The 80's was Italian director Lamberto Bava's decade. Throughout those years he knocked out a series of entertaining horror movies and was one of Italy's best in that period. Macabre was his directorial debut. And it's a pretty well-handled film overall. While it is quite over-the-top, it is much less so than most of Bava's subsequent outings. This one even qualifies as a psychological thriller as well as horror. It tells the tale of a disturbed woman who moves into a boarding house, it seems she has a dark secret though.
Similar to a few early 80's horror films from his contemporary Lucio Fulci, this one is set in America; New Orleans to be precise. In truth, the setting could be absolutely anywhere are this is a claustrophobic tale that is set almost exclusively within the confines of a large old house. Presumably the U.S. location was used as a means of passing this off as an American product which was seen as an easier sell commercially. Whatever the case, this is a pretty good effort from Bava and takes a decidedly different route than most of his Italian peers. It's let down a little by some flaky dialogue and acting but this is really par for the course with these flicks to be honest and doesn't really get that much in the way.
Despite hardly being exactly subtle, it does rely on atmosphere and suspense more than visceral thrills. The idea of the blind landlord trying to figure out just what exactly is happening in his new tenant's room works well in that the film relies on sounds to convey strange goings on. It takes a while until the big reveal actually happens but I am guessing not many people will be at all surprised. But that doesn't detract from the basic macabre idea being a good one. While it was also interesting that the little girl was also psychotic; killer kids are always a winner. Finally, it has to be said that the ending reminded me of the one in the Spanish slasher Pieces in that it was meaningless, completely unnecessary, ridiculous and kind of funny.