''The House by the Edge of the Lake'' ( it, Sensitività) is a horror film directed by Enzo G. Castellari. The film was re-edited several years after, with the title ''Kyra, La signora del lago'' (''Kyra, the Lady of the Lake''). The director Castellari defined that film as an "awful horror film with a very low cost budget".

Cast

Vincent Gardenia Vincent Gardenia (born Vincenzo Scognamiglio; January 7, 1920 – December 9, 1992) was an Italian-American stage, film, and television actor. He was nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, first for ''Bang the Drum Slow ...

as Old painter *

Leonora Fani Leonora Fani (born 18 February 1954) is an Italian former film actress. Career Born in Crocetta del Montello, province of Treviso, as Eleonora Cristofani, Leonora Fani was launched in 1971 by winning the " Miss Teenager" pageant. Then she had a ...

as Lilian * Wolfango Soldati as Edoardo * Patricia Adriani as Lilith *

Caterina Boratto Caterina Boratto (15 March 1915 – 14 September 2010) was an Italian film actress. She appeared in 50 films between 1936 and 1993. Life and career Born in Turin, Boratto studied at the Musical Lyceum in her hometown with the purpose of bec ...

as Kira *

Massimo Vanni Massimo Vanni (born 8 July 1946) is an Italian film and television actor. Life and career Born in Rome, Vanni started his career as a stuntman, and had his first roles of weight playing tough guys in several poliziotteschi films directed by his ...

as Manuel

Production

Director Enzo G. Castellari explained that the film was developed between his friendship with an aspiring film maker named Jose Sanchez. Castellari met him through his doctor and started teaching him how to write a script and took him on as an assistant. Castellari stated that his script was being finished for a Spanish producer to be shot in

Costa Brava The Costa Brava (, ; "Wild Coast" or "Rough Coast") is a coastal region of Catalonia in northeastern Spain. Whilst sources differ on the exact definition of the Costa Brava, it can be regarded as stretching from the town of Blanes, northeast o ...

which led to Castellari taking charge in directing the film. Castellari's recollections are at odds with the film's credits which credit the film to Jose Maria Nunes a writer and director who was active in the film business since the 1950s with Sanchez only being credited as an actor in a small role. Filming began in August 1978 in

but halted shortly after as the money for the film ran out. Castellari did not initially want his named attached to the film, but in order to gain more funds he obliged to having his name attached to the project.

Release

''The House by the Edge of the Lake'' was released in Italy on 28 September 1979. It was released in Spain as ''Diabla'' on 11 July 1980. Distributor Rodolfo Putignani invested money his company Cinezeta created the Italian title for the film ''Sensivita'', a word that does not exist in Italian. Castellari found that as soon as editing the film, problems with distribution began which led to further interruptions in filming. Castellari stated that " istributor Rodolfoutignani and his associate Curti finished it their own way. But my name as director stayed." The film was re-released in 1986 with additional scenes shot by

Alfonso Brescia Alfonso Brescia (6 January 1930 – 6 June 2001) was an Italian film director. Brescia began working in film against his father's wishes, and eventually directed his first film '' Revolt of the Praetorians'' in 1964. Brescia worked in several gen ...

with editing credited to "Jeffrey Bogart". Castellari did not like the re-edit of the film, recalling he was invited to a horror convention where the film was screened and that "after six minutes I walked ut ofthe theater, horrified."

References

Footnotes

Sources

* * *

External links

* 1979 films Films directed by Enzo G. Castellari Italian horror films Films scored by Guido & Maurizio De Angelis 1979 horror films 1970s Italian films {{1970s-horror-film-stub