Most people say that the giallo is a precursor to the slasher genre. Look no further than a Bay of Blood. It eschews from the more investigatory nature of most giallo films. It has a high body count, more of a mystery to do with it's backstory than a murder-mystery, and it all takes place around one bayside location. There is even about a 25-30 minute sequence that could really be it's own movie separate to the main story. Mario Bava uses a combination of gothic imagery, rapid pullbacks and zooms, beautiful nighttime sequences, and transitions with Stelvio Cipriani's versatile score that make the movie almost self-aware and satirical at times. This movie has kills and camera shots that other slasher movies would go on to use.
Synopsis: A wheelchair bound Countess (Isa Miranda) is murdered and various greedy heirs and interested parties assemble and try to take hold of her bayside property.
The movie starts with the Countess Federica Donati in her house. She is strangled to death by her husband Filippo Donati (Giovanni Nuvoleti). He makes it look like a suicide and has a diary entry right next to her hanging body to bolster that claim. As Filippo leaves the house he is stabbed to death by someone else. That sets the tone right there for Bava constantly upstaging each murder sequence as it seems like one person after another dies in rapid succession and in spurts. This scene and the bayside mansion is one with Bava's throwback gothic looks and I wouldn't be surprised if it was filmed in a place where he had filmed before. It has a fireplaces, gray walls, red couches, mirrors, and an excellent atmosphere with the rain and the surrounding ocean.
This is a hard film to understand upon one viewing and the backstory towards the end shines more light on that. The only thing I'm going to explain to you in advance is the relationship between some characters. I think this movie's backstory isn't hard to get but it might be hard to understand who is in league with who and why. Frank Ventura (Chris Avram) a real estate agent and his girlfriend Laura (Anna Maria Rosati) had teamed up with Filippo after his wife didn't sell the property to them. They have no idea he is dead now. Simon (Claudio Volonte, brother of Gian Maria Volonte) is the Countess' illegitimate son and rightful heir to her money. Simon lives on a separate shack near the bay. Paolo Fossati, (Leopoldo Trieste) an entomologist and his wife, a tarot card reader named Anna (Laura Betti) also live on the property. They witness all the murder and mayhem throughout.
A few teenagers come to property after reading about the murders and being interested. They do little to setup these four characters besides giving them names. What I am impressed with in this long sequence, which is basically a mini slasher film is the music, kills, and a cinematography. There is one pullback shot near the bushes where you know the killer is there but you don't see them. That could've inspired a similar shot in the first Friday the 13th movie. There is a close up on an eyeball that is quite expressive behind a hole signalizing voyeurism. The scene where a naked Brigitte Skay as Brumhilde runs on the dock and swims could've inspired a similar scene in Friday the 13th Part 2. Her kill scene where is running and gets chased down and slashed in the throat by a killer with a curved machete is similar to the opening kill in Scream. The double penetration spear kill is exactly like the one in Friday the 13th Part 2. Another teenager dies by an awesome, Tom Savini-esque meat cleaver to the face. Throughout this while sequence after every kill the film transitions to shots of the purple and pink sunset. Pleasant music by Cipriani plays. After one kill at some point the fender of the car the teenagers drive is shown and the curved fender and lights makes it look like a smile which shows that Bava is on on the joke. He is essentially saying yeah I know you like seeing these people die and everyone in this movie deserves it.
The Smiling Car
After the teenagers have been offed it is revealed that Filippo's daughter Renata (Claudine Auger) has come to the property with her husband Albert (Luigi Pistilli) to collect her inheritance. She finds out from Paolo and Anna that Simon may be the rightful heir and now they plan to get rid of him. They are also joined by their children played by giallo child star Nicoletta Elmi and Renato Cestie. The second half of the film is a cat and mouse game between each partner and person involved to see will kill each other first, what will get revealed, and who ultimately will come down with the inheritance.
This is an influence on the eventual slasher genre. It is a fun and great movie in it's own right. The ending, and I mean the very end is one of the jaw dropping WTF moments ever in cinema. If I ranked the most surprising movie endings ever this would be close to one. Again Bava's cinematography in combo with Cipriani's music are top notch. What I do enjoy early on this some of the conversations the characters have that seem natural. There's just enough character development between the killing sprees to make me like the characters well enough, even if everyone in this movie is really a villain. I like seeing so many Euro cinema stars. One of the coolest things is how Renata seems more more like alpha than Albert does in their relationship. Seeing Luigi Pistilli as well as Edward Mannix dubbing his voice in english, take a backseat to anyone is just odd.
Rating: 10/10
Trivia: Due to the film's low budget Bava was his own cinematographer
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