La Maison aux fenêtres qui rient

The restorer Stefano (Lino Capolicchio) is hired by the Mayor Solmi (Bob Tonelli) of a small village nearby Ferrara to restore a painting of St. Sebastian, made by the mentally disturbed painter Buono Legnani in the local church. Stefano was recommended by his friend, Dr. Antonio Mazza (Giulio Pizzirani), and he learns that Legnani was known as "The Painter of the Agony", since he used to paint near-death people. Further, he was presumed dead many years ago but his body has never been found.

Stefano works in the church, where he meets the weirdo Lidio (Pietro Brambilla), and he has one night stand with the local nymphomaniac teacher (Vanna Busoni) that is leaving the village. Meanwhile Antonio investigates the life of Buono Legnani and tells Stefano that he had found a dark secret about the painter and the villagers. However, Antonio dies before meeting Stefano and the police conclude that he committed suicide.

Stefano is intrigued by the mystery surrounds Legnani and decides to investigate more about the deranged painter. However, he in evicted of his hotel room and Lidio brings him to the isolated house of a paraplegic woman (Pina Borione) where he lives. Meanwhile, he meets the teacher's substitute Francesca (Francesca Marciano) and they have a love affair. Francesca moves to Stefano's room and they are affected by the strange atmosphere of the place.

When the restoration is damaged by acid, Stefano decides to leave the village with Francesca. However, he meets the alcoholic driver Coppola (Gianni Cavina) that decides to disclose to him the secret of the house of the laughing windows. But now it seems to be too late to move out of the mysterious village.

"La Casa Dalle Finestre Che Ridono" is a dark film developed in a creepy nightmarish atmosphere and visibly inspired in "The Wicker Man". The lead character seems to be trapped in his morbid curiosity of discovering the hidden secret of the village and never leaves the spot. Like many Europeans movies, the plot has many open questions, maybe with the intention of discussing them among friends or in forums and board like the one in IMDb. After watching the film, it is worthwhile reading the interpretations of other Users to improve yours or find some missing detail. Last but not the least, the beauty of Francesca Marciano is really impressive. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "A Casa com Janelas Sorridentes" ("The House with Laughing Windows")

The film is not a categorical giallo as it is often suggested as being, but rather it's more of a entry into the Gothic horror canon, with a incredibly strong sense of mystery that keeps the viewer intrigued even when the pacing becomes sluggish. The film is not exploitative (as most giallo films are) but mature, intelligent, and effective. Indeed, there is no nudity and little violence is present as the picture's primary focus is its complex, labyrinthine mystery that truly surprises the viewer with its unexpected turns of the plot. The film is also heavy on atmosphere, artfully directed by the award-winning Pupi Avati (of "The Story of Boys and Girls" and "Incantato" fame), which really intensifies the mystery, making it not only it spellbinding by also horrific and terrifying at times(especially near the end). The debits I perceive is that the narrative is a tad drawn out and some of the characters aren't as developed as one would hope, but the mystery is so good that it's easily to look past all these minor quibbles. Highly recommended to those who liked slow-burning Gothic mysteries such as "Don't look Now".

This is a great film. A slow-moving, ultimately very scary experience. It is the 1950s and our protagonist has come to an isolated Italian village to refurbish a fresco of St. Sebastian, painted with a creepy realism by a local artist, dubbed the "painter of agony" due to his fascination with painting the dead and the dying. This is a real backwater of a place, with little to do and little in the way of culture. When a friend of our protagonist's is mysteriously killed, before he could share what he knew about the mystery of the fresco, events are set in motion that ultimately lead to a very shocking climax.

This is a rather slow-moving film, but be patient and you'll be rewarded. It builds to a frightening conclusion and is a pretty nihilistic experience when all is said and done, not too far different from Avati's other masterpiece, _Zeder_ in tone. Now available in an Italian-language DVD with removable English subtitles!

Pupi Avati's 'The House With Laughing Windows' follows the character of Stefano, a painter who travels to a remote Italian village on a job to restore an unfinished painting depicting the persecution of St. Sebastian (who was a real Saint, by the way, only he was actually killed by arrows being shot into him, not by being stabbed with knives like the painting in the movie portrays). Upon arriving in the village, Stefano discovers that there is a lot more behind the mystery of the painting than he originally thought, and that someone will stop at nothing to make sure that Stefano does not complete the painting, further revealing the true mystery behind the town's bizarre secrets.

The movie opens with graphic, sepia toned imagery of a man being tortured in the exact same way as St. Sebastian is depicted in the painting. The genuinely creepy piano music that plays during the opening just further sets the unsettling mood for the mystery that lies ahead. The opening credits lead one to believe that the film is an all out blood bath, however, this is not the case. In fact, the most violently unsettling part of the film is the opening, that's not to say that the rest of the film doesn't contain violence, it just doesn't exist on the same level or extreme as the opening.

The rest of the film is a rather competent mystery done in true giallo fashion, and will keep you wondering what's going to happen next until the climactic finale. There are a few story elements in this movie that were either unexplained or not elaborated on, but I don't know if going as far as to call these incidents 'plot holes' would be completely correct. For instance, there is a girl Stefano is seeing at the beginning who just leaves town (disappears?) without a word. This had me thinking the whole movie that she was murdered and that her body would turn up at some point, when in fact you find out later in the film that she just simply left town, and was replaced by Stefano's next love interest, Francesca.

The movie is pretty tame in comparison to many giallo flicks like 'Tenebrae' or 'The New York Ripper', but the twists and turns should interest most fans of this sub-genre. Also, unlike most giallos, the film contains only a brief bit of nudity, but there is a scene where a woman is being forcefully molested that seems more exploitative than most scenes depicting nudity.

All in all I must say I was surprised at the quality of movie I saw. Not only was it a surprise that I haven't heard of this movie sooner, but it was also amongst some of the better plot driven giallo films I have personally seen. This movie was well paced, consisted of great camera-work and scenery, had great acting (to a non-speaker of Italian, anyway), and had a truly creepy and original plot. I recommend this film to anyone that is really into the Italian giallo sub-genre, as it may not hold the interest of the casual horror movie fan.

"The House With Laughing Windows" is a very European film. Unlike the gialli of, say, Argento, this film is not 'Americanized' at all. It reminds me more of films like "Don't Torture a Duckling" in that it takes place out in a small town in the Italian countryside. It adds to the ambiance and I really like that.

The plot is very slow-moving. I'm not even sure if I'd call this film a giallo, but reading other reviews on here, it seems that it is in fact classified as such. It was hard for me to watch this for the first hour or so. I was wondering when it was going to pick up. Not many people get killed. But, I stuck with it and I recommend doing so. If you can stick with it, the ending is freakin' awesome. I was shocked by it; it really delivers. And it gets nice and bloody too. I had no idea who the killer was, and by the time I found out, my head was spinning from the progression of the final few scenes. It ends abruptly and it feels great. It more than made up for the sluggishness of the first 2/3 of the film. It's not unlike many of the newer Asian films in that regard: it moves very slow but the last few minutes are like a twisting train wreck.

In short, I recommend this film to those of you who have patience and enjoy Italian horror.

8 out of 10, kids.