Those who can cast their minds back to House by the Cemetery will know that Paolo Malco moving into a new property with a wife and kid doesn't end well for anyone, and here he is doing it again. This time, Paolo's the not very understanding husband of Cheryl, a horror writer who's moved to the Italian countryside in order to write her new book. Cheryl's haunted by some childhood nightmare of going down into a basement, finding some yellow pod hanging from the ceiling, and something hatching from the pod, scaring her so much she drops her childhood teddy bear. Don't ask how she can lose her teddy in a dream because I don't know.
Anyway, things get off to a sinister start when the townsfolk give the family the cold shoulder after they hear they're moving into the old castle, and once there Cheryl starts getting a bit freaked out when a hand print starts turning up here and there, and the cellar is the one from her dreams. This allows Lamberto Bava an inordinate amount of time to spend with Cheryl either exploring the cellar, dreaming about exploring the cellar, dragging her husband down into the cellar, or filming the babysitter going down into the cellar looking for that kid.
Paolo's the greatest husband on Earth, so of course he thinks his wife is going nuts and even throws a hissy fit when taking a nude bath with her, something no man in existence would ever do. They also argue a great deal and slap each other about a bit, only to be all lovey the next minute after a sudden cow appearance causes some hilarity. Paolo even throws his wife's writings away as he thinks it's a lot of crap, and judging from what he read out, he was right.
It all boils down to an Ogre (who looks like a zombified Gene Simmons!) luring people to his house via orchids or something and wanting Cheryl for some reason. Even though I watched this film last night, I had a hard time remembering what happened to the Ogre (I remember now though – it's daft as hell).
If you like domestic violence, people arguing, hide and seek, people eating dinner, a near total lack of gore and especially cellars, you'll love this film. As for me, I'm wading my way through all these late-era Italian horror films just now and this one is quite weak. Looks good, but needed a lot more stuff happening to be recommended. Lamberto Bava has many better films under his belt.
Anyway, things get off to a sinister start when the townsfolk give the family the cold shoulder after they hear they're moving into the old castle, and once there Cheryl starts getting a bit freaked out when a hand print starts turning up here and there, and the cellar is the one from her dreams. This allows Lamberto Bava an inordinate amount of time to spend with Cheryl either exploring the cellar, dreaming about exploring the cellar, dragging her husband down into the cellar, or filming the babysitter going down into the cellar looking for that kid.
Paolo's the greatest husband on Earth, so of course he thinks his wife is going nuts and even throws a hissy fit when taking a nude bath with her, something no man in existence would ever do. They also argue a great deal and slap each other about a bit, only to be all lovey the next minute after a sudden cow appearance causes some hilarity. Paolo even throws his wife's writings away as he thinks it's a lot of crap, and judging from what he read out, he was right.
It all boils down to an Ogre (who looks like a zombified Gene Simmons!) luring people to his house via orchids or something and wanting Cheryl for some reason. Even though I watched this film last night, I had a hard time remembering what happened to the Ogre (I remember now though – it's daft as hell).
If you like domestic violence, people arguing, hide and seek, people eating dinner, a near total lack of gore and especially cellars, you'll love this film. As for me, I'm wading my way through all these late-era Italian horror films just now and this one is quite weak. Looks good, but needed a lot more stuff happening to be recommended. Lamberto Bava has many better films under his belt.