Vittorio Corsini (Paolo Paoloni) and his wife Sara (Bettine Milne) are an elderly couple who live in a large mansion out in the desolate countryside. They are also insane. The house is old, large and full of all different kinds of clocks. The Corsinis have on staff a maid, Maria (Carla Cassola), and a groundskeeper, Peter (Al Cliver). When the maid finds the dead bodies of the couple’s greedy nephew (Paolo Bernardi) and niece (Francesca DeRose) in a locked room, she decides to leave her employment. Sara kills the maid and has Peter bury her in the yard.
Diana (Karina Huff), Tony (Keith Van Hoven) and Paul (Peter Hintz) are three young delinquents who spend their time stealing from various establishments and robbing homes for whatever they need or want. They stop at a grocery store to steal food. While Tony and Paul start shoving stuff in their pockets, Diana keeps the store owner (Massimo Sarchielli) occupied. The trio is on their way to a secluded home that is owned by the Corsinis. Their plans are to rob the place and make a quick getaway. On the way to the house Paul finds a cat in the back seat. He puts the cat in a plastic bag and lets it suffocate.
When they get to the estate Diana knocks on the door, pretending that her car broke down, and asks to use the phone. The Corsinis welcome her in and invite her to dinner. Diana surreptitiously unlocks a door to the house. Outside Paul and Tony cut the phone line and sneak into the house. Paul keeps the Corsinis at bay using a toy gun he stole from the market. Peter arrives with a shotgun. A fight ensues and the Corsinis and Peter are accidently killed.
This is the moment when all the clocks in the house stop. They all then begin to move counterclockwise. As they move in reverse, so does time and so does the events that happened that night.
“The House of Clocks” AKA “La casa nel tempo” was released in 1989 and was directed by Lucio Fulci. It is an Italian horror film. Technically it was supposed to be a made-for-television movie; however, it was too gory even for Italian TV.
The movie is actually one of four films made for Italian television in a series called “La case Maledette” or “House of Doom”. The series was supposed to include six films, two each directed by Fulci, Umberto Lenzi and Lamberto Bava. Only four of the six films were actually made. Due to other commitments; Bava’s films were never made. The other three completed films in the series were Fulci’s “The Sweet House of Horrors” 1989 as well as Lenzi’s “La casa del sortilegio” 1989 and “House of Lost Souls” 1989. All four films ended up being shelved. Ultimately, they were released to video sometime in the 2000’s.
The movie is a strange combination of time travel, dream state and supernatural horror. It’s not great, but far from bad. The acting is blah, but the gore is decent. For the most part, I enjoyed it. The film also has a bit of a twist at the end that was rather satisfying.
It’s one of those movies where everyone in it sucks. The only likable characters in the film are the cats.