La casa stregata (1982)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Bruno Corbucci

Writers:

Mario Amendola (writer) &
Bruno Corbucci (writer) ...

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Giorgio e Lucia sono sposi novelli ed hanno anche avuto la fortuna di trovare una a casa ad un prezzo basso...

Plot Keywords:

Talking Dog | Beautiful Woman | Dog Actor | Haunted House | Dog

Cast

Renato Pozzetto	...	Giorgio
Gloria Guida	...	Candida
Lia Zoppelli	...	Anastasia
Yorgo Voyagis	...	Omar
Marilda Donà	...	Lucia
Angelo Pellegrino	...	Cameriere
Rita Forzano
Leo Gavero	...	Direttore della banca
Angelo Nicotra
Aldo Ralli
Giulia Valli
Fernando Cerulli
Vittorio Ripamonti
Nicola Morelli
Franco Diogene

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Company:

Intercapital

Movie Connections:

Spoofs "The Incredible Hulk" (1978)

The house of the spirits and the pillars

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

The prologue starts off promising enough, resembling a Hammer horror film complete with a red tinted sky and an big brassy score by Detto Mariano. Giorgio and Candida (Renato Pozzetto and Gloria Guida) are cursed for a thousand years by Candida's witch of a mother and turned into pillars of salt because of their forbidden love. As the music turns moder we skip past the ages to the early eighties where the lovers are reincarnated (convienently with the same names and naturally played by the same actors). Instead of a mighty warrior, the modern Giorgio is a meek bank teller who's place of work seems to be continually being held up (running gag). Candida is much less important to the plot, as this is clearly a Pozzetto movie, Guida's presence is mainly required because A) the curse demands it and B) every comedy needs a pretty girl. She still has an overbearing mother (Lia Zoppeli), but the big difference here is that this modern woman actually wants her daughter to lose her virginity. Now before you say: Gloria Guida, still a virgin, you've got to be kidding, remember that she is cursed to remain so until a certain designated night of a special full moon and some such and so on.

For a supernatural comedy, the special effects are not all that great. Although there seem to be several spirits at work, the only one that's able to interact with our protagonists to some degree is Omar (Yorgo Voyagis), who was the earlier Giordo's second in command. This makes little sense to me since Omar did not really have any part in the curse during the prologue. I guess this way they did not have to go to any trouble using split screen nor paying Pozzetto and Guida for playing two parts. And so Omar maneuvers Renato, Gloria and her overbearing mother into that same old house (where the salt statues have been waiting in the basement) by making objects fly, doors open and a Doberman talk. Neither of the women ever seem to notice anything strange, but Giorgio does and soon thinks he's losing his mind, especially since every attempt he makes at getting closer to his beloved is thwarted by means from beyond. All sorts of unrelated set pieces have to be played out before we finally get to the curse breaking date prophesies foretold, involving an invisible cellist, some half baked murder attempts and even an appearance by the Incredible Hulk (though this Italian Hulk's make-up proves to be less sweat resistant than Lou Ferrigno's). By the time the curse is finally broken, most viewers will be just as glad as the protagonists to see this uneven story conclude.

6 out of 10