La stanza accanto (1994)

Martin Yakobowsky is a brilliant lawyer whose family originally comes from Poland. He is assigned by his legal practice to resolve a contentious case in the prevalently agricultural town in... See full summary »

Director:

Fabrizio Laurenti

Writer:

Pupi Avati

Stars:

Mark Benninghoffen, Thomas Patrick, Mary Sellers

Cast

Credited cast:
Mark Benninghoffen	...	Martin Yakobowsky
Thomas Patrick	...	Ray Watts
Mary Sellers	...	Grace Waits
Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni	...	Heather
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Cesare Bastelli
Robert Bernacchi
Linda Brinkerhoff
Jeanne Chandler
Gene Cordon
Sarah Cosgrove-Gaumond	...	Irina
David Ghilardi	...	Polish underground
Alberto Lonardi
Heather Prete
Massimo Sarchielli

Storyline

Martin Yakobowsky is a brilliant lawyer whose family originally comes from Poland. He is assigned by his legal practice to resolve a contentious case in the prevalently agricultural town in the heart of Iowa, where he was born. After his initial reluctance, due largely to his having cut off all ties with the community of his birthplace, Martin decides to return to the town. He arrives to find himself dealing with a dispute between a powerful state congressman and the poor Polish farm-workers. But while he works on the case, Martin is brought face to face with his past, as the murders of his former girl friend and her friends, the Scibor brothers resurface disconcertingly. The lawyer goes back over the judicial records which led to a maniac being sentenced to death. However certain details (the disappearance of the murder weapon among them) makes him realize that an innocent man was convicted. At the same time, it seems that Martin is being continually threatened. Images from his past ...

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Genres:

Thriller | Horror | Mystery

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Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

1 September 1994 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Bitter Chamber

Company Credits

Production Co:

Duea Film, Filmauro

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Creepy and melancholy mystery

This rarely seen mystery Giallo from Fabrizio Laurenti, better known as Martin Newlin of "La Casa 4" aka "Witchery" aka "Witchcraft" and "Contamination Point 7" aka "The Crawlers" (in)fame, is a very atmospheric film about a man on the search of his past.

The year is 1940: After 15 years, Martin returns from Chicago to his Iowa village where he grew up. He left the village after a triple murder had occurred and he had testified against the main suspect, which condemned the latter to the electric chair. Martin has problems remembering what he had exactly witnessed that long time ago. The facts that he hears strange noises from the room next door (which is used as a storage room) at the hotel where he is staying, and that almost everyone in the village is now convinced that the convicted was innocent, make Martin investigate to find out the buried truth.

Co-written by Laurenti and fellow director Pupi Avati, "La Stanza Accanto" has often been called as somewhat of an inofficial sequel to Avati's own brilliant "La Casa Dalle Finestre Che Ridono" (1976). There are, without a doubt, striking similarities, but Laurenti's film is still undeniably original and a movie with a thoroughly own spirit. Laurenti develops a constantly creepy atmosphere, in which also seemingly unimportant details can become threatening. The longer the film gets on, the more is the past catching up with its protagonist (another parallel to Avati's "La Casa..." and the also Avati scripted and highly recommended "Dove Comincia la Notte" by Maurizio Zaccaro), and melancholy starts to almost "consume" the main character.

Together with the two other above mentioned films, "La Stanza Accanto", certainly Laurenti's best film to date, makes a unique loose mystery Giallo trilogy that deserves broader recognition among moviegoers. Rating: 8 out of 10.