1980 Medusa Productions
Jane Baker (Bernice Stegers) goes insane after her son drowns in a bathtub and her lover gets decapitated all in one day. She is released from 
the mental hospital, but is she really cured, or has her insanity reached a breaking point?
Macabre is one twisted film and I quite like it. The whole premise is pretty simple, but what happens during the course of the movie leads up to an ending that is very shocking, and something that I never expected at all. There are some weak spots in the screenplay, and some of the acting is a little off, but overall it’s a pretty good journey into madness.
Lamberto Bava, son of Mario Bava, and three others wrote the screenplay for Macabre. As I said before the whole premise is pretty simple; we are left to wonder whether a woman who has left an insane asylum is really now sane or not. It is very easy to figure out what she is up to before the movie is even half over, but we are left in anticipation of finding out whether we are right with our assumption or not. I actually find the character of Jane to be quite sympathetic, unlike that of her daughter Lucy (Veronica Zinny) who is a manipulative and evil little brat from hell. Lucy is without a doubt one of the most unlikeable child characters I have ever seen in a horror film. I think that Bava, and the other writers, did that on purpose so that we will feel more sorry for her mother as the movie moves forward. It’s a good example of how a clever screenplay can play with the audience and have them feel pity for somebody who they would otherwise find depraved. Thrown into all of this is Jane’s landlord Robert (Stanka Molar) who is conveniently blind, so that he doesn’t figure out right away what is going on. I think that is a little trite but the character isn’t entirely stupid so it does work.
This is the first film directed by Lamberto Bava, who went on to direct such horror classics as Demons and Demons 2. What I really like about what he does in this is the way he cuts between different scenes, going back and forth without making the audience lost or confused about what is going pn . There is one whole segment in which he shows us Jane getting screwed by her lover while her son is playing near a bathtub. It instantly tells us that her irresponsible action of meeting her lover, instead of taking care of her children, is going to end in disaster. The production itself isn’t too bad.The house in which most of the movie takes place looks spooky and cool, so much so that Bloofer Lady wouldn’t mind living in it. Jane’s bedroom looks like it belongs in a bordello, with red velvet furniture and Victorian style furnishings, but then again it was where she used to meet her lover so it’s as it should be. What’s really neat is that the outside scenes are actually shot in New Orleans instead of some location trying to pretend to be that city. That gives this film a certain mysterious feeling that I don’t think it would have if another location had been used in its place. One thing that I should mention is the cheesy saxophone music that plays during most of the film. It kind of reminds me of one of those bad slow pop songs that came out back then, so it makes me twitch a bit.
The acting isn’t all that bad in this, but as in all other Italian horror films this is dubbed. That always throws things off a little bit when you watch one, but over the years Bloofer Lady has gotten so used to that fact that it doesn’t really bother her any longer. I think that Veronica Zinny does a great job playing Lucy and is pretty convincing when the character is trying to ruin the lives of other people. If I had the chance to slap that character soundly across the face I would in a heartbeat! Bernice Stegers does an okay job playing Jane, but the scenes in which she is having orgasms are pretty funny. I don’t know whether or not that is because she is bad at faking them or if it’s the whole situation she is in while having them. Perhaps it’s a combination of both? I can’t say any more than that without giving anything away!
Macabre is a strange Italian horror film, but enjoyable none the less. Bloofer Lady recommends it and thinks that you will never look at your freezer in the same way ever again!
You can buy Macabre here.
Bloofer Lady
Horror Crypt
