''Pensione paura'' () is a 1978 film directed by

Francesco Barilli Francesco Barilli (born 4 February 1943 in Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and su ...

Plot

A young girl and her mother run a hotel during the war. The girl finds herself at the mercy of her sex-crazed guests and matters become worse when her mother dies. Soon after, a cloaked figure starts killing off everyone that tries to harm her.

Cast

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 ...

: Rosa *

Luc Merenda Luc Charles Olivier Merenda (born 3 September 1943) is a French film actor. He was one of the most prominent actors of the Italian poliziotteschi genre, working several times with Sergio Martino and Fernando Di Leo. He is of Italian origin thr ...

: Rodolfo *

Lidia Biondi Lidia Biondi (3 February 1941 – 14 June 2016), often credited as Lydia Biondi, was an Italian film and television actress who appeared in more than 40 Italian and foreign films since the 1960s. Her international film credits included ''Eat Pray ...

: Marta *

Francisco Rabal Francisco Rabal Valera (8 March 1926 – 29 August 2001), better known as Paco Rabal, was a Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter born in Águilas, a town in the south-western part of the province of Murcia, Spain. Throughout his career, Raba ...

: Marta's lover *

Jole Fierro Jole Fierro (22 November 1926 – 27 March 1988) was an Italian actress. Born in Salerno, Fierro made her debut in the early 1950s in the Neapolitan dialect theater, and shortly later she made her first appearances in films. In June 1954, she ac ...

: Rodolfo's lover * Wolfango Soldati *

Máximo Valverde Máximo Valverde (born 16 November 1944) is a Spanish actor. He appeared in more than sixty films since 1968. Selected filmography * 1970: ''The Wind's Fierce'' * 1971: ''Una chica casi decente'' * 1971: '' The Rebellious Novice'' * 1971: ''Spani ...

Production

After directing '' The Perfume of the Lady in Black'', it took four years for director

to return to directing. Barilli stated this was because he was not allowed to make the film he wanted to make, but was offered several different projects to work at. One film Barilli wanted to make was titled ''L'occhio'', when he was approached by producer Tommaso Dazzi who deemed ''L'occhio'' too expensive, and presented him with the treatment for ''Pensione paura''. Barilli admitted to needing the money and took the offer to direct the film. Filming started in Manziana in August 1977. Barilli and producer Tommaso Dazzi often argued on set as Barilli shot scenes that were not in the script, which Barilli did not care for as he wanted to shoot the film the way he wanted to. The film had an unusual setting, which film historian Roberto Curti described as "one-of-a-kind work" that did not fit into the mold of a gothic, ''

giallo In Italian cinema, ''Giallo'' (; plural ''gialli'', from ''giallo'', Italian for yellow) is a genre of mystery fiction and thrillers that often contains slasher, crime fiction, psychological thriller, psychological horror, sexploitation, and, ...

'', or psychological drama but encompassed elements of all the genres.

Release

''Pensione paura'' was distributed theatrically in Italy by Euro International Films on 16 February 1978. The film grossed a total of 82,645,242 Italian lire domestically. Curti described the film a commercial flop. Barilli commented the producer who sold the film to Euro International Films went bankrupt shortly after. The film was released in Spain where it was promoted as an erotic film ''La violación de la señorita Julia''. It was Barelli's last theatrically released film, as the director dedicated himself to painting afterwards.

References

Footnotes

Sources

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0076884
''Pensione paura''
at Variety Distribution 1978 films Films directed by Francesco Barilli Italian drama films Spanish drama films 1970s Italian films