The Sweet House of Horrors Blu Ray Review (Cauldron Films)

The Sweet House of Horrors (aKa La Dolce Casa Degli Orrori) is a 1989 Italian horror television film directed by Lucio Fulci (Zombi, City of the Living Dead, The Beyond, The New York Ripper, Touch of Death, Demonia, Don’t Torture a Duckling, A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin, A Cat in the Brain, The Devil’s Honey, The House of Clocks, and The House by the Cemetery). It was written by Vincenzo Mannino (Devil Fish, The Last Match, Off Balance, Murder-Rock, The New York Ripper, and The Last Shark) and Gigliola Battaglini (Off Balance). It was produced by Massimo Manasse (Delirium, The House of Lost Souls, The House of Clocks, and Brivido Giallo) and Marco Grillo Spina (The Fishmen and Their Queen, Delirium, The House of Clocks, and You’ll Die at Midnight). A wealthy couple in a mansion are brutally murdered during a robbery. It leaves their two young children in the care of their Aunt Marcia (played by: Cinzia Monreale from The Beyond, Frankenstein 2009, Beyond the Darkness, The Stendhal Syndrome, and The New Gladiators) and Uncle Carlo (played by: Jean-Christophe Brétignière from Rats: Nights of Terror). The distraught kids find a way to communicate with the ghosts of their parents. Unfortunately, they are not the only spirits in the building. Madness begins as the exhausted aunt and uncle try to sell the property to get away from it all. The dead isn’t shy about making their true desires known!!!! The Sweet House of Horrors is probably my least favorite from The Houses of Doom franchise. The iconic Lucio Fulci returns to the Italian horror television series with this one. It’s more of a supernatural family film with some revenge and horror thrown in the mix. The script is just okay and it tries to cover so many different sub-genres that ends up being a distraction. It does have some twists but they are revealed pretty early on. The special fx is the real star for The Sweet House of Horrors. It opens with a very strong and gruesome beginning with a rich family getting robbed by some savages. The criminals go too far and they murder them in vicious ways with no remorse. I wish more of The Sweet House of Horrors was like this but it goes a few different directions after that. The visual fx are really bad in this, it adds to it’s wacky overall charm. Giuliano Gensini (The Fishmen and Their Queen) as Marco and Ilary Blasi (Flori Di Zucca) as Sarah are the leads here. They are children that are dealing with a tragedy. Both channel Bob from The House by the Cemetery. They are really annoying, total brats, and they can’t act at all. It’s one of the biggest flaws for The Sweet House of Horrors. Luckily, both Cinzia Monreale and Jean-Christophe Brétignière help balance out the acting here with their presence. They are both solid as the relatives that take care of two orphaned children. They try to make the uncomfortable situation better by moving away but it just causes more issues. Lino Salemme (Demons franchise, The Passion of the Christ, Demonia, and Delirium) steals the show as Guido. He’s a very unlikable nasty villain in this. He deserves some bad karma after what he’s done. The supporting cast includes Lubka Lenzi (Massacre), Pascal Persiano (Paganini Horror), Franco Diogene (Strip Nude for Your Killer), Vernon Dobtcheff (The Spy Who Loved Me), and Dante Fioretti (Deep Red). Honestly, this is one of Lucio Fulci’s weakest efforts. Regardless, a lower quality Fulci is still better than most. I revisit it from time to time so it does have some replay value to it. The Sweet House of Horrors keeps itself entertaining with some interesting and strange scenarios. It’s worth checking out but just keep your expectations low. Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from Cauldron Films! This 1080p (1.66:1) unrated transfer is from a brand new 2K restoration from the original camera negative. This is a huge upgrade from the older home video release in the united states in 2002. Compared to the previous Shriek Show DVD, this looks like a whole new film. All of the visuals are elevated and it all really shines in HD. It has a few different audio options which includes English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono and Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono tracks on the disc. The audio is real solid especially the score for this Italian television horror production. All of the dialogue is crisp, the supernatural is elevated, and the music has a nice boost to it. It has English and English SDH subtitles. It has an “Audio Commentary” with Eugenio Ercolani and Troy Howarth. It has the almost 17 minute “Fulci House of Horrors”. It’s an interview with set designer Massimo Antonello Geleng. He chats about his various collaborations with Fulci. He talks about being a fan before they started working together. He shares personal details from his time with the Italian director. It has the almost 29 minute “Sweet Muse of Horrors”. It’s an interview with actress Cinzia Monreale. She chats about her beginning and how she got discovered. She talks about Lucio Fulci and her working relationship with him. She goes over a variety of projects that they worked on together. It has the little over 18 minute “Editing for the Masters”. It’s an interview with editor Alberto Moriani. He chats about editing for several different genres. He talks about his collaboration with Fulci for some TV commercials. He said they had issues and they weren’t friendly for a little bit. He goes over the many different films that he worked on with Italian godfather of gore over the years. It has almost 29 minutes of “Archival interviews” with Gigliola Battaglini, Cinzia Monreale, Jean-Christophe Brétigniere, Lino Salemme, and Pascal Persiano. They all chat about their personal experiences and relationships with Fulci. They talk about the good. They also bring up some of his bad moments while working together. All of the interviews are in Italian with English subtitles except for Jean-Christophe Brétigniere. It has a “Trailer” for it. Cauldron Films really killed it for this release. It was originally included in the out of print “The Houses of Doom” from Cauldron Films. Luckily, they re-released all of the films with their own home video release. It’s available everywhere right now including DiabolikDVD.com, CHECK IT OUT!!!!