The Sweet House Of Horror — The Sweet House Of Horror (Blu Ray)
The Sweet House Of Horror was the second of two films Lucio Fulci made for Italian TV in the late 80s. It's a tonally haphazard blend of children’s fantasy, haunted house horror and murder mystery, with playful visual effects, and a few moments of brutal gore. Here from Cauldron Films is a recent region-free Blu-ray of the film, taking in a new 2K/uncut print of the film, with a new commentary track by genre experts, and a mix of new and archive extras.
The Sweet House Of Horror ( aka La Dolce Casa Degli Orrori ) was made in 1989. It was originally meant to be part of La Case Maledette ( The Houses Of Doom) series, which saw infamous Italian horror directors making TV films- in total, there were four made. The other three are The House Of Witchcraft directed by Umberto Lenzi( Eyeball, Cannibal Ferox, Nightmare Beach), The House of Clocks by Fulci, and The House of Lost Souls also by Lenzi(all of these have now been reissued by Cauldron Films )- for one reason or another none of the films where ever shown on TV, but did landed up been released on the VHS market.
The one-hour and twenty-two-minute film starts with a fixed shot of a murky/mist-hazed house, with at first gloomy/ bassy synth music- this fixed shot, maybe, goes on a tad too long- and I’m afraid to say it is one of a few moments of clear padding in the picture.
As we open up, we follow a well-dressed thirty-something husband and wife driving back from a night out. As they enter their large mansion, they chat about their children being away on a mountain retreat, where they have been for some time, and how they are looking forward to seeing them again.
Downstairs, a man in a black balaclava is trying to break into the house's safe. The couple become aware of the burglar, and fairly soon, both husband and wife are taken out brutally. He gets his head repeatedly smashed against- until his blood brains come out the back of his skull. She gets bashed around the face with a stone pestle- her eyes rupturing, pouring down her face. Before the husband gets a few more wackings in the face with a steel poker- it’s a great, jarring, and OTT scene- standing as one of the best moments in the film.
As things move on, we meet the dead couple's two children, who are introduced in quite a clever POV shot, with each having been patted on the head by mourners at their parents' joint burial. When the camera swings around, we meet face to face the two children- there’s pudding bowl hair cut Marco(Giuliano Gensini) and his blond hair tied back sister Sarah(Ilary Blasi)- I guess they are both around ten or eleven.
From the off, neither child is likeable- as they shift between blubbering annoyingly, to laughing at the priest burying their parents. Now, given the task of caring for the pair are well dressed and awkward with children, husband & wife Marcia(Cinzia Monreale) and Carlo(Jean-Christophe Brétignière).
The four return to their parents' house, and something is amiss/ the place is haunted- as we go from the fairly neat effect of people being pushed down the stairs by unseen hands, to the downright ridiculous, as a jeep with four people being levitated. With the little darlings often laughing at people who are hurt/ damaged by the ghosts of their parents, who later appear as dodgy-looking flickering flames.
As the film unfolds, it awkwardly shifts between children's fantasy, murder mystery, and haunted house horror- there are more than a few moments of repeated footage, the acting is largely at the lower end of Euro cult, and the whole thing has a rather uneven flow/ structure.
I guess, The Sweet House Of Horror is just passable- with a few moments of impressive gore, decent shot use, and some unintentionally amusing moments. It’s certainly the least of the four The Houses Of Doom series of films, and one of the lesser Fulci films.
This recently released Blu-Ray features a 2k scan- this manages to bring out depth and clarity in the film's colouring, as well as adding more depth to the more atmospheric elements. So, a good job done.
On the extras side, we get a good selection of new and archive material. The first thing on the new side is a commentary track with genre experts/ critics Eugenio Ercolani and Troy Howarth. They move from mentioning the two unmade titles of The House Of Doom series- House Of The Deformed Dwarf and The House Of The Doll With The Growing Hair. We find out the film was made over three weeks between February and March 1989. They discuss the low rating of 3.8 on IMBD and the generally negative feelings towards the film. They talk about how the film is a bittersweet tribute to childhood, which may well have been influenced by Fulci's own life story. His father died when he was a child, then he had to bring up his two daughters after his wife had committed suicide after a cancer diagnosis. They point out the actors who dubbed the films' English track, and how the film's cinematographer Sebastiano Celeste added a dreamy/ surreal tone to the picture. They talk about how the film had limited locations, which were near Rome, due to keeping the costs low, and how these have a soap opera/average TV feel. Later on, they discuss the initial releases of the film on VHS & DVD in Italy, which were very low-key. They point out a scene that calls back to Fulci’s classic haunted house-come-brutal gore fest The House By The Cemetery. They talk about the final four films the director made after this, and more. Another informative/interesting track from these two commentary pros- though you most certainly get the feeling that this is neither’s favourite Fulci film.
Otherwise, on the new side, we get the following: Sweet Muse of Horrors( 28.55) Interview with actress Cinzia Monreale. Fulci House of Horrors( 16.43) Interview with set designer Massimo Antonello Geleng. Editing for the masters(18.05) Interview with editor Alberto Moriani.
And on the archive extras, we have the following: interview with Gigliola Battaglini interview with Cinzia Monreale. interview with Jean-Christophe Brétigniere. interview with Lino Salemme. interview with Pascal Persiano.
So, in conclusion, The Sweet House Of Horror may not be Fulci’s finest hour, but it certainly is wonderful to get this new release of the film, as we get a classy 2k scan and a good selection of interesting/worthy extras.