A Blade in the Dark (Italian: La casa con la scala nel buio, lit. 'The House with the Dark Staircase') is a 1983 Italian giallo film directed by Lamberto Bava. Originally planned for television, the film was made as a nearly two hour piece split into four parts each of which would end with a murder scene. After the film was found to be too gruesome for Italian television censors, it was re-edited into a feature film.