A middle-aged woman, traumatized from the death of her adulterous lover, moves into a room at a New Orleans boarding house where the blind landlord becomes suspicious to her activities of co... Read allA middle-aged woman, traumatized from the death of her adulterous lover, moves into a room at a New Orleans boarding house where the blind landlord becomes suspicious to her activities of continuing her affair with her dead lover.A middle-aged woman, traumatized from the death of her adulterous lover, moves into a room at a New Orleans boarding house where the blind landlord becomes suspicious to her activities of continuing her affair with her dead lover.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe film was inspired by an actual crime that occurred in New Orleans, which is why the film was shot there.
- GoofsWhen Jane returns after a year, it seems everything is as she left it: Bed unmade, flower arrangements in place, now withered, even the refrigerator full of fresh food, but it should be rotten and rank after all that time.
- Quotes
Opening Title Card: Inspired by a series of actual events that took place in New Orleans a few years ago...
- Alternate versionsThe Anchor Bay release titled "Macabre" is the complete, uncut version.
- ConnectionsFeatured in 100 Years of Horror: 100 Years of Horror: Gory Gimmicks (1996)
- SoundtracksJane in Love
Performed by Norberto Gil Ventura
Having read of the insane moments of the director's oeuvre, I eagerly anticipated the grisly highlights (and for anyone whose seen it, they'll have no doubt I wasn't disappointed by the vomitorium on display).I will always treasure Lucio's Gothic cheese operas as the crimson cream of this crop, but that doesn't rule out the other directors who tried their hand concocting bizarre, gaudy delights. I mean, where else can you find such a cavalier attitude towards the wholesome subjects of multiple child murder, necrophilia and cannibalism?
Lamberto Bava, Son of Mario, helms this quirky descent into madness, and it works nicely if somewhat restrained in the excess department. Perhaps that makes it ideal for beginners not wishing to jettison their stomachs over something stronger like GATES and it's brethren. After the double tragedy of the year previous, Jane, divorced mother of now one rents a room in decaying manor owned by a blind handyman. However, all is not as it seems (when is it ever) and before he knows it, the hapless young man is pulled into a perverse family melodrama.
The pace of MACABRE is slow and the plot lacks thrust, but as a more free-flowing attempt at establishing a certain mood instead of a tightly plotted cliff hanger, it mostly works. The lack of goings-on makes it that much more impactive when something nasty does rear its ugly head. In fact, its pretty easy to see how this could've started out as an elaborate sick joke.The opening 10 minutes have an eerie mundane-ness like the calm before a storm. It's somewhat overlong at an hour an a half and some tighter editing could have reduced the padding. There seems to be an awful lot of the characters simply plodding along with their daily routines. Plus the dubbing is eye-gougingly irritating, sadly par for course for a lot of these foreign efforts. Noticeable as well is the setting of New Orleans, which American or not, still feels like Italian soil. Not quite a bad thing, it's interesting to see how a director interprets an alien land. The movie relies too heavily on its surprise ending and I could see that definitely diminishing the enjoyment upon repeat viewings, but overall Bava's debut is a respectable, little grand-guignol flick in the tradition of his legendary daddy, barring the out-of-left-field shock ending which, in light of the very worldly conflict of the preceding 90 minutes, lacks any real bite.
- Kaliyugaforkix
- Jun 3, 2011
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- The Frozen Terror
- Filming locations
- New Orleans, Louisiana, USA(exteriors only)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro