La casa del buon ritorno

This mostly neglected Italian effort is far too little known. It tells the disturbing story about a man who returns to the house where he grew up. But, as a kid, he accidentally pushed a girl from the roof and killed her. The past begins to catch up with him.

Director Cino made a very stylish and thrilling film with really uncanny moments. Even though it undeniably belongs to the horror genre, it's very quite and rather unspectacular, but nonetheless extremely creepy.

In some ways one can compare its style with Pupi Avati's masterpiece 'La Casa dalle Finestre Che Ridono' (1976) which is even more involving and mind-boggling. I highly recommend 'La Casa del Buon Ritorno' to everybody who wants to experience an uncanny and disturbing horror film.

Apparently everyone who got the Onibaba reference can't hold back their excitement over this film. Unfortunately, the mask is just about the only thing that lifts it out of the doldrums. There are three speaking parts here, of which only two characters are actively involved in the so-called plot; their involvement is limited to screaming at each other in whiny voices when the director wants one of them to leave the otherwise uneventful scene. Sometimes the man leaves to let the girl prowl around the old dark house; then it's the girl's turn, and she leaves to give him the chance to do his own prowling undeterred. Some tracking shots would have been moody if there were anything here to be moody about. And I don't think the director himself knows exactly what happens at the very end (or, in fact, in the few middle bits where anything does happen - e. g., what is the significance of the doll that the protagonist eventually takes to bed? what do the children burn? I don't much care, but it would be nice to know it wasn't all just completely off the wall).

I got the feeling watching this, with such a small cast, and failing to connect with any of the characters, that the director lost the plot. Then I realised he wrote the story and the script as well as directing, so there really was no excuse. The story is OK and the early flashbacks to childhood and the later spooky goings on with the mannequin bode well and yet the thing still unravels. Having people run around an empty house looking for the other alternately, a film does not make. Its a shame because there are fine moments but because we don't care its a bit of a waste. Neither Stefano Gabrini nor Amanda Sandrelli impress but it could be the fault of the script.

This is one of the best of the 1980's Italian gialli and one of the best of later films in this genre not directed by a "name" director like Dario Argento (OK, that might not be saying much, but still. . .). The film has intrigued me every since I first read about it in Adrian Luther-Smith's seminal English-language book on the genre, "Blood in Black Lace", where it is listed under the Italian title "La Casa di Buon Retorno". And it actually lived up to my expectations.

The plot involves a boy who accidentally causes the death of a girl (his sister?) in his childhood countryside villa after she frightens him with an Onibaba mask. Fifteen years later he returns with his new girlfriend (Amanda Sandrelli) to the abandoned villa where some of his childhood friends have remained and become creepy locals. He starts to see the dead girl, suggesting either that he is going mad or that someone is trying to drive him mad. It isn't long before a mysterious figure in an Onibaba mask starts killing people.

This is a great old-fashioned giallo with above-par music and creepy visuals like the Japanese Onibaba mask, the old photographs of the dead girl, and the creepy mannequins dressed in masques and old clothes that fill the abandoned country mansion. As per the rest of the genre, the acting performances are all suitably unhinged (particularly the actor that plays the protagonist), but this doesn't have the frenetic, delirious pacing of some of the gialli. It is much more slow-burning and atmospheric (which is befitting its sleepy country setting). The identity of the killer in the Onibaba mask is pretty predictable, but the end is surprisingly nihilistic, even for a giallo, and I don't quite to make of the very final reveal. Still, the only thing it's lacking compared to the earlier 70's giallo classics is female nudity. Amanda Sandrelli stays clothed, which is strange considering she is the daughter of Stefania ("Is it time for my full-frontal nude scene, Mr. Italian director?") Sandrelli. But that and the generally lousy available prints are the only minor quibbles I have with this very entertaining 80's giallo.

According to my utmost reliable sources, which basically are a few websites and a handful of other reviewers on this site whom I blindly trust, "The House of Blue Shadows" was one of the last worthwhile Gialli I still needed to check out. So, I searched quite intensely for this film and found a poor-quality DVD-R from a clearly ancient VHS transfer. My hopes and expectations were tempered immediately, because - let's face it - all Italian horror movies from the 1980s that are worth discovering have already been transferred to classy and restored DVD/BluRay.

Despite an absorbingly moody atmosphere and an excellent ominous musical score, "House of Blue Shadows" is a disappointing and tame Giallo. In fact, I'm not so sure it even qualifies as a Giallo because I didn't spot many trademarks of this wondrous Italian sub-genre. Admittedly, towards the end, there's a killer dressed in black and hiding his/her face behind an Onibaba mask, but he/she causes very little mayhem or bloodshed. The script unfolds more as a mystery and melodrama, about a man in his late twenties - Luca - who, together with his fiancé Margit, returns to his parental house in a remote and quiet community. Luca's mind is still troubled, because he accidentally (?) pushed a girl from the roof to her death during a game of hide and seek. Soon after he has visions of the adult version of the girl who died, and he becomes obsessed with a mannequin doll.

A very personal indicator of mine that a movie isn't good or living up to its expectations, is when my mind wanders off and starts making up its own storylines based on the characters and the information shared until then. I won't bother anyone with my version of "House of Blue Shadows", but let's just say the actual film couldn't hold my focus or attention. As mentioned, I admire the grim atmosphere of the first half, the music, and Amanda Sandrelli's performance, but the pacing is too slow, and the plot is too thin. It did make me desire to rewatch "Onibaba" (1964), though.