VHS Visions: The House Of The Yellow Carpet (1983)

By Brad Henderson

Back in the day I bought just about every VHS I could find and still own a great deal of the ones I’ve purchased through the years. I would stumble across some great films and some not so great ones, but either way I was educating myself thought I didn’t realize it. Honestly, a lot of the films that I didn’t care for back in the day are the ones I fell in love with later on in life. The House Of The Yellow Carpet is one of those films.

When I first stumbled across The House Of The Yellow Carpet I was just coming fresh off of watching The Refrigerator and Attack Of The Killer Refrigerator. Are you actually asking yourself if those films exist? Yes, yes, they do and they are amazing. So when I heard about The House Of The Yellow Carpet I immediately thought the carpet would be killing people. I know that may sound strange but I was just coming off of killer refrigerators for Christ’s sake, so anything seemed possible at that point. After getting halfway into the film I realized I was stupid and this film had no such thing. I turned it off and put it back on my shelf. I was probably 12, so give me a freaking break, I didn’t know any better. A few years later I became overly obsessed with Giallo films and this is exactly what The House Of The Yellow Carpet is and it is one of my favorite takes on the genre.

The House Of The Yellow Carpet is an intense, one of a kind thriller. Franca decides to sell a carpet that was a gift from her stepfather but she soon realizes it has a story behind it. A strange man comes to look at the carpet and our story spirals downward with a dark history of the yellow carpet.

This film is different in many ways and travels routes that you may not expect from a quirky Italian film with such a weird title. It’s also extremely claustrophobic and holds you in tightly to the point where it is uncomfortable, only going outside of this element a limited amount of times. We stay close in the apartment with the yellow carpet, almost becoming a character in the film. The superb acting is another standout in the movie. Most Giallos and horror films don’t have the best actors—many depend on gore and kills—but this film strictly depends on the actors and it is one of the best things about it. The House Of The Yellow Carpet is also incredibly well shot with a daunting, unsettling score. Although it’s a low-budget Giallo, it’s one of the most well made ones you will probably ever see.

Some may disagree that this is a Giallo, but take it from someone who has seen pretty much every Giallo film out there (I’m not kidding, I’m at well over 100) I can safely say this film has the cinematic elements of a Giallo, along with the music. It may not have the bloodshed like most but there are way too many other things that point to it being a quality Giallo film. I highly recommend The House Of The Yellow Carpet and I can only hope you can find it. It’s a very rare film and not widely seen at all but maybe one day a company will release this so it can have the audience it deserves.