Macabre — Macabre( UHD/ Blu Ray)
Macabre is an early 80’s mix of dark psychological thriller and ghoulish horror. It’s the first official credit from Lamberto Bava (Demons, Body Puzzle, Blade In The Dark). It concerns a middle-aged woman moving into a boarding house after getting out of a psych ward to recover from the drowning of her son, and the death of her love via decapitation during a car accident. For the most part, the film is a very slow-paced affair, focusing on atmosphere, drama, and building suspense, though in the last quarter, it kicks in with a highly troubling reveal, OTT performances, and psycho-fuelled action. Here from Powerhouse as either a UHD or Blu-ray, taking in a new 4k scan, three versions of the film, a new commentary track, and a good selection of new/ archive extras. The US version of the release is on Vinegar Syndrome.
Macabre (Macabro, The Frozen Terror) is from the year 1980- it was filmed in both Louisiana and Italy. The film, of course, was directed by Lamberto Bava. With a script co-written by Bava, Pupi Avati (House Of The Laughing Widows) and Roberto Gandus (Damned In Venice).
After the snapshots of Louisiana life & buildings. We open in the morning at the large house of the Bakers- balding and bespectacled dad is going off to work, while his wife Jane (Bernice Stegers) is getting dressed up in a red dress. She’s meant to be taking her kids- pre-teen, long-haired, and slightly creepy Lucy (Veronica Zinny) and around five-year-old Leslie (Fernando Pannullo) to the cinema but instead heads off to see her lover- leaving the kids to fend for themselves.
She rents an apartment in the house of blind trumpet repairman Robert (Stanko Molnar) where she meets her blond-haired, balding, and moustached lover Fred (Roberto Posse). Meanwhile, back at her house, Lucy is smoking cigarettes, ringing up her mother at the apartment, and coaxing her brother to play boats in the bath- just as she gets nearby, she pushes him in & drowns him.
Jane gets a panicked phone call telling her what happens- jumps in a car with Fred, but as they're rushing/picking, the pair crash- with him being decapitated & she being sent to the psych hospital for a year or so.
Jane then moves into the apartment again, though she is acting somewhat strange, unhinged, and odd. So, Robert starts getting suspicious- pokes around her apartment, and among a few strange things, the freezer part of her fridge is padlocked.
I must have been aware of Macabre for, say, the last thirty years- often seeing stills from it or its poster. But this release is a first-time watch- the acting is largely fine for a B movie, though it does at points shift into fairly soap-opera-like in places. As mentioned earlier, the pacing is largely very slow- yes, there is a build-up of suspense, some engaging enough drama, and atmosphere from the apartment. We, of course, have the murder of the young boy, which is brief but troubling. In the last quarter, we get a neat body part effect, a bit more murder/ mayhem, and even some rather transgressively/ shocking moments. I’d say if you enjoy more talky examples of Euro horror, with passable acting, decent enough atmosphere, and effective, if sparse effects- give Macabre a go.
The new 4k scan looks wonderful, crisp and clean- with good definition throughout. There are three versions of the film presented here: Macabro, the Italian theatrical version (91 mins); Macabre, the international theatrical version (90 mins); and Frozen Terror, the re-titled US release (90 mins). Personally, I’d advise watching the Italian version, as the English dub features some rather cringe/ laughter inducing southern accents.
On the extras side, we get a good selection of new things. First off is with film historians Eugenio Ercolani, Troy Howarth, and Nathaniel Thompson- and, as you imagine with these three track pros, we get a very well researched & realised affair. They begin by talking about how the film's US footage was shot in just one week. We find out the movie came about after Lamberto Bava had finished working as Assistant Director on Dario Argento’s Inferno. They touch on the film's psycho-sexual edge, and how it is mainly a pressure cooker drama with horror touches. They chat about the film's casting choices, and how well they work in the film. We find it started filming on the 19th of November 1979, and it was first shown on the 17th of April 1980. They talked about how the film title feels rather stuck on by a producer, but it was the original title on the first script. Later on, how the film has both a timeless and hazy, perverse quality. They talk about the work of Cinematographer Franco Delli Colli in the picture, as well as giving a bio of his other work. They discuss possible influence on the film's story, and of course much more.
Otherwise, on the new extras-wise we have the following: The Bloody Beginning (17.06) Lamberto Bava revisits his directorial debut. A Head for Producing (18.07): interview with producer Antonio Avati. New Orleans Gothic (9.43): interview with co-writer Pupi Avati. Danse Macabre (23.57): interview with co-writer Roberto Gandus. Macabre Love (22.44): critical appreciation by Italian genre film expert and Macabre aficionado Mark Thompson Ashworth. Jazzing for a Murder (22.07): Pierpaolo De Sanctis, the founder of Italian soundtrack specialists Four Flies Records, explores the work of composer Ubaldo Continiello. Q&A with Lamberto Bava (58.46): onstage interview with the director, filmed after a Macabre screening at the 2025 Worldwide Weird cult-cinema event held in London.
Otherwise, there’s: Original Italian and international theatrical trailers, and an image gallery: promotional and publicity material. With the finished release taking in an eighty-page book with a new essay by Roberto Curti, archival interviews with Lamberto Bava and brothers Antonio and Pupi Avati, an overview of Italian critical responses, and full film credits.
It’s wonderful to see Macabre getting this deluxe/ definitive release- and if you enjoy slow-burning mixes of drama, thriller & horror, with a transgressive twist, this will appeal. The release features a clean and crisp scan, and a whole load of worthy/ interesting extras.