Macabre

Jane Baker is a middle aged married woman and mother of two, she's also been having an affair. One morning after her husband leaves for work, Jane decides to leave her young daughter and even younger son at home alone to meet her lover. Angry at being left alone when she believed her mother was going to take her and her brother to the cinema, Lucy finds her mother's phonebook and calls her at her lover's. Jane hangs up on her daughter which seems to irritate her even more, Jane soon gets another call informing her that her 5 year old son Michael has drowned in the bath. In tears and wracked with guilt, her lover starts to drive her home when he crashes the car and he's decapitated by a guard rail.A year later Jane gets out of the mental institution where she was sent to recover, now seperated from her husband she decides to return to the place where she and her lover would meet. The house owner has died in the time Jane has been away, leaving her blind son in charge of the house. Over time the blind Robert starts to develop feelings for Jane, but he can't shake the strange feeling that there's now something very wrong going on in the apartment upstairs. Normally to mention more of the story would be a spoiler, but the front cover completely gives it away anyway. Jane obviously should have spent much more than a year in the mental institution, as once she gets out she continues her relationship with her dead lover.Bernice Stegers gives an excellent performance as Jane, she manages to be strangely sexy and creepy at the same time. Despite her character being quite dislikeable in that she cheats on her husband and leaves her kids alone, there's also times when you sympathise with this clearly disturbed woman. I was quite often reminded of the performance Clare Higgins gave as Julia in Hellraiser, they're quite similar characters in how far they go to maintain the sexual desires they have for their former lover. A few years after Macabre she starred as Rachel in the cult horror film Xtro, but has mainly done tv work since. I really enjoyed Stanko Molnar's portrayal of Robert, he's extremely likeable and you constantly find yourself hoping he decides to stay away from her. He plays a blind man very well, there seems to be a real sadness about him. He later went on to appear in the director's next film called A Blade In The Dark, but hasn't acted since 1990. Veronica Zinny also deserves a mention as Lucy, it remains her one and only film credit.Macabre was Lamberto Bava's directorial debut, having previously spent around 15 years working as an assistant director including on several of his father's films, the legendary Mario Bava. Lamberto Bava always had a tough task considering who his father was, and as is always the case, he will always be in the shadow of his more famous and respected dad. That's not to say that Lamberto didn't direct several excellent films before Italian cinema basically disappeared in the late 80's. A Blade In The Dark is a really effective and atmospheric giallo, and the Demons films he's best known for are fantastically gory and over the top. If you're a fan of his Demons films and want to check out some of his other films, then Macabre would be a great place to start. I feel I have to warn you though, Macabre is a very different type of film. Co-written by Bava, Pupi Avati who directed the superb House With Laughing Windows, Antonio Avati and Roberto Gandus, Macabre is a slow film that gradually builds up a quite sickening atmosphere and sense of dread. The film is set in New Orleans but is mainly shot in Italy, the dubbing is annoying from time to time as the exaggerated southern drawl is sometimes a bit much. The music and camera work is excellent, giving it a kind of gothic look and feel.The dvd from Arrow is good but not one of their best, apart from the usual reversible sleeve and booklet there's only one real extra on the disc, an 11 minute feature called Macabre and the golden age of Italian exploitation, it features Bava, Joe Dante and Ruggero Deodato as they briefly discuss the days when Italian films like this was all the rage. There's a photo gallery and trailer, but the booklet is the real highlight as it's a fascinating 12 page Q & A with Lamberto. The picture quality has quite a lot of speckles, lines and other blemishes, but it doesn't detract too much and the colours and image is very strong despite this. After about 5 minutes once you get used to it, it almost adds something to the film giving it a real grindhouse look.Macabre was Bava's first film, it's also probably his best. I absolutely love the Demons films and they're so much fun, but this is a much better and more refined piece of work that shows he could create atmosphere and tension around a pretty simple premise. This is another great example of the classic Italian horror films that were so popular in the 70's and 80's, but for someone who isn't really familiar with these type of films, this one probably isn't one you should watch first. I would suggest starting with the Demons films, watching a couple of Dario Argento's more popular films, moving on to Fulci and then give Macabre a go. Macabre may seem very strange and far too slow if you don't already love Italian horror, but it's a beautifully shot and highly original film.

For me, most of the time in any case, Italian horror promises a lot but delivers much less. So I didn't have huge expectations on this, although I had wanted to see it for many years (remembering the drawn, crudely coloured video cassette box from the 80's in my local rental library but never being brave enough to rent it!).OK, so the bits that I wasn't keen on first. It is supposed to be set in New Orleans, but for the most part, certainly wasn't filmed there (inserted footage of black kids wearing hats playing in the street and the white river-boats chugging down the Mississippi look out of place to the rest of the film).The ending is confusing - to be honest I didn't really understand it.... There is a nod towards the supernatural, but this doesn't really fit with the tone of the rest of the picture.The good bits. Take it out of the typical "Italian Horror" mould, and it's a reasonably well made, interesting picture. It's very original, and I certainly have never seen anything like it. If I was pro Hollywood Remakes (which I certainly am not!), this would be a prime contender, as it shows that it doesn't take a mountain of blood, guts and gristle to make a suspenseful picture.There are some genuinely creepy moments - very clever move was to make the person who senses something is "amiss" upstairs, blind. You do need to suspend disbelief at some points, but when he discovers "something" in the freezer (ok, it's a head - but you can see this from the picture on here!), it is a genuinely creepy moment, especially since he is about to be found out.The acting is just fine (again, unlike some Italian horror pictures!). Questionably "Deep Saaath" accents and drawl, but who cares! It's not what is important here.For me, one of the best parts of the film is the music - imagine 70's/80's laid back smooth, and really inverts the horror, to make the viewer feel at once laid back and relaxed, and secondly recoil and put their hands in front of their faces!I would certainly recommend this film to viewers who haven't seen it before. It's reasonably fast paced (and if not, it isn't too long!), and I don't think you will have ever seen anything like it. I certainly told at least half a dozen friends about it the day after I had watched it, which I haven't done since I saw The Blair Witch Project (before the hype and before anyone else had seen it!).

Another fantastic release by Arrow.Lamberto Bava's first film is a slow moving yet highly enjoyable Italian thriller regarding a married woman who can't let go of her lover who died in a tragic accident. I just love the atmosphere of the big southern house and supposed New Orleans.It's pretty much impossible not to know what's going to happen as the film builds towards its climax and to be honest the only shocking part of this film is the drowning scene. I just found that quite upsetting.Watching this film I could very much sense the atmosphere of LB's next film and one of my all time favourites  A BLADE IN THE DARK..Uncut + Booklet..  .A great addition to your DVD collection4 stars

Twisted, cheesy horror that is entertaining if you like those cult like films that appeared back in the day.Great artwork on the front and comes with a little keepsake inside too.

fast delivery and came in good quality condition. good movie experience

Wonderful kitsch movie. Fantastic mood. Great garden suburb new orleans house too.

not my cup of tea but the person it was bought for was well pleased at receiving it. so if you like this sort of thing. must be a good buy.

My sister asked me to get this DVD for her, not my thing at all. She said it was a really good film and she thoroughly enjoyed it.