The House of the Blue Shadows

A young girl dies under mysterious circumstances whilst playing hide-and-seek with a young boy.Fifteen years later.Luca returns back to mysterious villa where past tragedy occurred.He quickly becomes disturbed whilst staying in this house of memories.Luca sees mysterious lady in black and he becomes obsessed with creepy looking mannequin."The House of Blue Shadows" by Beppe Cino enters giallo territory when mysterious killer appears and begins to stalk Luca's girlfriend...Very rare giallo which was never released on DVD.It's quite unsettling little film with ominous atmosphere of dread.No gore and nudity,but plenty of uncanny atmosphere.The comparisons to "House with the Windows That Laugh"(1976) and "The Perfume of the Lady in Black"(1974)are more than accurate.8 white Onibaba masks out of 10.

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.

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.

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).

LA CASA... is a genuinely eerie mood piece. It's cousins with House with the Laughing Windows and Perfume of a Lady in Black-- looser gialli that don't necessarily have black gloved killers or high body counts. I'm still lost as to why we refer to these as gialli; perhaps the mystery?

Anyone who has seen both of those above, or similar gialli, will not doubt figure out the trajectory of the film. However, it's all so masterly done, you end up watching it for the experience, the atmosphere, the images. Everything is ominous in the film, and even made more so by the directors excellent use of cross fades.

Oh. But unfortunately. Unfortunately our protagonist is awful. He is incredibly handsome, he's sexy, I wouldn't kick him out of bed. But he's an awful actor. This is the huge difference between this film, and Perfume of a Lady in Black. There is no emotional connection with the protagonist-- he is no Mimsy Farmer, nor Jorge Rivero from Evil Eye, another similar film.

Ultimately, LA CASA... is a beautiful film, that lacks much of a connection with the viewer, but is does what it does so well (to entice, mystify) that I recommend it.