THE SHUNNED HOUSE

A young journalist named Alex, to complete his book about a house that, over the centuries, has been the scene of countless bloody events, decides to go there for an inspection with Rita, his companion. As soon as they arrived at the place, both immediately perceived the strange, unsettling force that still lingers between the walls of what was called the Inn at the Crossroads. Despite the girl's protests, Alex imposes his decision to camp there until the documentation work for the book is finished. In the house, little by little, the past seems to come back to life and the destinies of some old guests of the inn - a mathematician and his girlfriend, a budding writer, and a mute and disturbed violinist - inexorably intertwine with those of the two young people. Unaware of the secrets and dark plots that surround them, Alex and Rita, like the other old guests of the past, walk towards the trap set by the malevolent force that for centuries has made that house a kingdom of horror and blood. Based on three stories by H.P. Lovecraft ("The Shunned House," "The Music of Erik Zann," and "The Haunted House"), this "The Shunned House" marks the return behind the camera of Ivan Zuccon ("L'Altrove"; "Maelstrom") one of the most promising young genre directors in the country. The film, written by Enrico Saletti with the participation of Zuccon himself - who also edited it - is a small but surprising independent production that demonstrates how, with a bit of courage, talent, and lots of passion, you can still make great horror movies - without genre contamination or television-censorship watering down - even in Italy. Zuccon's attentive, effective, and never banal direction, the discreet pace, and the idea of interweaving, in a single narrative thread, the different stories of various characters, with continuous space-time jumps, manage to keep the interest alive despite the central subject of the film - the cursed house scene of massacres and deaths - being a somewhat unoriginal and overused theme in horror cinema (and particularly in that of recent years). Unfortunately, the screenplay is a bit shaky, confusing, and unclear in some parts: in the attempt to provide only clues, not to clarify all the twists of the story immediately to maintain a sort of aura of mystery and, therefore, greater suspense, it inevitably ends up explaining too little, leaving too many possible solutions in suspense. Effective but in the long run a bit too repetitive the soundtrack; functional and sufficiently adequate all the performers; however, deserve a well-deserved praise the excellent makeup effects of Massimo Storari (the sequence of the young violinist who uses part of her body as strings for the violin makes your skin crawl). "The Shunned House" is certainly the most convincing film in Zuccon's personal horror trilogy, the most mature proof of a director who can still improve, grow, and certainly contribute to the hope of rebirth of horror cinema in Italy.