A Blade in the Dark

A Blade in the Dark

Credits
Title:	A Blade in the Dark
Directed by:	Lamberto Bava
Written by:	Dardano Sacchetti; Elisa Briganti
Produced by:	Lamberto Bava; Luciano Martino; Mino Loy
Music by:	Guido De Angelis; Maurizio De Angelis
Cinematography:	Gianlorenzo Battaglia
Edited by:	Lamberto Bava
Production
Production:	National Cinematografica Nuova Dania Cinematografica
Released:	August 6th, 1983
Rating:	Unrated
Running time:	109 min.
Country:	Italy
Language:	Italian English dubbed
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A Blade in the Dark is an Italian feature length film of the psychological thriller subgenre of horror. It is also classified under the giallo filmmaking style. It was directed by Lamberto Bava with screenplay written by Dardano Sacchetti and Elisa Briganti based on a story treatment by Sacchetti and Briganti. It was produced by National Cinematografica and Nuova Dania Cinematografica and premiered in Italy on August 6th, 1983. The movie stars Andrea Occhipinti as film score composer Bruno. Co-starring in the movie is Michele Soavi as Tony Rendina, Anny Papa as Sandra, Stanko Molnar as Giovanni and Lara Naszinski as Giulia Rubini.

Plot[]

Cast[]

Actor

Role

Bruno

Sandra

Angela

Tony Rendina

Katia

Giovanni

Giulia Rubini

Notes & Trivia[]

The original Italian title for this film is La casa con la scala nel buio, which redirects to this page. Translated into English, it is The House With the Dark Staircase.
The tagline for this film is "When the lights go out, the knife goes in".
There are a total of seven credited cast members in this film.
This movie was filmed in Rome, Italy.
When the movie was presented to the television censors, it was found to be too gory to be aired. Rather than edit the film, the producers instructed Lamberto Bava to cut the film into a theatrical feature.
A Blade in the Dark was released as a region free Blu-ray by Vinegar Syndrome on September 26th, 2023.
Actress Lara Lamberti is credited as Lara Naszinski in this film. This is her film acting debut.
Screenwriters Dardano Sacchetti and Elisa Briganti are married.
Composers Guido De Angelis and Maurizio De Angelis are siblings, with Guido being the older of the two.
The film was released three times on DVD in the United States. It was first released by Anchor Bay Entertainment in 2001. The company subsequently re-released it in 2003 on a double feature DVD with Lamberto Bava's Macabre. Both these versions are out of print. The third DVD release came from Blue Underground in 2007.
On The Movie Database, A Blade in the Dark has a user score of 56%.
On Letterboxd, A Blade in the Dark has a weighted average review score of 2.98 out of 5 based on 6,450 user ratings.
This movie does not have a Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes. It has only three reviews, all of which give the movie a "Fresh" rating. Conversely, the film has a Popcornmeter score of 39% based on over 1,000 user ratings, averaging 3 out of 5.
Filmmaker Lamberto Bava is also known for directing the 1985 film Demons. Screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti also worked on that movie as a co-writer. Actress Fabiola Toledo appears in that film as well as a character named Carmen.
There were no sets built for the film. It was all shot on location at one large Italian villa. In fact the movie itself was written to be shot around that particular location.

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