Onlinewsma Absolutely Brilliant!

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Seraherrera The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

gavin6942 A young musician (Andrea Occhipinti) moves in to a house for the summer, and soon he is surrounded by a series of murders. Evidence trickles in that the killer might be the previous tenant, but nobody knows for sure and some people refuse to talk. And what is in the locked room in the basement? Lamberto Bava came out of his father's shadow to make "Macabre", one of the finest Italian horror films of its day. Often overlooked, it is slick and original, and well worth seeking out. He followed it up with "A Blade in the Dark", co-written by the legendary writer Dardano Sacchetti, which likely gave the film a boost. It, too, has superior picture and sound, far surpassing Fulci's films of the same era.Bava protests that the film is "not really a horror film", and some have classified it as a mystery or thriller. This is warranted, but the intense blood, gore and chills make it firmly a horror story in my mind.Luca Palmerini calls the film "morbid" and "misogynistic" with "claustrophobic overtones". I may agree on the last part, but the misogyny is a stretch. The women here do take a back seat (and the film does start out by calling Giovanni Frezza's character a "female" as an insult) but compared to horror as a whole I think it comes across as normal.The English dubbing on the Anchor Bay DVD is a bit strange to me, mostly because the characters say "ciao" while otherwise speaking English. Maybe it is just me. But overall, I cannot complain -- a lot of terror comes from a very small blade, and this may be Michele Soavi's best work as an actor. Coupled with a haunting score, the film is gripping, though the music does tend to get a bit overplayed and old, especially after the first kill.While the film is not as good as "Macabre", it deserves recognition. Bava threw it together rather quickly with a low budget and unknown actors, with minimal equipment (even the set was actually just the producer's house). Adapting it from a television script where the goal was to kill someone every thirty minutes, he did pretty well with it. Clearly, he was successful enough that he was able to keep directing and give us the now-classic "Demons".

chrichtonsworld This movie has almost everything a giallo should contain. Sexy women,a brutal killer and gore. An observant and experienced viewer may be able to predict the identity of the killer early on but there are more than enough red herrings to make you doubt your self. There are lot of scenes in which cheesy clichés could have ruined the experience. Somehow the director manages to overturn these clichés into real tense scenes. And for once the main character is not a complete moron. This guy is real charismatic in the movie and his seriousness about all of the events make the movie even work better. Of course this movie has it's share of flaws where plot and logic collide. Especially in the rushed ending. But it didn't bother me in the slightest. Effective giallo!

Gloede_The_Saint Synopsis: A composer rents a villa while composing the theme of a thriller/horror film. He starts to suspect that something is wrong when people begin to disappear and he sees evidence of murder. Include a female film director, a mysterious previous occupant of the villa who almost seems to haunt the place and multiple suspects and you have this film.The English voice acting was kinda crappy, I really wish the Iralian versions were more available. A lot of Italian horror suffers from this. The acting wasn't too good either but not directly bad.Like in a lot of horror films you have to ask yourself about the characters IQ. If you believe people are being murdered in your house you don't continue to live there with your girlfriend and just talk about how you know it's true. Also why in the world does nobody ever fight back in these films??? A knife isn't exactly the best weapon. Especially not the tiny one used in the beginning.It's not all bad though. It's actually incredibly scary at times and LB manages to get the most tense atmosphere. It feels like somethings going to happen all the time and it gives a fantastic effect.LB also managed to hide the killers identity well and I kept guessing. Seriously it could have been anyone. Even someone you hadn't seen, or perhaps not. He also manages to link pieces that at first seemed like it wasn't a part of the main story into the most important aspect of it.Of course the ending turned out to be pretty mediocre where someone has to tell the "dumb" audience why things happen so they will grasp this super intelligent film. That was kinda annoying.Verdict: Just another slasher, but a pretty scary one. Seemed like a lesser version of a Mario Bava film.Rating: 6/10, the atmosphere alone drags it up.

Leonard Smalls: The Lone Biker of the Apocalypse The version of this that I got is HORRIBLY dubbed. It's like they went on an online translator and changed the dialog to English and it's so ridiculous. There are words used that just make no sense and I got the feeling the whole time that it would have made more sense if it had just been subtitled."A Blade in the Dark" is probably my least favorite Lamberto Bava film that I've seen so far and I'm surprised because usually I love Sachetti's stuff (City of the Living Dead...) But this film was just full of holes. How big is this villa that the dude is staying in??? How come he's not shocked when there is a woman in his closet??? How come he doesn't contact the police??? Then, when you find out who the killer is, it's just totally implausible.I've seen it written that this movie was made to be a comedy. I think it takes itself way too seriously. The only thing that redeems it in the end is the gore. There are a few awesome gore scenes. The music is pretty cool too.5 out of 10, kids.