A Blade in the Dark (1983) La casa con la scala nel buio (original title)

Director:

Lamberto Bava

Writers:

Elisa Briganti (writer)
Dardano Sacchetti (writer)

Release Date:

6 August 1983 (Italy)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

When the lights go out, the knife goes in.

Plot:

A killer stalks a composer staying at a posh Tuscany villa while writing the score to a horror film which has an incriminating clue to the killer's identity.

Plot Keywords:

Composer | Killer | House | Head Bash | Stalker

Cast

Andrea Occhipinti	...	Bruno
Anny Papa	...	Sandra
Fabiola Toledo	...	Angela
Michele Soavi	...	Tony Rendina
Valeria Cavalli	...	Katia
Stanko Molnar	...	Giovanni
Lara Lamberti	...	Julia (as Lara Naszinski)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Giovanni Frezza	...	Little Blond Boy in Film (uncredited)
Marco Vivio	...	Little Boy in Film #1 (uncredited)

Directed by
Lamberto Bava

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Elisa Briganti		writer
Dardano Sacchetti		writer

Produced by
Lamberto Bava	....	producer
Mino Loy	....	producer (uncredited)
Luciano Martino	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Guido De Angelis
Maurizio De Angelis

Cinematography by
Gianlorenzo Battaglia

Film Editing by
Lamberto Bava

Set Decoration by
Stefano Paltrinieri

Costume Design by
Stefano Paltrinieri

Makeup Department
Giovanni Amadei	....	makeup artist
Carla Catanzaro	....	assistant makeup artist

Production Management
Roberto de Laurentiis	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michele Soavi	....	assistant director

Art Department
Angeluccio Maccarinelli	....	props

Sound Department
Paolo Frati	....	sound effects
Mario Giacco	....	sound effects
Eros Giustini	....	sound engineer

Special Effects by
Giovanni Corridori	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Gianlorenzo Battaglia	....	camera operator
Enzo Frattari	....	assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Giovanna Jacono	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Isabella Mauro	....	second assistant editor
Teresa Negozio	....	first assistant editor
Luciano Vittori	....	color consultant

Other crew
Donatella Botti	....	continuity
Ofelia Garcia	....	production secretary
Saverio Mangogna	....	production secretary

Production Companies

• National Cinematografica
• Nuova Dania Cinematografica

Distributors

• Lightning Video (1986) (USA) (VHS)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• DMEG (2004) (Sweden) (video)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Blue Underground (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Joconda Video (Greece) (VHS)
• Midnight Video
• VSO Video (198?) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Video Instant Picture Company (VIPCO)

Also Known As:

"La casa con la scala nel buio" - Italy (original title)

Runtime:

110 min | France:96 min | USA:108 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 | Singapore:M18 | Italy:VM14 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:(Banned) (Ontario) | Canada:R (Manitoba) | France:-16 | UK:18 | USA:Unrated | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

National Cinematografica

Trivia:

There were no sets built for the film. It was all shot on location at one large Italian villa. In fact the movie itself was written to be shot around that particular location.

Goofs:

Continuity: Near the beginning of the movie the blade is seen cutting an adult magazine across the woman's right breast (from our point of view). Shortly afterwards when the composer examines the mysterious cuts in the magazine the slice marks appear across the left breast (from our point of view).

Quotes:

Bruno:Tennis balls?

Gory But Mediocre Giallo-Effort By Lamberto Bava

Director Lamberto Bava is the son of the arguably greatest Horror director who ever lived, the almighty Mario Bava. And while the younger Bava has made some more than decent films himself (such as the hugely entertaining "Dèmoni" of 1985), they do not play in the same category as his father's masterpieces. "La Casa Con La Scala Nel Buio" aka "A Blade in the Dark" of 1983 is Lamberto Bava's contribution to the wonderful Giallo-genre (which was created by his father in the 60s), and while the film is an enjoyable, stylish and supremely gory Giallo, it isn't a very good one. "A Blade in the Dark" begins fantastically with a gruesome scene that turns out to be a sequence of a movie in the movie. Composer Bruno (Andrea Occhiprinti, who also appeared in Fulci's "New York Ripper"), who has moved into an elegant big house in order to work on the score to the film, suddenly finds himself stalked by a psychopathic killer, who is butchering women in the house...

Some people seem to regard this film as a rip-off of Dario Argento's brilliant ultra-brutal 1982 Giallo "Tenebre" (for which Lamberto Bava had served as assistant director), but, personally, I do not see too many parallels, other than the protagonist having a creative job and beautiful women being brutally murdered. The murders are not very numerous for a Giallo, but those that occur are very bloody; one of them is committed with a Stanley knife, another one is one of the most brutal ones ever in a Giallo (and that is quite something regarding the genre's tendency to spectacularly gory killings). The plot has holes, which is not too tragic as such. However, the characters are not properly introduced, nor are they likable, which makes the suspense a lot less intense. In some parts, it is also kinda slow as it includes several unnecessarily uninteresting scenes. The score by the De Angelis brothers is once again great.

Overall, "A Blade in the Dark" is an acceptably stylish and gory Giallo with a somewhat sloppy plot, that may be seen or missed by my fellow Italian Horror fans. It is definitely one of the weaker Gialli out there, but it is still entertaining enough to be worth spending 110 minutes watching it.