Ehirerapp Waste of time

Konterr Brilliant and touching

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Winifred The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

Sam Panico Also known as Ecology of Crime, Chain Reaction, Carnage, Twitch of the Death Nerve and Blood Bath, Last House on the Left - Part II and New House on the Left, this is the most violent and nihilistic of all of Mario Bava's films. It started as a story idea so that Bava could work with Laura Betti (Hatchet for the Honeymoon) again, with the original titles of Stench of Flesh and Thus We Do Live to Be Evil, but had a virtual litany of writers get involved, including producer Giuseppe Zaccariello, Filippo Ottoni, Sergio Canevari, Dardano Sacchetti (who co-wrote all of Fulci's best films, like Zombi 2 and House by the Cemetary) and Franco Barberi.Bava was devoted to the film and its low budget meant that he would also be his own cinematographer, often creating innovative tracking shots with a toy wagon and relying on in-camera tricks to make it seem that the location was much more expansive than reality. There are thirteen murders in the film - many of which are incredibly gory thanks to the skill of Carlo Rambaldi - occur as several characters in the film vie to inherit the titular bay. The film divides critics and fans, who see it as pure gore versus the nuanced films that Bava is known for. For example, Christopher Lee went on record stating that he found the movie to be revolting.It also gave rise to the slasher genre, as every film that follows owes it a debt of gory gratitude. And some owe it plenty more, in particular, Friday the 13th Part 2, which copies two of the kills in this film shot for shot.The story is all over the place and has a mix of dark humor and pure meanness at its core, starting with Filippo Dontai strangling his wife, Countess Federica, before being stabbed and killed scant seconds later. His corpse is dragged to the bay, where his murder goes undiscovered as detectives begin their investigation into the death of the Countess.That's when we meet Frank (Chris Avram, Enter the Devil), a real estate agent, and his girlfriend Laura, who plot on taking over the bay. They were working with Donati to kill his wife and now need his signature, but don't realize that he was killed.Meanwhile, four teenagers hear about the murders and break into the mansion. One of them, Brunhilda, skinny dips in the bay until the dead corpse of Donati surfaces and touches her. She screams and runs toward the mansion, only to be killed by an unseen murderer holding a billhook. That killer uses that same weapon to kill her boyfriend, Bobby, then he takes impales Duke and Denise together with a spear while they're having sex. Here's a good lesson that I always yell: don't fuck in the woods, don't fuck in a haunted house, don't fuck when a killer is about.The killer ends up being the Countess' illegitimate son, Simon, who is wiping everyone out under the orders of Frank. Renata (Claudine Auger, Thunderball) shows up to throw a wrench in the work, as she's the Countess' real daughter. Along with her husband Albert, she begins to make plans to kill her half-brother.What follows is a near Grand Guignol of back and forth murder: Frank attacks Renata, who turns the tables and stabs him with a knife. Paolo, the entomologist who lives on the estate grounds, sees the killing but is strangled by Albert before he can call the police and his wife is decapitated with an axe. Laura shows up, but Simon strangles her to death before Albert kills him. Frank shows up again, but Albert takes him out, leaving Renata as the sole heir. They return home to await being awarded the money, but as they get to the front door, their children shoot them with a shotgun, thinking they are playing with their parents. Bored with the game and how long their parents are playing dead, the kids run out to play another game in an ending that can either be viewed as pure comedy or a sad comment on humanity. Maybe both.Bay of Blood isn't the art of past Bava films, but it's not trash. It's also been claimed to have been Bava's favorite film that he directed. And Dario Argento adores the movie so much that he literally stole a print of it from a theater!

LeonLouisRicci Master Mario Bava Directs and Shoots another Film that Transfigured and Ignited Horror Cinema in the Decades to come. This is Without Doubt (so many times these sort of proclamations have doubt) the First "Slasher" Film. Hitchcock's "Psycho" (1960) can be Sighted as a Spark but without the Fire that Bava sent Blazing. It's a Sub-Genre of Horror that Survives to this Day. It has Survived Critic and Parental Wrath and Disdain and is one of the most Profitable.The Movie is Famous for its Body Count (13) that was used in Advertising Campaigns, Bloody Gore, No Redeeming Characters, Excellent Makeup and SFX, Haunting Mood and Cinematography (Bava), Fast Pace, and an Ending that No "Body" saw coming.Viewed Today it seems Familiar, due to the Hundreds of Imitations and Followups Churned Out in the last 35 Years. Bava's Emphasis Turns to Blood Bathing and Gruesome Gore after He Reinvented the Gothic Gloom Cinema in the Sixties.He Ushered in the 1970's and Wrote the Training Manual that made a lot of People a lot of Money. Mostly Hacking the Maestro with Little Style and Wit and No imagination with Eyes Only on Box-Office Receipts.The "Slasher" Genre does have its Restraints with Repetition Punctuating the Pictures and One Upmanship the Order of the Day. Objectively even Bava's Movie is Missing certain Elements of Plot, Character Development and Overall Concern for Complexity. The Checklist Style, Invented here, has made "Slashers" the most Guilty of Guilty Pleasure Exploitation.

Nigel P How it must have been for a horror film fan to be of cinema-going age in the early 1970s – this is another Italian giallo film that was released into the already bulging world in 1971. Directed by Mario Bava, it contains all the hallmarks – beautiful locations, beautiful people - and someone dressed in black who is killing them all, one by one.Bava is lauded as an inspirational to many more modern film-makers, which is great. I find his work a little hit-or-miss. Perhaps his reputation goes against him for me; I try not to read reviews of any kind before I've seen a film, but it is difficult to avoid Bava's status. Perhaps if he were not so revered, I'd (unfairly) be more open to appreciate his work.That said, this unquestionably contains some gruesome moments and handsome set-pieces for the growing number of killings. Stelvio Cipriani's very rhythmical soundtrack plays its part in cultivating the unnerving moments too.As always with Bava, colour is very important. Garish and lurid, even when muted by day-for-night, it presents my main issue with his work. It is too stylised, giving a stage-bound feel, even on location. Such starkness also robs the sumptuous locations of their natural atmosphere and charms.The story revolves around the lengths people will go to safeguard what they as their inheritance. It's a thin plot, hardly elevated by a very contrived ending. As giallos go, it has enough memorable moments to make it worthwhile (my favourite involves daft and giggly Brunhilda (Brigitte Skay) skinny-dipping, when a bloated corpse brushes against her – dissolving into hysterics. Her fate is also soon sealed), but it is far from the most compelling in the genre.

Prichards12345 A Bay of Blood is easily the most disappointing effort from Mario Bava I've seen to date. Black Sunday, Black Sabbath, Blood and Black Lace and Baron Blood (did he have a thing about the letter 'B'?') are all superior to this effort, which in spite of good cinematography and an effective murder or two (or thirteen!) never quite gels and is often annoying and silly.Exploitation is to the fore as a group of randy teenagers hang out and get offed; one after a nude swim, two others caught inflagrante delecto! The influence on Friday the 13th is obvious (they ripped it off!), but like that movie Bay of Blood has perhaps acquired a reputation it does not really deserve.There's giallo-style plotting galore going on - which makes little sense - though the surprise opening murder of an old rich lady in a wheelchair is effectively done, but as the killings mount up it becomes pretty kitsch. All in all this is just not one of Bava's best, and not a very good introduction to him. Watch the other films I've mentioned first...