The House With the Laughing Windows - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The House With the Laughing Windows



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


​

Movie
The House With Laughing Windows was one of those Italian “spaghetti horror” films that I had heard about in 2001 when I was taking my first film appreciation course in college, but never got around to watching over the years. So you can bet your sweet self that the second I saw Arrow announce this title for restoration, I was all over it like white on rice. It had all the earmarks of a classic film, and supposedly influenced by 1973’s The Wicker Man in some small ways. Add in collector’s edition packaging that Arrow is known for, a fantastic restoration with new color grading approved by the director, and a whole host of extras that will appeal directly to us horror nerds.

Set in a small Italian village, Pupi Avati’s giallo film follows a young art restorer named Stefano (Lino Capolicchio), who arrives in the small town to clean and restore a painted-over fresco on the wall of their local Catholic church. The graphic painting of the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian has cast a pall over the town for decades, but despite the townsfolk’s misgivings about the painting being restored, it is a historic element of their town; thus, Stefano is allowed to do his work. But as Stefano settles in to do his project, he finds that the townsfolk have myth and superstition coming out of their ears, terrified about the legend of the original artist who painted the picture decades ago. It turns out that the original artist was known as the “Painter of Agony” as he only painted people who were dying (either naturally or not) and eventually ended up running off into the night, as he burned alive in his own madness. The more that Stefano digs into the past and tries to understand the enigmatic artist who painted the picture, the more he realizes that the Painter of Agony’s legend is not so dead as people may have thought.

Classic Italian giallo film elements are all on full display here, with a handsome young stranger who is curious past the point of self preservation, a beautiful young maiden that is sucked into the world of madness and insanity with him, and of course over the top visuals that paint a very vivid and dramatic picture of everything going on. The House With the Laughing Windows spends the first hour as a slow-paced drama, with Stefano forming a romantic liaison with young Francesca (Francesca Marciano), and wondering why all of the townsfolk are so squirrel about his restoration of the fresco. It’s not until that last 40-minute period that things twist suddenly into a dark and twisted horror tale, complete with impaling, executions, and a warped ending that is visually bonkers despite being a bit cliched for modern horror films.

Much like Dario Argento’s films or Mario Bava's, The House With the Laughing Windows is all about building suspense, then releasing it like a pent-up hose that has had the faucet handle turned on full blast. The sense of tension and dread is so thoroughly painted into the film that by the second act, you can almost literally cut the tension with a knife. It’s steeped in the very walls of the church, as well as every pulse of the eerie score. The last 25 minutes unleash that dread in a bloody gusher, slashing and stabbing its way to the horrific conclusion after spending over an hour with nary a single spurt of blood being shown. Avati doesn’t forge new ground here in the giallo (Italian horror/suspense/thriller) genre, but he does it so well that I can understand why this was considered one of the classics. The film is simple, straight to the point, and by modern horror standards, not as creepy or gory as the next decade would bring. But my goodness, does it just FEEL intense and dreadful. Pupi Avati’s horror/thriller is by no means the very best of the genre, but it is a comfortable staple that is certainly going to be spending more time in my Italian horror rotation.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




4K Video: Video:

Well, being that I’ve never seen the film before, I can’t comment on any previous home video releases, but I can certainly recognize a superb-looking transfer when I see one. According to Arrow, the film was restored and rescanned in 4K 16-bit at L’Immagine Ritrovata Bologna, then color graded at R3Store Studios in London, with a supervised and approved color grading by Avati himself.

The end result is a film that looks stunning, with a classic 1970s Italian look, complete with yellow and brown tones, mixed with drab beige colors. Primary shades such as red can look incredibly intense, with that sort of over-saturated red/orange that was so prevalent for the fake blood of that era. Fine details are generally great, with amazing close-up shots that show every fiber of Stefano’s beard, as well as intricate details on the paintings and walls themselves. I did notice some soft shots here and there, but nothing wild. Most of the time, the blue sky or the green foliage really pops with stunning color and detail levels, while those few moments of haziness tend to fade in a few seconds. I will say this, though. The color grading is entirely new from what I gather, and it looks a bit ruddy and sometimes flushed for a film of its time period. I won’t say that it’s WRONG, but it stands out as being odd considering how other films in that time period looked.







Audio:

The singular 1.0 PCM Mono track in native Italian is perfectly fine. It’s a nice, rich, and intense mix, scored by Amedo Tommassi, which actually takes up the vast majority of the non-dialog-centric moments. Vocals are clean and mostly clear, though they can sometimes sound a teensy bit boxy. Environmental cues and effects are appropriate, but the score is the front and center showpiece here. It may not be a modern-day mix, but the track sounds impeccably sourced as it doesn’t show any signs of major degradation.









Extras:

• EXCLUSIVE NEW INTERVIEW WITH PUPI AVATI
• Interview with star Francesca Marciano
• Interview with Producer, Antonio Avati
• Interview with star Lino Capolicchio
• Interview with Cesare Bastelli
• New English subtitles and new SDH
• Reversible cover art

Final Score: ​

Giallo films are always a hard recommendation due to their niche audience appeal, but I’m happy to say that if you’re a fan of Italian horror directors like Mario Bava or Argento’s work, then this will be right up your alley. Arrow’s restoration and collector’s edition 4K disc looks amazing, and is host to a whole bevvy of extras that makes this all the more appealing. The film is stealthy, long on plot, and sort of restrained compared to Agento’s work, but pure Italian Giallo to the core. Definitely recommended to genre fans.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Lino Capolicchio, Francesca Marciano, Gianni Cavina, Giulio Pizzirani
Directed by: Pupi Avati
Written by: Pupi Avati, Antonio Avati, Gianni Cavina
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 HEVC
Audio: English: LPCM Mono
Subtitles: English
Studio: Arrow Pictures
Rated: NR
Runtime: 110 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: December 2nd, 2025

Recommendation: Good Watch for Giallo fans