Macabre

It's not Fulci's The Beyond but Macabre is a solid old fashioned horror flick where pretty much everyone is wacko, which is one hundred percent accurate for the deep South.

I wouldn't say this flick frightened me but it is genuinely creepy, not to mention completely gross towards the end. Macabre lives up to its name and fortunately, unlike Lamberto's second project, this film has many of the stylistic elements of Italian films from the 1970s. I definitely would not call this a giallo, though.

The girl who plays Lucy is legitimately hateable and that's no small feat for a child actress. I also genuinely felt for poor Robert.

Macabre a.k.a. Frozen Terror is the debut feature from Lamberto Bava, the son of famed horror director Mario Bava. Fans may recognize the name from his later collaborations with Dario Argento, Demons and Demons 2. Unlike those two films, which relish in their over the top grue and violence at hyper kinetic speed, Macabre is a slow build film that tends to lean more towards the slow build school of creating suspense. The story is simple and actually based around a true story from New Orleans in the 70s. A woman is in a car accident with her adulterous lover and the lover is decapitated. One year later, the woman is released from the mental asylum and returns to the apartment where her and her lover would rendezvous. Not a lot happens until the final third of the film, but it goes by quick enough and there is the air of dread that Bava creates quite effectively. When the reveal is made, its not much of a shock but the film is handled well enough that that fact can be overlooked. What truly brings the film down however, is some horrid dialogue and some equally atrocious acting by the young girl who plays the woman's daughter. All in all, considering the subject of the film, it is a quite restrained effort and a notable debut.

I recently purchased this movie along with blade in the dark on a double disk and I had purchased this to see blade in the dark, well after not being to awfully impressed by that one I thought this one would really blow chunks but I thought what the hay I'll give it a shot. I was surprised by this movie it had hardly no action in it and I still didn't fall asleep, I was watching this flick and couldn't turn it off something about will keep you watching it, but I still don't know what that is. I will say I thought this one was better than blade in the dark but neither one are a true masterpiece. demons is still the best lamberto bava film.

For a debut film, "Macabre" is really impressive! After so much work with his father and with Dario Argento, Lamberto Bava really nailed down the horror genre with his first effort. The ending is so wicked. I'll never forget it! I also like the setting. In my opinion, it's hard to beat New Orleans for a horror movie setting. The city somehow just gives off the scary vibes. The acting is above par for Italian horror films of the early 80's, but it's still a little cheesy.

That having been said, "Macabre" moves excruciatingly slow in parts. I'm talking three minutes for one of the characters to open a door. It's tough to stay focused. But, if you can, the ending is pretty rad.

I've seen this for sale with another Lamberto Bava film, "A Blade in the Dark." I'd recommend getting it that way. I think it's actually cheaper than buying it solo like I did.

7 out of 10, kids.

Italian horror director Lamberto Bava's directorial debut, "Macabre" (sometimes called "Frozen Terror") is a tale of passionate obsession, murder, madness and some blind guy who fixes saxophones. A mother has a secret love, and the blind man slowly but surely stumbles upon it... which takes a bit longer when you're blind. And when he finds out who it is, things get a little creepy. Okay, a lot creepy.

This film has received some heavy criticism from horror historians Travis Crawford and Jim Harper, and for my review I'd like to address their concerns, as I believe they've made some crucial points.

Crawford is mostly praising in his words, calling this film "a humid hothouse hybrid of Tennessee Williams and Edgar Allan Poe", but questions Bava's ability to create his own work. He points to Bava's own words, giving credit to Pupi Avati, a more accomplished Italian director who co-wrote this film. Crawford says Avati "had a significant degree of input into the overall creation of the film", "shaped the stylistic approach" and even "dictated" the "restrained, subtle technique". With Avati also being the one to find the newspaper article on which the story is based, it seems as though this should be credited as his work, with Bava as more of an assistant or apprentice.

Crawford notes that it would be "cynical" to point out that Bava's best work came under the guidance of an accomplished director, or even to say that his other notable film -- the "Demons" series -- were supervised by Dario Argento. But cynical or not, and as much credit as Bava deserves, it's a fair statement to say that his collaborations are much stronger than his solo career. (With regards to "Demons", the style is certainly not like Argento's other work, so how much credit he deserves is debatable.) Harper is also critical. While highlighting this as "a complex and increasingly bizarre tale", he pins the style as reminiscent of Mario Bava, Lamberto's father. Like Crawford, he also notes that Bava's films went downhill after "Demons 2" (1986), when Bava went solo. Where I agree most with Harper is his labeling of the "unfortunate" ending as the "only truly sour note". I can't reveal what the ending is, but it doesn't fit the film at all and takes what would otherwise be a great film and lowers it to slightly better than average. A shame... perhaps it would have been best to cut the last few minutes entirely.

If you're looking for a mystery that paces itself and has a few very gory moments, "Macabre" is a worthy choice. While not on par with Argento's work, or Fulci's, it's a solid effort from Lamberto Bava and any Italian horror fan will like it. Others may be turned off by the slow pace, poor dubbing and inferior sound and picture quality (a staple of Italian film for some reason). Why won't more Italian films come with subtitles? Enjoyment of this film is a matter of taste. But the rich depth of these characters is a welcome change of pace from the splatter scene.