In the 30's, the orphan Audrey Christiansen (Leonor Manso) has just arrived to be the company of the wealthy Mrs. Howard (Yvonne de Carlo), living with her and a couple of other employees in a mansion. While walking on the sidewalk with the little dog Timmy, it escapes from Audrey and enters in a dark house close to hers. Looking for the dog, she witnesses the murder of a woman called Catherine Webster on the second floor of the house, with her body rolling the staircase, but she is unable to see the killer. She comes back home, and together with Mrs. Howard, call the police. The detective informs that the crime described by Audrey happened twenty-three years ago and the killer has not been found. Audrey decides to investigate the murder by herself. She receives some visions from the past while investigating the truth behind the death of Catherine.
"La casa de las sombras" is a reasonable mystery-horror movie with an interesting premise, but poor screenplay and cinematography. The story is very confused, the image is very dark (I saw it on an old VHS) and dubbed in English and the effects are aged in 2004. The actress Leonor Manso, with twenty- eight years old in 1976, seems to be too old for the role of Audrey. My vote is five.
Title (Brazil): "A Casa das Sombras" ("The House of the Shadows")
Note: On 26 Jan 2014 I saw this movie again in the same VHS.
