Is this really giallo?
Plenty of people with a hell of a lot more knowledge about the genre than me seem to think so, including the good folks at Arrow Video. While I know it typically incorporates horror, mystery and a vivid aesthetic, that’s not always the case and what’s considered giallo is pretty fluid. After all, not every film noir features fedoras and femme fatales.
Far be it from me to contradict numerous critics and historians included in the supplements on this disc, who discuss at-length this film’s place in giallo history and acknowledge that it’s cut from a different cloth. But while watching The House with Laughing Windows, I personally felt the narrative and tone gave off more of a folk horror vibe.
Lino Capolicchio plays Stefano, an artist hired to restore a recently-discovered mural in an old church, located in a drab, sparsely populated village. It’s a violent painting created by an artist named Legnani, whose specialty was capturing his subjects at their moment of death. Though Legnani himself died years earlier, most of the locals attest that he was insane, as were his two older sisters who’ve since disappeared. Not that normalcy is in large supply at this village; most of the folks Stefano encounters have a few loose screws.
Oddball characters move in and out of the story, some relevant to the plot, some not. And speaking of plot, Stephano gets cozy with new young school teacher Francesca (Francesca Maricano) almost immediately after sleeping with the old school teacher (before she mysteriously disappears). He also becomes obsessed with uncovering Legnani’s dark past, which has dire consequences, especially for a few characters who meet violent ends.
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| "Hey, house...stop laughing at me!" |
What I do know is that my engagement in the actual story ebbed and flowed. None of these characters are particularly well developed, especially Francesca. When she and Stefano (who ain’t all that interesting, either) go from zero-to-madly-in-love within a couple of scenes, part of me wondered if I missed something. And as Stefano continues digging into the past, it quickly becomes obvious who’s raising hell in the present. We’re just waiting for him to figure it out. Still, there’s a whopper of a reveal during the climax, one that’ll illicit either gasps or chuckles.
Overall, The House With Laughing Windows is worth checking out. Though the execution is sometimes lacking, the basic concept is pretty cool and the film is nothing if not atmospheric. Arrow Video has given it a terrific 4K UHD release, with an outstanding overall picture and substantial bonus features, some of which might convince the viewer I’m full of shit in my assessment of the its worth as a giallo film.
EXTRA KIBBLES
NOTE: Free Kittens Movie Guide was provided with a promo disc for review purposes. Physical supplemental material included with the final product (booklets, artwork, inserts, etc) were not available for review.
PAINTED SCREAMS - This is an excellent feature length retrospective documentary about the making of the film, featuring extensive interviews with most of the cast and crew.
VIDEO ESSAYS - 1) La Casa e Sola, by Chris Alexander; 2) The Art of Suffering, by Kit Ellinger (who serves up a decent argument for the film being considered giallo).
2 AUDIO COMMENTARIES - 1) By Alexandra Heller Nicholas & Josh Nelson; 2) By Eugenio Ecolani & Troy Howarth.
TRAILER
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