Macabre (1980) by Lamberto Bava

Director: Lamberto Bava

Year: 1980

Country: Italy

Alternate Titles: Macabro; The Frozen Terror

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Plot:

Carrying on a clandestine affair, a normal suburban wife is caught in the affair which ends up with her lover being killed, and as she tries to move past the incident by staying at the same house where they had their affair the more her neighbor starts to suspect something is wrong about the situation.

Review:

This was a massively disappointing and somewhat dull thriller instead of a true genre effort. Perhaps the best feature of the film is the way it builds a level of suspense with the situation by not making it obvious what exactly is going on. There’s enough here with the central setup involving the initial affair and how that split the couple up as the daughter slowly catching on to her transgressions at the same time the affair was in disarray following the accident provides a nice starting point for the later scenes of her at the apartment house that slowly grows more disturbing by using not what we see, but what we hear that drives this film. We are never quite told what is happening, and we have to use our deducing from plot points to piece things together so we’re just as in the dark on this as the main character. The best quality of the film is the great twist ending that is completely shocking and hits very effectively, which when coupled with the fine nudity as an erotic thriller is about the main selling point with this one.

There are some issues here that hold this one back. The main factor with this one is the fact that the film does seem a little tedious at times with there being plenty of times that boredom sets in while watching it even though it was a suspenseful scene playing. Since we’re spending a lot of the time on the investigation into the strange noises that go on in her room and the general cluelessness of what’s happening, there’s not much in the way of action or shocks as what’s going on takes up more of a dramatic approach than anything. It needed more shocks to come along to help out the plot and give it a little more weight as the shifting storylines with the mother carrying on her affair and the daughter trying to make her come clean about it don’t amount to much. An ultra-low body count doesn’t help either, so its slow pace is even more exposed so while these seem like minor gripes, they are pretty important ones.

Overview: **.5/5

Even though it can get tedious, this isn’t that bad working as more of an erotic-thriller than a straight-up horror film so don't be too surprised to find if might be the wrong film for fans of Bava’s other works. Give it a shot if you’re a fan of the style demonstrated here, appreciate Eurohorror in general, or are a fan of the creative crew, but most others who are turned off by the drawbacks should heed caution with it.