1976 • Italy • Directed by Pupi Avati

While typically famed for its lurid Technicolor hues and grand guignol murders, the Italian giallo thriller had a less bombastic side as well. Erring less towards exploitation than to art, these lesser-seen gems offer some of the greatest rewards for adventurous viewers. Among them, 1976's The House with Laughing Windows, directed and co-written by Pupi Avati (Zeder), rises up as the cream of the crop.

Art restorer Stefano (Lino Capolicchio, The Bloodstained Shadow) arrives at an isolated Italian village to repair a fresco depicting the agonizing martyrdom of Saint Sebastian. The original painter was a death artist - a madman so obsessed with mortality that, according to whispered rumors, he tortured his models in their final moments of life. When people begin to turn up dead, Stefano is forced to consider the possibility that the artist has returned to continue his brutal career - and that he is the primary target.

Often counted among the greatest gialli ever made, The House with Laughing Windows offers a uniquely eerie twist on the genre, culminating in an unforgettable ending that will remain with you long after the credits have rolled.