Italian Gothic Horror Films (1980-1989)

by Roberto Curti

berto Bava reconnects with his father’s cinema,

  usually older than 6,” as Sacchetti pointed out.

  most notably Shock.

  “I remember that going to the movies alone was

  Here, however, “the re- emerging of Bava’s

  almost a male initiation, a sort of rite of passage

  staples doesn’t look like a silly citationist oper-

  to adult age. After the 0s, especially in Amer-

  ation right off the table. Rather, it is an uncon-

  ica, cinema became a matter of consumption for

  scious resurfacing from memory, a reconnecting

  kids who were 6 or younger, and so you’d have

  to a poetry … recreated in a low- key, almost do-

  to make films that would satisfy the tastes of this

  mestic dimension.”2 In Per sempre, the rework-

  type of moviegoer.”

  ing of the genre tradition is barely conditioned

  Another sign of the times is the depiction

  by commercial needs—there is not a single pos-

  of the male and female protagonists. Italian

  itive character, and humor is absent—and the

  Gothic was connected since the beginning to

  few narrative compromises are far less intrusive

  the portrayal of femininity as a perturbing ele-

  than usual. As a result, the film is by far the most

  ment and has always drawn from fetishistic im-

  original and successful of the lot. With regards

  ages of strong, distant, unreachable heroines,

  to eroticism, it is also a notable exception to the

  whether they be the alluring characters played

  bland and sexless proceedings of the “Brivido

  by Barbara Steele or the naked ingénues of the

  giallo” series, thanks to the slovenly and sweaty

  following decade. In the 0s the new prototype

  sexuality embodied by the stunning- looking

  was deeply linked with what commercial televi-

  Gioia Scola, who in a scene confesses: “I can’t

  sion offered, and not surprisingly “Brivido giallo”

  live without love,” a line of dialogue very much

  features in the casts such female icons as Patrizia

  like the one uttered by Barbara Steele’s character

  Pellegrino and Isabel Russinova, familiar faces

  in Danza macabra. She’s not a noble and haughty

  (and bodies) for the Italian public thanks to their

  ghost, though, just a desperate housewife in search

  appearances on the small screen.

  of the right man.

  Likewise, the lack of strong male figures is

  “Brivido giallo” was a critical and audience

  noticeable and in stark contrast with the 70s,

  flop, resulting in Bava’s subsequent series “Alta

  where television offered several memorable he-

  tensione,” shot between late  and Spring

  roes, starting with Ugo Pagliai’s character in Il

  , being shelved. “Alta tensione” consisted of

  segno del comando. Instead, the will to have the

  four films, with horror elements but closer to

  audience identify with the main characters had

  the thriller genre: Il maestro del terrore (a.k.a.

  Bava opt for teenage stereotypes, inherited from

  The Prince of Terror), L’uomo che non voleva

  U.S. teen horror flicks: the juvenile delinquents

  morire (a.k.a. The Man Who Didn’t Want to Die,

  of Una notte al cimitero and the young actors

  based on a short story by Giorgio Scerbanenco),

  looking for movie roles of A cena col vampiro

  Testimone oculare (a.k.a. Eyewitness) and Il gioko

  look no less phony and ridiculous than the un-

  (a.k.a. School of Fear). Apart from the self-

  likely thugs in Katarsis/Sfida al diavolo (63).

  referential Il maestro del terrore—the story of a

  And they show a similar inadequacy on the part

  scriptwriter’s revenge against a conceited horror

  of the makers to read the present in a critical

  movie director (and which Dardano Sacchetti

  manner. Rather than an attempt to disguise a

  claimed to be his own retaliation on Bava, Jr.)—

  product by sticking to the American standard,

  which was released to home video in the early

  as in the action and war movies made for foreign

  0s, they remained unseen for a decade, and

  consumption during the decade, this is the

  were broadcast on the Mediaset network only

  umpteenth sign of a cultural capitulation which

  in  (except for the ultraviolent L’uomo che

  will have devastating effects, far beyond the cin-

  non voleva morire, broadcast in 2007 on the

  ematic field.

  satellite channel Fantasy TV).

  There is an exception, though. In Per sem-

  Lamberto Bava’s next project would be a

  pre, Bava and Sacchetti managed to find room

  made- for-TV remake of La maschera del demo-

  for a more personal product. The provincial set-

  nio (on which he initially wanted Barbara Steele

  ting, an inn on the Lake Bolsena, is a far cry

  to play a minor role3), as part of a European

  from the Gothic castles and mansions, and is

  television series (Sabbath) on the theme of

  closer to the Italian sensibility, recalling the likes

  witchery produced between  and 0—co-

  of Malombra (42) and Un angelo per Satana

  financed by the Spanish TVE, the Portuguese

  (66, Camillo Mastrocinque), as well as Bava’s

  RTP, France 3, Silvio Berlusconi’s Reteitalia,

  204 Appendix 2

  and the companies SFP and Betafilm. The new

  5. Palmerini and Mistretta, Spaghetti Nightmares, 7.

  version of La maschera del demonio had a

  6. Dardano Sacchetti interviewed, in www. davinotti.

  com (http://www.davinotti.com/index.php?option=com_

  disastrous premiere in June 0, at Rome’s

  content&task=view&id=5).

  Fantafestival. Bava eventually found his dimen-

  7. Dardano Sacchetti interviewed, in www. davinotti.

  sion on the small screen with the fairy tale mini-

  com (http://www.davinotti.com/index.php?option=com_

  series Fantaghirò () and its many sequels.

  content&task=view§ionid=3&id=5).

  The four “Brivido giallo” films had a differ-

  8. Gomarasca, “Intervista a Lamberto Bava,” 43.

  9. Ibid., 44.

  ent destiny outside Italy and surfaced on home

  10. Drive In was one of the cornerstones of Silvio

  video. A couple of them, Una notte al cimitero

  Berlusconi’s TV empire and imagery as well: its mixture

  and Per sempre, were accordingly released on

  of gross comedy and scantily- dressed babes—a provincial

  tape in Germany more than a year before their

  rendition of an imaginary American drive- in populated

  with stand- up comedians and cheerleading types—proved

  airing on Italian television. Per sempre was re-

  immensely successful. It ran for five years, from 3 to

  leased on video as a sequel to The Changeling

  , and launched many of the most popular
Italian co-

  (0, Peter Medak), while La casa dell’orco was

  medians of the decade, such as Ezio Greggio and Giorgio

  released abroad as Demons III: The Ogre and ad-

  Faletti (who went on to become a singer- songwriter and

  vertised as the third chapter in the Dèmoni saga.

  best- selling mystery novelist). Significantly, in  and

  0, during summer months, “Italia ” broadcast the pop-

  A German DVD release, bearing the title Ghost

  ular “Zio Tibia Picture Show,” a weekly program where a

  House II, confused matters even further, relating

  puppet modeled upon the character of Uncle Creepy pre-

  Bava’s film to Umberto Lenzi’s La casa 3—Ghost-

  sented a series of horror films, engaging in macabre jokes.

  house.

  The show was broadcast on Friday nights, at prime time:

  after the Mammì law, it would be out of the question to

  N

  show a horror movie at prime time, if not previously cut

  OTES

  to obtain a new “all audiences” certificate.

  1. Gomarasca, “Intervista a Lamberto Bava,” 42.

  11. Paolo Fazzini, Gli artigiani dell’orrore. Mezzo secolo

  2. “Berlusconi a capofitto nel cinema,” La Stampa, July

  di brividi dagli anni ’50 ad oggi (Rome: Un mondo a parte,

  7, 6.

  2004), 32.

  3. Gomarasca, “Intervista a Lamberto Bava,” 42.

  12. Alberto Pezzotta, “Per sempre,” in Genealogia del

  4. Félix Flores, “Un filme húngaro contempla Sitges a

  delitto. Guida al cinema di Mario e Lamberto Bava, 5.

  vista de pájaro,” La Vanguardia, October , 7.

  13. Grassi, “Vi preparo quattro serate horror.”

  “Le case maledette”

  Spina for Dania Film (Rome), Reteitalia; PM:

  (Houses of Doom)

  Renato Fiè; PS: Alessandro Loy; PAcc: Massimo

  PROD: Massimo Manasse, Marco Grillo

  Massimi.

  Films from “Le case maledette” are arranged in chronological order

  according to their shooting date

  La casa del sortilegio (The House of Witchcraft)

  Frasca (Steven), Maria Clementina Cumani

  D: Umberto Lenzi. S: Gianfranco Clerici,

  Quasimodo (Witch); uncredited: Tom Felleghy

  Daniele Stroppa; SC: Umberto Lenzi; DOP: Gi-

  (Police Inspector).

  ancarlo Ferrando; M: Claude King [Claudio Si-

  Running time: 6 minutes. Also known as:

  monetti]; E: Alberto Moriani; CO: Valentina Di

  La casa dei sortilegi (Alternate Italian title);

  Palma; Hair: Maria Teresa Carrera; SE, SPFX:

  Ghosthouse 4: Haus der Hexen; Totentanz der

  Giuseppe Ferranti; AD: Alessandra Lenzi; SD:

  Hexen II (Germany).

  Sandro Velchi; PrM: Roberto Granieri; SO: Giu-

  liano Piermarioli; Foley artist: Enzo Diliberto;

  La casa delle anime erranti (The House of Lost

  C: Bruno Cascio; AC: Alessandro Capuccio; KG:

  Souls)

  Matteo Giordano; GA: Armando Moreschini;

  D: Umberto Lenzi. S and SC: Umberto

  SP: Maria Rosa Messori; W: Mirella Pedetti; SS:

  Lenzi; DOP: Giancarlo Ferrando; M: Claude

  Olga Pehar. Cast: Andy J. Forest (Luca Balmas),

  King [Claudio Simonetti]; E: Alberto Moriani;

  Sonia Petrovna (Marta Balmas), Susanna Mar-

  CO: Valentina Di Palma; Hair: Maria Teresa

  tinková (Elsa Balmas), Marina Giulia Cavalli

  Carrera; SPFX: Giuseppe Ferranti; AD: Alessan-

  (Sharon Mason), Maria Stella Musy (Debora

  dra Lenzi; SD: Francesco Cuppini; ASD: Marco

  Balmas), Paul Muller (Andrew Mason), Alberto

  Marcucci; PrM: Roberto Granieri; SO: Giuliano

  Made-for-TV Films

  205

  Piermarioli; SOE: Tullio Arcangeli, Gjka Sodir,

  Damiani, Luigi Conversi; SP: Romolo Eucalitto;

  Roberto Sterbini; C: Bruno Cascio; AC: Luigi

  KG: Tarcisio Diamanti; GA: Armando Mores-

  Conversi; KG: Matteo Giordano; GA: Armando

  chini; W: Milena Pintus; AE: Rosaria Bellu; SS:

  Moreschini; SP: Maria Rosa Messori; W: Mirella

  Egle Guarino; Set technician: Elio Terribili. Cast:

  Pedetti; 1stAE: Ernesto Triunvieri; 2ndAE: Nico-

  Jean- Christophe Brétignière (Carlo), Cinzia

  letta Leone; SS: Olga Pehar. Cast: Joseph Alan

  Monreale (Marcia), Lubka Cibulova (Mary

  Johnson (Kevin), Stefania Orsola Garello

  Valdi), Lino Salemme (Guido), Franco Diogene

  (Carla), Matteo Gazzolo (Massimo), Laurentina

  (Mr. Oppidi), Alexander Vernon Dobtcheff

  Guidotti (Mary), Gianluigi Fogacci (Guido), Ya-

  (The Exorcist), Giuliano Gensini (Marco), Ilary

  manouchi Haruhiko (Buddhist Monk), Licia

  Blasi (Sarah), Dante Fioretti (Priest), Pascal Per-

  Colò (Daria), Costantino Meloni (Gianluca),

  siano (Roberto Valdi).

  Charles Borromel (Hotel Owner), Dino Iaksic

  Running time: 4 minutes. Also known as:

  (Ghost Child), Marina Reiner (Ghost), Benny

  Das Haus des Bösen (Germany), A Doce Casa

  Cardoso (Ghost), Fortunato Arena (Ghost),

  dos Horrores (Portugal).

  Massimo Sarchielli (Cemetery Caretaker), Fabio

  Branchini, Giulio Massimini (Librarian), Vin-

  Soon after finishing “Brivido giallo,” pro-

  cenzo Menniti.

  ducer Luciano Martino set up another horror se-

  Running time:  minutes.

  ries destined to Reteitalia. This time it was cen-

  tered on the common theme of haunted houses,

  La casa nel tempo (The House of Clocks)

  and appropriately titled “Le case maledette”

  D: Lucio Fulci. S: Lucio Fulci; SC: Daniele

  (Houses of Doom). Developed for Dania Film

  Stroppa, Gianfranco Clerici; DOP: Nino Celeste;

  by Gianfranco Clerici, Daniele Stroppa and Vin-

  M: Vince Tempera; E: Alberto Moriani; CO:

  cenzo Mannino, the project was inspired by the

  Valentina Di Palma, Cinzia Milani; Hair: Maria

  success of Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead, which re-

  Teresa Carrera; AD: Michele De Angelis,

  sulted in many rip- offs sporting the Italian title

  Camilla Fulci; PrM: Vincenzo Luzzi; SD: Elio

  La casa. Reteitalia participated as co- producer

  Micheli; ASD: Paolo Faenzi; SO: Giuliano Pier-

  with Dania National Cinematografica and se-

  marioli; SPFX: Giuseppe Ferranti; C: Sandro

  cured the TV rights to the films.

  Grossi; AC: Francesco Damiani, Camillo Saba-

  Originally the series was to comprise six ti-

  tini; SP: Romolo Eucalitto; KG: Tarcisio Dia-

  tles, to be directed by Lucio Fulci, Umberto

  manti; GA: Armando Moreschini; W: Milena

  Lenzi and Lamberto Bava, but due to other

  Pintus; AE: Rosaria Bellu, Nicoletta Leone; SS:

  working commitments Bava was replaced by

  Egle Guarino; Set technician: Elio Terribili. Cast:

  Marcello Avallone. Fulci approached the project

  Keith Van Hoven (Tony), Karina Huff (Sandra),

  enthusiastically and asked to substitute two of

  Paolo Paoloni (Vittorio Corsini), Bettine Milne

  his own stories for the ones he had b
een as-

  (Sara Corsini), Peter Hintz (Paul), Al Cliver [Pier-

  signed, and Lenzi did the same with one of his

  luigi Conti] (Peter), Carla Cassola (Maria), Paolo

  own invention, La casa delle anime erranti. But

  Bernardi (The Nephew), Francesca DeRose (The

  a last- minute budget cut on the part of Reteitalia

  Niece), Massimo Sarchielli (Storekeeper); uncred-

  and Avallone’s commitments had the series re-

  ited: Vincenzo Luzzi (Policeman #).

  sized to four titles only, namely La casa nel tempo

  Running time: 4 minutes. Also known as:

  (script by Stroppa and Clerici, from a story by

  Die Uhr des Grauens (Germany); A Casa do

  Fulci), La dolce casa degli orrori (scripted by

  Tempo (Portugal).

  Mannino and his wife, Gigliola Battaglini, also

  from a story by Fulci), La casa delle anime erranti

  La dolce casa degli orrori (The Sweet House of

  (written by Lenzi) and La casa del sortilegio

  Horrors)

  (scripted by Lenzi, from a story by Clerici and

  D: Lucio Fulci. S: Lucio Fulci; SC: Vincenzo

  Stroppa). The remaining two titles to be directed

  Mannino, Gigliola Battaglini; DOP: Nino Ce-

  by Avallone, La casa del nano deforme (The

  leste; M: Vince Tempera; E: Alberto Moriani;

  House of the Deformed Dwarf), then retitled La

  CO: Valentina Di Palma; PD: Giacomo Calò

  casa dell’amico del cuore (The Best Friend’s

  Carducci; Hair: Maria Teresa Carrera; AD:

  House), and La casa della bambola con i capelli

  Michele De Angelis, Camilla Fulci; SD: An-

  che crescono (The House of the Doll with Grow-

  tonello Geleng; ASD: Paolo Faenzi; PrM: Vin-

  ing Hair), were left in the drawer. “It’s a real

  cenzo Luzzi; C: Sandro Grossi; AC: Francesco

  shame, because the two films Marcello Avallone

  206 Appendix 2

  would direct were really good,” Stroppa recalled.

  ambiguous Marta—who in one scene is seen

  “We had written those scripts with lots of

  walking in her sleep in the park like a 60s

  passion and interest, trying to blend the Fantastic

  Gothic heroine—only to come out with a pre-

  and contemporary issues. In fact, La casa dell’am-

  dictable twist ending.

  ico del cuore, written by me and Clerici … treated

  The final revelation and the circular ending

  the issue of organ transplants in an original way,”

  are in tune with the genre’s staples (the protag-

  the scriptwriter explained (thus revealing a pass-

  onist is seduced and defeated by an evil creature