A Blade in the Dark (1983)


I'm sure there was a lot of pressure on Lamberto Bava to be like his dad but, with his frequent collaborations with Dario Argento, he went in a quite different direction.  The Church and Demons are his most popular, supernatural features that combine all of his influences, from Mario Bava to Lucio Fulce.  Before those, however, his first couple of films fell clearly within the giallo realm.  

Bruno (Andrea Occhipinti) is a film composer working on the soundtrack to a horror film directed by Sandra (Anny Papa).  She puts him up in a large rural villa to do his work, hoping that the atmosphere will influence him, while withholding the last few parts of her movie.  The owner of the villa is a playboy named Tony (Michele Soavi) who has to spend most of his time away in Kuwait.  

Bruno soon gets to work and is interrupted by a woman named Katia (Valeria Cavelli), who is murdered a short time later by an unknown person.  Bruno finds clues after she disappears that lead him to believe she was killed, although his girlfriend Giulia (Lara Lamberti) has her doubts, thinking more along the lines that he is having an affair.  When a second woman (Fabiola Toledo) goes missing Bruno starts delving into the history of the house with Sandra, including the identity of a former resident named Linda, of whom Sandra seems to know more than what she lets on.

The Italian name for the movie translates as The House of Dark Stairs or thereabouts, a title Bava didn't quite like.  I can see why as, although there are stairs, none of them are particularly dark.  Except for the first murder most of the killings occur in broad daylight or lighted areas of the compound, but Katia's death definitely involves darkness and a blade.  It is also quite the sequence, with a fair amount of tension before and after.  The death of Angela, the second woman, works the same way.  Bava also takes advantage of the composing angle, using the music that Bruno is making for the film within a film to great effect. 

While the whole affair wraps up in a sensible way the path to getting there is pretty slow.  This is one of those many films that could use some trimming as there are many scenes of Bruno walking from one place to another that adds nothing to the story, and it is quite noticeable when compared to the expert way he builds up terror in other parts.  Still, this is one of the better of the last generation of gialli before the genre became one of the past, and much better, both visually and story wise, than his debut Macabre. 

A Blade in the Dark (1983)
Time: 108 minutes
Starring: Andrea Occhipinti, Anny Papa, Lara Lamberti, Stanko Molnar
Director: Lamberto Bava



 

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