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THE HOUSE WITH LAUGHING
WINDOWS
A striking, though imperfect, film from Pupi Avati, one of
the Italian horror industry's least-known talents. THE HOUSE WITH LAUGHING
WINDOWS boasts a compellingly low-key style, a refreshing change of pace in a
genre known for its outrageousness, but it may be a shade too low-key for its
own good.
The Package
Pupi Avati began his career in the late sixties-early
seventies period, directing a number of mostly forgettable horror comedies. He
also made uncredited contributions to the scripts of films like Dario Argento's
DEEP RED and Pier Paolo Pasolini's SALO (both 1975). His
first notable self-directed production was THE HOUSE WITH LAUGHING WINDOWS (LA
CASA DALLE FINESTRE CHE RIDONO) in 1976, which met with virtually no success.
Avati wouldn't direct another pure horror film until 1983's effective ZEDER:
VOICES FROM BEYOND, after which he defected to more mainstream fare.
If any one film could be said to embody Avati's
career-long obsessions, it would be THE HOUSE WITH LAUGHING WINDOWS. An
excellent piece of film-making, it has nevertheless been somewhat over-rated by
today's genre critics, most notably Phil Hardy, who in his indispensable
OVERLOOK FILM ENCYCLOPEDIA: HORROR dubs it the finest horror film of the
seventies. Exceptional though I think it is, I don't think I'd go that far.
The Story
Stefano, a painter, arrives at a secluded beachfront town to restore a crumbling
church fresco. Almost from the moment he steps off the boat, Stefano is
assailed by anonymous messages and phone calls warning him off the project.
Undaunted, he stays on, learning more about the mysterious and depraved painter
of the fresco, who apparently identified a little too closely with his violent
and bloody art. It seems that the diabolical artist regularly employed his
psychotic sisters to capture people from around the countryside and torture
them, thus enabling him to get as realistic a picture as possible. Stefano
begins to suspect that, while the painter himself is long gone, a victim of
self-immolation, the two evil sisters may yet be around, still up to their
murderous deeds...
It's an extremely well told
story, but one that, in order to fully appreciate its many twists, demands an
unusual amount of attention. It pays off, of course, as the surprise ending is
one of the most disturbingly effective in recent memory. More troubling are the
characterizations, or more accurately lack thereof. Lino Caplicchio in the lead
role is the least interesting person in the entire film, and his tepid love
affair with the equally bland Francesca Marciano (not to mention an illicit
fling he has early on that is never referred to again) does nothing to help
matters.
The Direction
A perfect example of Pupi Avati's inimitable style occurs in a scene set in an
attic, an environment turned into a veritable chamber of horrors by just two
elements: a wide angle lens and a sack swinging back and forth on a rope. The
subjects of THE HOUSE WITH LAUGHING WINDOWS aren't flesh and blood monsters, but
the evils of the past, slowly permeating the present landscape. It's this
atmosphere that takes center stage over the standard graphic violence one
usually finds in Italian horror movies, leaving an impression that lasts long
after the final credits roll.
But as skilled as Avati's pared-down approach is, at
times one longs for the excesses of fellow countrymen like
Dario Argento and
Lucio Fulci. One has to question the purpose of a film whose ultimate effect
doesn't occur until after it ends...where exactly is the fun in that?
Vital Statistics
THE HOUSE WITH LAUGHING WINDOWS (LA CASA DALLE
FINESTRE CHE RIDONO)
AMA Films
Director: Pupi Avati
Producer: Gianni Minervini, Antonio Avati
Screenplay: Pupi Avati, Antonio Avati, Gianni Cavina, Maurizio Costanzo
Cinematography: Pasquale Rachini
Editor: Giuseppe Baghdighani
Cast: Lino Capolicchio, Francesca
Marciano, Gianni Cavuna, Giulio Pizzirani, Vanna Busoni, Andrea Matteuzzi, Bob
Tonelli, Pietro Brambilla, Ferdinando Orlandi, Ines Ciaschetti