church that may be the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian. Painted years ago by the long-dead and always mysterious Legnani, it is being restored by Stefano, who is also living in the home of the painter's sisters. Those very same sisters — according to town legend — assisted their brother in torturing and killing people so that he would have inspiration for his artwork. No one wants Stefano to fix this painting. People start dying and the secret behind the murders may be in the very painting that our lead is fixing. I love when the giallo moves out of Rome and into the small cities, such as Fulci's masterful Don't Torture a Duckling and Antonio Bido's The Blood Stained Shadow. Why should the metro locales have all the deep, dark secrets and horrific murders, right? Don't go in expecting sleaze and gore. Do expect to be surprised and delighted by the world and mood that this movie creates. This one needs to be unearthed and celebrated by way more than know it now. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member That odd, sepia start; the screaming man, the music, the slow, lingering camera's gaze. A young man hired to touch up a fresco makes disturbing discoveries about the artist. The opening, naturalistic style seems a contrast until the tone changes with that first, plunging, death. The phonecalls, the build up of music in that bleached town, that recorded voice, the snails, the old woman - but there's a sense that the subtext made it very much of its time. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review Audience Member A young man who can restore frescos (ancient works of art) arrives to restore one such artwork but finds events within the remote town to be far from normal. Indeed, they are downright bizarre. Does the fresco hold any clues? Does it depict what people have been led to believe it shows? Will the events directly affect Stefano? This Italian film is one hell of a gorgeous (and VERY disturbing) journey. Not only do we get the backstory of the artist who first painted the fresco but also the freaky events that are happening in the Valli di Commacchio area that the action takes place in. With all the best of Italian horror/gialli, it also makes you want to go to Italy and experience such a seemingly fantastic and aesthetically pleasing way of life. The photography is magnificent. I'd love to see this film on the big screen. The locales are sumptuous, the characters are left field to the max (at times I kept think of the films of Jodorowsky) which all adds to the overall vision and atmosphere of this gorgeous film. I'd love to speak about the conclusion of the film but that would massively spoil the entire film for those of you who haven't been lucky enough to see it yet. Also, if I tried to write down what happens you probably wouldn't believe me. Just to say- it's surreal, can't be predicted and gets under your skin and inside your head and remains there long after the actual film has ended. Fantastic. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Matteo P I've never laughed so much ... even if the kind of film should be another .. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/06/19 Full Review Audience Member Chilling in the end... Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The House with Laughing Windows

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