The House With Yellow Carpet is one of the lesser known Giallo's, but it's easily one of the most captivating I ever saw. The film does not adhere to most of the Giallo standards; and does not make murder and violence the main elements of the story. Instead, the film is a tightly-wound psychological thriller that relies mainly on its small cast of characters and many twists and turns to keep things interesting. The film is based on a stage play by Aldo Selleri and focuses on a young couple; Franca and Antonio. The live in a high rise apartment building and have a big yellow carpet for sale. They advertise the carpet and eventually a buyer responds to the ad; however, just as he is due to arrive, Antonio has to leave the apartment. The buyer arrives in the form of a strange man; and Franca is left to deal with him on her own. It's not long before it becomes apparent that buying the carpet is not his only motive for being there; and after confessing to murdering his wife on the carpet that is for sale, he proceeds to terrify the young woman.
The film is very much on a small scale; there are only four characters in the whole film and most of it takes place in just a small apartment. However, director Carlo Lizzani still manages to create a very interesting little film. The House With Yellow Carpet (another great Giallo title) is completely bizarre in the way that the plot works; and this helps to keep things intriguing. Erland Josephson is the pick of the cast in his role of the potential buyer. His style and mood fit the film perfectly and it's his character that delivers most of the twists. The film constantly changes as it goes along and the script constantly messes with the audience. As mentioned, there's little blood and violence in the film; although a sequence depicting a man inserting a needle into his eyeball is not for the feint of heart. After a while, it becomes clear that it's better to just let the film play out rather than try to second guess it; and thankfully the ending does come as a surprise (although the final twist can be guessed much earlier). Overall, this is a fascinating little film and is well worth the effort of tracking it down!