A BLADE IN THE DARK

(A.k.a. LA CASA CON LA SCALA NEL BUIO; HOUSE OF THE DARK STAIRWAY)

Mellow musician Bruno (Andrea Occhipinti) takes a job from horror-obsessed pal Sandra (Anny Papa). His task is to compose a score for a new giallo. To this end, he leaves girlfriend Julia (Lara Lamberti) behind in Naples and rents a remote villa from his old friend Tony (Michele Soavi).

Aside from the villa's creepy caretaker Giovanni (Stanko Molnar) lurking on the grounds now and then, it would appear that Bruno has found the solitude he seeks.

But not for long.

While recording his piano track for his new score, Bruno is perturbed to hear what sounds like fragmented whispers in the background when he plays his music back. They speak of a secret, ad specifically refer to someone called "Linda".

When the mysterious Katia (Valeria Cavalli) literally jumps out of one of the villa's wardrobes, she explains that she was a friend of Linda's. The latter being the villa's last tenant, who it would seem enigmatically disappeared. With that, Katia is gone as quickly as she arrived - leaving behind her diary, which further clues Bruno in on a dark secret that Linda was harbouring.

Then the murders start. With Julia and Sandra both making an appearance at the villa, along with sporadic visits from Tony and Bruno's elderly assistant, as well as the omnipresence of sinister Giovanni, there are plenty of suspects ... but can Bruno stay alive long enough to solve Linda's secret and find out who the killer is?

Co-written by Dardano Sarchetti and Elisa Briganti - the creative minds behind the likes of THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY and ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS - A BLADE IN THE DARK also has the distinction of being directed by Lamberto Bava. Son of arguably Italy's greatest ever horror director, and the man who himself gave the world genre hits such as MACABRE and DEMONS. Oh, and Soavi acts as assistant director (he, of course, would later helm STAGE FRIGHT, CEMETERY MAN etc). With such talent connected to it, this film has all the makings of being a giallo classic ... right?

Not quite. It's highly entertaining and easily holds the attention. The infrequent murder set-pieces are expertly staged, building in tension before culminating in meticulously shot Argento-esque bursts of operatic violence. The pacing as a whole is carefully, skilfully played out. The score, by Maurizio De Angelis and Guido De Angelis, is suitably atmospheric in the finest Goblin tradition.

A familiar cast deliver performances which are solid enough to overcome the horrendous dubbing (if you're watching the English language version, that is).

Ironically, where the film suffers is in its script and directorial moves. The former is a rather by-the-numbers affair, entirely predictable, and far too keen to allude to superior films such as THE HOUSE WITH LAUGHING WINDOWS, DEEP RED,BLOW OUT and DRESSED TO KILL. Characters are wafer thin, with a couple of them literally being introduced to proceedings purely to be dispensed of shortly afterwards.

As for Bava's direction, it's inconsistent. He films with flair for a good portion of the film, but he's incapable of breathing life into the script when it becomes overly talky, and his kill scenes - while carefully considered in a bid to accurately ape Argento (the first murder sequence is painfully indebted to TENEBRAE) - lack their required visceral punch. Of course, the film was originally designed as a 4-part serial for Italian television. With this in mind, it's perhaps understandable that the more exploitative elements should seem somewhat subdued (there is a single, brief moment of exposed breasts; I don't recall one expletive being uttered throughout). Ironically, it was re-edited for theatrical release when the television networks rejected it for being too violent.

Still, as a second-tier giallo, A BLADE IN THE DARK has enough pluses to recommend it. It is too close to an Argento film at times, true, but it retains enough of its own identity to push it through into the realms of highly watchable fare.

88 Films brings Bava's cult favourite to blu-ray in its uncensored (106 minutes 55 seconds) form, in a 1080p HD transfer which is presented on disc as an attractively sized MPEG4-AVC file. The original 1.66:1 aspect ratio is respected, and naturally given the benefit of 16x9 enhancement.

Colours are a tad washed-out and images do tend to err on the softer side of the scale, but for a low budget genre effort that was originally intended to be screened on television over 30 years ago, this looks very good. The print is clean throughout; a fine layer of natural grain adds to the transfer's filmic quality. A good sense of depth is achieved throughout, while blacks hold up well alongside bold, true colour schemes.

Audio comes in lossless mono mixes proffering both English and original Italian options. Both sound clean and clear for their duration, while easily readable English subtitles are offered during the latter soundtrack.

A static main menu page opens up the disc. From there, pop-up menus include a scene selection menu allowing access to the film via 8 chapters.

Bonus features begin with a highly involving 50-minute Q&A with Bava. The host begins by quizzing the director about working on the sets of his dad Mario's films before moving on to Lamberto's own career. It's a good featurette, with the most amusing question possibly being "why do you have a blind man watching a film in the cinema, in DEMONS?" It's not a bad question, Burt. This is presented in English.

Cinematographer Gianlorenzo Battaglia speaks Italian for 19 minutes, recounting his time spent working on the film. At first he seems a tad agitated but soon warms to the subject. English subtitles help those of us not fluent in Italian.

Italian opening and closing titles sequences are also included for completion.

Although not available for review purposes, this release also comes with reversible cover art and a collectors' postcard.

Though not on a par with the finest gialli efforts of Argento, Martino or Fulci, A BLADE IN THE DARK does improve with age. Forgive its formulaic script and desperate attempts to emulate Argento's more memorable moments, and it actually emerges as a solid, hugely entertaining and memorable film - the likes of which we sadly see far too little of these days.

88 Films deliver another fine addition to their Italian Collection.

Review by Stuart Willis