Overview: While typically famed for its lurid Technicolor hues and grand guignol murders, the Italian giallo thriller had a less bombastic side as well. Erring less towards exploitation than to art, these lesser-seen gems offer some of the greatest rewards for adventurous viewers. Among them, 1976’s The House with Laughing Windows, directed and co-written by Pupi Avati (Zeder), rises up as the cream of the crop.

Art restorer Stefano (Lino Capolicchio, The Bloodstained Shadow) arrives at an isolated Italian village to repair a fresco depicting the agonizing martyrdom of Saint Sebastian. The original painter was a death artist - a madman so obsessed with mortality that, according to whispered rumors, he tortured his models in their final moments of life. When people begin to turn up dead, Stefano is forced to consider the possibility that the artist has returned to continue his brutal career - and that he is the primary target.

Often counted among the greatest gialli ever made, The House with Laughing Windows offers a uniquely eerie twist on the genre, culminating in an unforgettable ending that will remain with you long after the credits have rolled. Arrow Video is proud to present this landmark title in its North American High Definition debut.

4K Blu-ray Verdict: Not quite a pure giallo (it has giallo influences all over it, but strays into Don’t Look Now and The Wicker Man territory too in terms of themes and structure), The House With Laughing Windows is a generally absorbing thriller directed by Pupi Avati which builds slowly and tensely to a stunning climactic twist.

In a small and secretive Italian community, artist Stefano (Lino Capolicchio) arrives to restore a damaged fresco on a church wall. The fresco shows the gruesome slaughter of Saint Sebastian by two women, maniacally grinning as they plunge knives into his naked torso. The artist who originally began working on the fresco was called Buono Legnani, and Stefano soon discovers that the long-deceased Legnani was a very unstable and twisted individual. His specialty was producing paintings about pain and death – it was his obsession, the thing that excited him above everything else.

Bit by bit, Stefano pieces together the shameful secrets of the community, uncovering disturbing rumors about Legnani and his two diabolical sisters. Among the rumors are reports that they used real-life sacrificial victims as models to make Legnani’s paintings more authentic looking. Stefano ends up staying at a creepy mansion on the edge of the village where the only permanent inhabitant is a bed-bound old lady.

Here, he is joined by a beautiful young teacher, Francesca (Francesca Marciano), another newcomer to the village with whom he soon falls in love. Events become increasingly terrifying and mysterious for the lovers, until all is revealed in a blood-soaked finalé.

Avati’s film is beautifully shot, building towards its climax with a sense of gnawing dread. It’s a particularly slow-burning style of film – possibly too slow for viewers who like the action and bloodthirstiness to come thick and fast – but for those willing to adjust to the pace, the build-up pays off handsomely come the end. Performance wise, The House With Laughing Windows is definitely a notch up from many Italian giallo entries of the era.

Everyone registers well, generating just the right balance of fearful paranoia or tight-lipped suspicion depending on which side of the mystery their loyalties lie. Amedeo Tommasi’s score is disappointingly weak, adding little to the suspense and, in some cases, even lessening the terror by being pitched at too jolly and jaunty a level. Avati just about gets away with this thanks to his atmospheric set-up of scenes and shadowy lighting, which always hints at unseen danger behind every door.

A few plot holes also crop up along the way – the most significant being the lack of an explanation as to why the entire community feels compelled to hide its sinister secret (the vast majority of the citizens have little gain by remaining close-lipped, making their secrecy/compliance a tad unconvincing). A few other unexplained issues arise as the story unfolds, never irritating enough to ruin the film overall but sufficiently noticeable to linger as frustrating loose ends.

For its sheer buildup of suspense and dread, however, the film remains an exceptional exercise, well worth a couple of hours of anyone’s time. And that final twist ending ... wow, just fabulous! Oh, and well worth the wait!

4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS:
4K restoration from the original camera negative, graded by Arrow Films
High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
Restored original lossless mono Italian soundtrack
Newly translated optional English subtitles
Brand new audio commentary by critics Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson
Brand new audio commentary by critics Eugenio Ercolani and Troy Howarth
Painted Screams, a brand new feature-length documentary on the film directed by Federico Caddeo, featuring interviews with co-writer/director Pupi Avati, co-writer Antonio Avati, assistant director Cesare Bastelli, actors Lino Capolicchio, Fancesca Marcia
La Casa e Sola, a brand new visual essay by critic Chris Alexander
The Art of Suffering, a brand new visual essay by critic Kat Ellinger
Italian theatrical trailer
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Peter Strain
Double-sided foldout poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Peter Strain
Illustrated perfect bound collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Matt Rogerson, Willow Maclay, Alexia Kannas, Anton Bitel, and Stefano Baschiera

Official Purchase Link

www.arrowvideo.com