La Maison de la terreur

Okay, Lamberto Bava isn't anywhere near as talented as his father Mario. Let's just accept that and move on. 'A Blade In The Dark' is a surprisingly entertaining giallo that is equal parts Argento and Hitchcock, though obviously not as accomplished as either at their best. If I specify which Hitchcock it is heavily inspired by it'll give the whole game away, so I won't, but I'm sure most viewers will have guessed the twist long before it is revealed. It doesn't really matter, it won't detract from your enjoyment. Andrea Occhipinti from Fulci's 'The New York Ripper' plays Bruno, a young composer who rents a villa while working on a horror movie score. Pretty soon assorted lovelies start disappearing and he fears the worst. He also begins to think the movie he's working on holds the key to the mysterious events around him. The version I watched of this movie was very badly dubbed but it was still effective and stylishly directed, with some gruesome touches. Occhipinti was more than adequate as a hero, there were plenty of babes, and Eurohorror buffs will get a kick out of seeing the kid from Fulci's 'The House By The Cemetery' in a bit part and Michele Soavi (Argento pal and director of cult favourite 'Dellamorte Dellamore') in a supporting role. While I don't think 'A Blade In The Dark' is quite as good as Bava's first 'Demons' movie I enjoyed it a LOT more than I expected, so if you like Argento and Fulci, check it out.

A young musician (Andrea Occhipinti) moves in to a house for the summer, and soon he is surrounded by a series of murders. Evidence trickles in that the killer might be the previous tenant, but nobody knows for sure and some people refuse to talk. And what is in the locked room in the basement?

Lamberto Bava came out of his father's shadow to make "Macabre", one of the finest Italian horror films of its day. Often overlooked, it is slick and original, and well worth seeking out. He followed it up with "A Blade in the Dark", co-written by the legendary writer Dardano Sacchetti, which likely gave the film a boost. It, too, has superior picture and sound, far surpassing Fulci's films of the same era.

Bava protests that the film is "not really a horror film", and some have classified it as a mystery or thriller. This is warranted, but the intense blood, gore and chills make it firmly a horror story in my mind.

Luca Palmerini calls the film "morbid" and "misogynistic" with "claustrophobic overtones". I may agree on the last part, but the misogyny is a stretch. The women here do take a back seat (and the film does start out by calling Giovanni Frezza's character a "female" as an insult) but compared to horror as a whole I think it comes across as normal.

The English dubbing on the Anchor Bay DVD is a bit strange to me, mostly because the characters say "ciao" while otherwise speaking English. Maybe it is just me. But overall, I cannot complain -- a lot of terror comes from a very small blade, and this may be Michele Soavi's best work as an actor. Coupled with a haunting score, the film is gripping, though the music does tend to get a bit overplayed and old, especially after the first kill.

While the film is not as good as "Macabre", it deserves recognition. Bava threw it together rather quickly with a low budget and unknown actors, with minimal equipment (even the set was actually just the producer's house). Adapting it from a television script where the goal was to kill someone every thirty minutes, he did pretty well with it. Clearly, he was successful enough that he was able to keep directing and give us the now-classic "Demons".

Frequently vicious with some excellent set pieces, A Blade in the Dark must be one of the better non-Argento giallos from the 80's. The story follows a young horror film composer who becomes a target for a deranged serial killer who doesn't want this film to come out. This killer also finds time to hack up anyone who comes to the house where the composer is working on the music, so there's plenty of fresh blood to be spilled.

The pace ebbs and flows here and there and it's hard to judge the acting since it's been dubbed into English, but A Blade in the Dark is worth watching for it's insane murder set pieces, including one particularly grisly hairwashing sequence that involves a hand and a very sharp kitchen knife.

A Blade in the Dark exists somewhere between the giallos on the 70's and the slashers of the 80's, but manages to find its sweet spot more often than not. I think Lamberto's father, Mario, would be very proud of his work in this.

Inspired a little more by the American slashers coming out at the time, A Blade in the Dark is a solid and sometimes intense slash fest about a film composer trapped in an isolated estate where everyone around him is being murdered. The murders themselves are grisly, especially one involving a bathroom, a hand, some shampoo, and a knife. There are a few lags in the pacing here and there, but it all leads to a memorably bizarre finale that makes up for it.

If giallo works for you, this movie is a riot. If not, you may find it somewhat disappointing. But for me, it hit all the right notes.

The writing and acting was absurd, filled to the brim with dialogue that is either some of the most on-the-nose stuff I have ever heard, or complete nonsense. The acting is generally fully over-the-top or simply terribly performed. Either way, it's all wildly amusing. Not all the deaths are up to snuff with the best of giallo, but there are a couple that will leave imprints in your mind, specifically one in a bathroom involving a plastic bag. The women are quite intoxicating, the lead actor quite pretty as well, and it's always fun seeing the legend Michele Soavi in any role. The cinematography is a lot of fun, the pacing and editing is disjointed and awkward as is the case with most giallo, and the story makes very little sense.

All in all, it's a pretty terrible movie, but a wonderful giallo! Lamberto Bava certainly got his game locked in a few years later by the time he made his masterpiece, Demons!