This one is going to be brief, as I am going to be covering it with Des on an upcoming episode of Dread Media. And it’s actually the second time I’ve watched it in the last few days, as I discovered the version I bought for two bucks at a flea market had five minutes cut out of it (including a brief bit that makes it clearer who Bava intended to be the murderer who sets everything in motion). Luckily, the excellent Public Library Streaming Service Kanopy* had the full length Kino Lorber print available.Watching this film, I got the sense of all these young, aspiring Italian filmmakers deciding ‘that’s how I’m going to make my movies!’ Bava’s use of color and shadows make this movie the tawdry gothic romance it is in the best of all possible ways. You can see flickers of what the great giallo directors would do a decade hence in some of the blue-and-black shrouded scenes. And the way Bava exploits natural lighting at times--letting a scene suddenly be illuminated by the dim glow of a single candle--is brilliant.
The film is not without its flaw. The musical score by Carlo Rustichelli is sometimes hilariously inappropriate with its swell of lush strings and piano chords whenever something spooky happens. Dan Sturkie’s attempts to imitate Christopher Lee--this is the only European production Lee made that he himself was unable to dub--is so weird it distracts from the great man’s portrayal. And it doesn’t help the film’s coherence that the two female leads (one played by the stunning Isreali actress Daliah Lavi, who receives top billing) are dressed and made up so much alike that I sometime got confused as to who was doing what. But the film is a compelling little trifle. Think of it as the cinematic equivalent of those mildly spooky romance novels that were prolific in the 70‘s--if this was a paperback, the cover would have Lavi running from the castle on the cover.
Supposedly Lee wanted to work with Bava again, but their schedules never quite meshed...and then Lee was so horrified by A Bay of Blood (which we will be getting to during the Horrorfest, I promise) that he changed his mind. It’s a shame that never happened. I recommend this--it’s almost essential viewing.
How YOU Can Curate The 2nd Half Of The Horrorfest!
There's still time to help curate this year's Halloween Horrorfest
If you donate $31 to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network before October 15th and send me the receipt proving you did, you can name one movie I have to watch during the Horrorthon. Keep in mind there are some things I won’t do (so no Eli Fucking Roth movies, for example), and it has to be a movie I can find. If you’re an independent filmmaker and are willing to make the donation, by all means send me the film. I will do as many as I can before October 31st, and those I can I will view in the days after Halloween during ‘Beyond Halloween Horrorfest.'
At this time, where victims of sexual abuse are being openly mocked by powerful men, we need to stand up. I hope you will contribute and let your voice be heard.
*--Seriously, if you’re a movie fan and you belong to a public library that offers Kanopy, you need to sign up for it. It’s got an insane back catalog covering the width and breadth of film. I recommend it higher than highly!
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