The House with Laughing Windows

The House with Laughing Windows
Italian theatrical release poster
Directed by	Pupi Avati
Produced by	Antonio Avati Gianni Minervini
Written by	Gianni Cavina Maurizio Costanzo
Screenplay by	Antonio Avati Pupi Avati
Story by	Antonio Avati Pupi Avati
Starring	Lino Capolicchio Francesca Marciano Gianni Cavina Giulio Pizzirani
Music by	Amedeo Tommasi
Cinematography	Pasquale Rachini
Edited by	Giuseppe Baghdighian
Production company	A.M.A. Film
Release date	16 August 1976
Running time	110 min.
Country	Italy
Language	Italian

The House with Laughing Windows (Italian title: La casa dalle finestre che ridono) is a 1976 Italian giallo film co-written and directed by Pupi Avati. The film was shot in Lido degli Scacchi in the Ferrara province of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It was nominated for the 1983 International Fantasy Film Award for Best Film at Fantasporto.

Stefano (Lino Capolicchio) arrives in a village of the Valli di Comacchio area where he has been employed to restore a fresco depicting what appears to be the martyring of Saint Sebastian, which has been painted on a rotting wall of the local church by a mysterious, long-dead artist. While temporarily taking up residence in the house that had been previously owned by the two sisters of the deceased painter, Stefano begins a romance with a new, beautiful schoolteacher, Francesca (Francesca Marciano), meanwhile learning from various townspeople that the painter had been a madman who had derived his art from real life. Specifically, Stefano learns that the artist — assisted by his two equally-insane sisters — had been a killer who brutally tortured people through to death as inspiration for his horrific paintings — a practice that had likely been used for the very painting he is in process of restoring. As Stefano is discouraged for his task throughout the town, some of the villagers are brutally killed — including his employer — and he comes to suspect that their murderer is trying to deter him from discovering the full truth behind the artist and his ominous legacy within the sleepy community.

This film was only released theatrically in Italy. It was later released on video/DVD elsewhere, but only in Italian/subtitled.

The film has been received well by contemporary critics. AllMovie's review of the film was favorable, giving it a rating of 3 out of 5, and writing that "[though] fans of typical Italian horror films may find House with the Windows That Laugh [sic] lacking in the stylistic excesses of many of its contemporary companion pieces, it exceeds its contemporaries in almost every other area," and that it was "imbued with an overwhelming sense of dread that grows to an almost unbearable pitch."

On review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes, no score has yet been reached with only two critical ratings submitted. The current ratings — both "fresh" — are from Emanuel Levy of emanuellevy.com, who gave the film a 3 out of 5, and Anton Bitel of Eye for Film, who gave the film a 4.5 out of 5, and wrote, "certainly a gripping giallo, but also an intelligent allegory of post-war Italy's struggles to emerge from the Fascist outrages of its recent past."