La casa del sortilegio (1989) (TV)

User Rating:

4.0/10   

Director:

Umberto Lenzi

Writers:

Gianfranco Clerici (story)
Umberto Lenzi (screenplay)
(more)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery

Cast

Andy J. Forest	...	Luke Palmer
Sonia Petrovna	...	Martha Palmer
Susanna Martinková	...	Dr. Elsa Palmer
Marina Giulia Cavalli	...	Sharon Mason
Paul Muller	...	Andrew Mason
Maria Stella Musy	...	Debra Palmer
Alberto Frasca	...	Steven
Maria Cumani Quasimodo	...	Witch
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tom Felleghy	...	Police Inspector (uncredited)

Directed by
Umberto Lenzi

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Gianfranco Clerici		story
Umberto Lenzi		screenplay
Daniele Stroppa		story

Original Music by
Claudio Simonetti		(as Claude King)

Cinematography by
Giancarlo Ferrando

Film Editing by
Alberto Moriani

Costume Design by
Valentina Di Palma

Makeup Department
Maria Teresa Carrera	....	hair stylist (as Teresa Carrera)

Production Management
Renato Fiè	....	production manager
Alessandro Loy	....	production supervisor (as Alessandro Loy Dona)
Massimo Manasse	....	production organizer
Marco Grillo Spina	....	production organizer

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Alessandra Lenzi	....	assistant director

Art Department
Roberto Granieri	....	property master
Franco Velchi	....	set designer

Sound Department
Enzo Diliberto	....	foley artist (as Enzo Di Liberto)
Giuliano Piermarioli	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
Giuseppe Ferranti	....	opticals
Giuseppe Ferranti	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Aldo Mafera	....	optical effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Alessandro Capuccio	....	assistant camera
Bruno Cascio	....	camera operator
Matt Giordano	....	key grip (as Matteo Giordano)
Maria Pia Messori	....	still photographer
Armando Moreschini	....	gaffer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Mirella Pedetti	....	wardrobe

Other crew
Aldo Mafera	....	titles
Massimo Massimi	....	accountant
Olga Pehar	....	continuity

Production Companies

• Dania Film
• Reteitalia

Distributors

• Warner Home Video (2005) (Germany) (DVD)

Also Known As:

House of Witchcraft

Runtime:

UK:86 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Telecolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

UK:18 | Germany:12

Company:

Dania Film

Trivia:

Third part of the series "Le case maledette" (Doomed Houses) also including La dolce casa degli orrori (1989) (TV), La casa nel tempo (1989) (TV) and La casa delle anime erranti (1989) (TV).

Movie Connections:

Followed by La casa delle anime erranti (1989) (TV)

Freudian nightmares and witchcraft

This is one of the two films Umberto Lenzi made for the Italian four part TV-series Houses of Doom, Lucio Fulci helming the others. A young man dreams a recurring nightmare, in which he is running away from someone before he's reaching an old house, where an ugly old woman boils his own head in a big kettle. His girlfriend thinks it's good for him to take a few days off and they drive to an old house that belongs to her family. The house is the one the young man always enters in his nightmare...

Even though the production values are rather low-key, this film is really uncanny and sometimes quite disturbing. Lenzi delivers chilling atmosphere, a classic Freudian nightmare and a decent plot about witchcraft and haunted houses. More thrilling than his other film for the series ("La Casa delle Anime Erranti"; Fulci's two films are "La Casa nel Tempo" and "La Dolce Casa degli Orrori"). In short: This film offers an almost old-fashioned witch story that actually works.