How exactly did an Italian TV station make a deal with horror legends Lucio Fulci (The Beyond) and Umberto Lenzi (Cannibal Ferrox) to make four movies for The Houses of Doom anthology series? Did the TV executives not look at the scripts and inform the directors on what they can show in the violent scenes so they’d meet broadcast standards? My guess is that the directors just gave a TV Guide logline of the movies to the executives and received the production budget check. I can imagine Lucio Fulci describing The Sweet House of Horrors as “The ghosts of murdered parents help their kids expose the killer.” The executives were probably too excited about a chance to market the series to kids to ask, “What do we see when the parents are being murdered?” Thanks to that question not being asked, Fulci turned in a kid-centric TV movie that wasn’t for TV or impressionable children. That goes for all four of The Houses of Doom films (which also includes The House of Lost Souls, The House of Witchcraft and The House of Clocks). The TV station didn’t air the films after they were sent over. The cans sat in the station’s vaults for before the movies were released on home video and theaters later in the ’90s. The Sweet House of Horrors is not a “scary” TV movie that’s perfect for kids. This is Fulci’s idea of “family entertainment.”
A couple returns to their country mansion and get surprised by a masked thief. Except he isn’t wanting to merely burgle the valuables. The intruder beats the couple to death. To cover his tracks, the killer puts the dead couple in their car and pushes it over the edge of the mountainous roads. Because the rural police department doesn’t have a CSI, the cops rule that they couple accidentally ran off the road and died. This leave their young son Marco (Giuliano Gensini) and Sarah (Ilary Blasi) as orphans with a giant mansion. They wonder if their parents will see their old dog in heaven. They’re not alone long as Carlo (Rats: Night of Terror‘s Jean-Christophe Brétignière) and Marcia (The Beyond‘s Cinzia Monreale) get custody of them and the estate. Were they behind the burglary? This isn’t merely murder mystery. The mansion is creepy and creaky as Marica learns on her first overnight stay. There’s weird stuff lurking in the attic. More disturbing are two flames that appear to the children. The apparitions transform into the ghosts of their parents. They want the children to help them get revenge against their killer and more. The kids are more than willing to do their parents wishes although we need to wonder if the spirits are their true parents.
Like the other installments of The Houses of Doom, The Sweet House of Horrors is not a safe TV movie. The scene where the parents are killed is as brutal as any murder in a Lucio Fulci movie of this era. This is not Fulci attempting to make a “Goosebumps” movie for the kids. This might have kids as the leading characters, but The Sweet House of Horrors is not a completely sugary flick. There are cute moments like when a piece of construction equipment goes out of control as the kids laugh. But that’s not a consistent tone in the movie. Later the kids laugh as a character’s hand melts away. You might want to first watch this film with the Italian track because the kids sound better. Their tone can get a bit more vicious in certain scenes. The people doing the English track give more of a cartoonish nature to the kid’s voices. Cute doesn’t cut it especially when the children are conjuring spirits with masks and burning candles on their fingertips. This is a solid, intense and scary film from Lucio Fulci. Even with the low budget, the special effects hold up on Blu-ray. The Sweet House of Horrors is a treat from Fulci.
The Video is 1.66:1 anamorphic. The 2K restoration makes the murder scene in the opening even more gross. The Audio is DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono in both the English and Italian dubs. The movie is subtitled in English.
Fulci House of Horrors (16:43) interviews set designer Massimo Antonello Geleng. They had worked together on previous films. He was a fan of the director’s work before they collaborated. He gives details on how things went between them.
Sweet Muse of Horrors (28:55) sits down with actress Cinzia Monreale. Her film career started when she was discovered walking her cat. She found herself cast in a series of sexy comedies. Then she met Fulci. Cinzia goes into working with him on a Spaghetti Western, the supernatural thriller The Beyond and this film. There’s plenty of reflection on their working relationship. There is praise for the child actors. She mentions how she didn’t really notice that the horror film was losing steam since the movies always did better outside Italy.
Editing for the masters (18:05) meets up with editor Alberto Moriani. He talks about being comfortable editing films of different genres. He explains the time he had to edit four TV commercials for Fulci that involve martial arts. They had a falling out, but reunited to cut Zombie. He cut both of Fulci’s Houses of Doom movies.
Archival interviews include writer Giglioa Battaglini (3:05), Jean-Christophe Brétignière (3:48), actor Lino Salemme (10:55), actor Pascal Persiano (3:45) and actress Cinzia Monreale has an introduction (0:48) and chat (6:48). They all discuss dealing with Falci as both a nice guy and angry. These were recorded between 2001 and 2005.
Archival Trailer (4:40) plays up the family fun. This seems made for video release.
Audio Commentary by Eugenio Ercolani and Troy Howarth has the two discussing how this fit in with Fulci’s career as the Italian film industry was drastically changing. They bring up the two other House movies that weren’t made by a third director. They get into Fulci’s background about how things were not going well in his life at this time.
Cauldron Films present The Sweet House of Horrors. Directed by Lucio Fulci. Screenplay by Vincenzo Mannino and Gigliola Battaglini. Starring Jean-Christophe Brétignière, Cinzia Monreale, Lubka Lenzi, Lino Salemme, Franco Diogene, Vernon Dobtcheff, Giuliano Gensini, Ilary Blasi, Dante Fioretti & Pascal Persiano. Running Time: 83 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: May 13, 2025.
