The House With Laughing Windows

Director: Pupi Avati
Year Released: 1976
Rating: 0.5

I'm guessing that Avati's films may not be the apex of Italian cinema after all: like 1983's Zeder, this one seems almost completely incapable of telling a coherent story or producing characters who are interesting on any level (although the cinematography is a highlight) - the lead in this is a bearded painter who becomes a private investigator and enters a world of inane weirdoes and shut-ins (also, as with other low-budget Italian films, there is one mentally retarded character in there to add 'color' - you know, tradition and all). If you bother watching it, the windows won't be the only things laughing: the ludicrous ending involves a plastic skeleton left in murky water, rabid grannies and a priest with man-tits.