THE HOUSE WITH THE LAUGHING WINDOWS
(LA CASA DALLE FINESTRE CHE RIDONO)
dir. Pupi Avati, 1976
110 mins. Italy.
In Italian with English subtitles.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 3 – 7:30 PM
THURSDAY, AUGUST 8 – 10 PM
MONDAY, AUGUST 12 – 7:30 PM
TUESDAY, AUGUST 27 – 7:30 PM
Regarded by some as one of the best giallos ever made (including, ugh, Eli Roth), THE HOUSE WITH THE LAUGHING WINDOWS has mood for days, favoring a long, slow burn and a more naturalistic approach over the lurid colors and psychedelic freakouts of genre masters like Argento and Bava.
What it lacks in standard bonkers giallo fare (the body count is relatively low, and the “sex scenes” are almost laughably chaste for the genre), it more than makes up for in pure dread, building a thick mood of uncertainty and paranoia, leading up to a shockingly strong ending.
ZEDER (REVENGE OF THE DEAD)
Dir. Pupi Avati, 1983
100 mins. Italy.
In Italian with English subtitles.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 3 – 10 PM
FRIDAY, AUGUST 9 – MIDNIGHT
FRIDAY, AUGUST 23 – MIDNIGHT
TUESDAY, AUGUST 27 – 10 PM
The story follows a novelist (also named Stefano) who discovers the writings of a scientist named Zeder still legible in the ream of an old typewriter. He slowly becomes obsessed with the details of his research at the mention of something known as the ‘K-zone’, a specific area of land that has the power to return the dead to life.
Marketed in the US as REVENGE OF THE DEAD, ZEDER is a heady slow-burn freakout, grossly underseen given the number of things that have lifted from it (looking at you, Pet Semetary). Don’t expect your average schlocky zombie thriller, but a more unique blend of and riff on sci-fi zombie-mystery-and-giallo tropes.