Dehydrator
03-11-2002, 05:20 AM
KILL BABY KILL (1966)
Directed by Mario Bava
Starring:
Giacomo Rossi-Stuart
Erika Blanc
Fabienne Dali
My rating : 7/10
+++++contains minor spoilers++++++
Mario Bava's BLACK SABBATH is my favorite horrormovie at the moment (and not likely to change) so I couldn't wait to check out KILL BABY KILL. I wasn't disappointed much even though this movie doesn't come close to BS, it's still great.
Plot: Doctor Eswai ( Rossi-Stuart ) is called to investigate the suicide of a young woman in a creepy village. The population is, for unknown reasons, afraid to tell ANYTHING and even though the local Inspector (Piero Lulli) is chewing 'em out day and night, these chumps just won't talk. They rather let Ruth, the local Witch, perform whip-swiningin' rituals on their own kids than say what's going on in the nearby creepy castle, so Eswai and his new-found sidekick Monica (Blanc) are up to find out.
Mario Bava was the godfather of italian horror, I guessed it after BLACK SABBATH and I'm sure after watching this. As much as I dig Dario Argento, he was clearly more than inspired by Bava : POV shots from whatever has a POV ( Fly-cam in BLACK SABBATH, Bottom-of-stairway-cam here), Kids playing a major role in the story, creepy clown puppets, a picture being used as a very important clue, the similarities to DEEP RED are obvious. Even my beloved SPIDER LABYRINTH stole from Bava but since you haven't seen it, you don't care anyway.
Like most italian horror movies, this movie understands it's plot mainly as an excuse for showing off tons of creepy images and dream-like sceneries, watch for the staircase scene and one guy repeatedly running into the same room by always running through the same door ( idea is also used in NOES 4 ). So if you're looking for plot, look somewhere else.
It doesn't help that the movie switches it's attention between it's many characters and, as said, rather shows as much creepy scenes than anything that drives the story forward.
The main reason to see this movie is Bava's directing and boy it's great. Colourful and creepy at the same time, this movie drips of atmosphere and dread. The whole atmosphere is spellbinding enough that I almost didn't notice the actors at all after about 60 minutes.
Comparing the movies of Mario Bava and Hammer movies (mention them because they were made at the same time) is comparing apples and oranges. The charm of Hammerflicks is that they are dated and somewhat campy. Bava, on the other hand really intends to creep you out, I'm sure that if I would have watched this at the same age as I watched BLACK SABBATH, this would have traumatized me the same way. But as it is, I couldn't get as warmed up to it as I would like to have could.
Bava wasn't all that experimental when it came to his directing style. The villan in this movie wears exactly the same make-up as the dead spiritualist in BLACK SABBATH, his apperances on windows and other reflections are basically the same. Also the way that Bava's creeping you out here gets a bit tiresome after a while ( HOWL, SCREAM, ZOOOOOOOOOOOM! ) and even if I didn't pay much attention to the plot itself, it becomes quite clear that Bava isn't the man to tell a story about a whole film's lenght (BLACK SABBATH was an anthology).
Not to mention the crappy german dubbing, I almost hurled at dialogue like "It's the dead Eyes of Dr. Dracula!" and "Help me, I'm dead". Makes me want to beat up everybody who bears the same second name as the genius who did the translation. Fuck me, half the reason why the plot seems so shoddy to me is that I don't get what people are trying to say. I understand that this is not the movie's fault but it still sucks. Gotta get an english version as soon as I find one. I'm jealous on every italo-horror fan living anywhere else.
Did I mention that the german version is called THE DEAD EYES OF DR. DRACULA?
Anyway, this movie is highly recommended. I bet that after a second viewing, I'd give this an 8/10 but I haven't got around yet. Check it out if you want to know where italian horror is coming from and if you want to see some truly asskicking directing.
7/10
Irrelevant Triva: Anyone remember MERCYFUL FATE? This movie may have inspired their songs "Mellissa" and "Is that you Mellissa?". After all, King Diamond is a big horror fan. I would look it up if I had the lyrics for the albums in reach but I'm lazy.
[This message has been edited by Dehydrator (edited 03-11-2002).]
Directed by Mario Bava
Starring:
Giacomo Rossi-Stuart
Erika Blanc
Fabienne Dali
My rating : 7/10
+++++contains minor spoilers++++++
Mario Bava's BLACK SABBATH is my favorite horrormovie at the moment (and not likely to change) so I couldn't wait to check out KILL BABY KILL. I wasn't disappointed much even though this movie doesn't come close to BS, it's still great.
Plot: Doctor Eswai ( Rossi-Stuart ) is called to investigate the suicide of a young woman in a creepy village. The population is, for unknown reasons, afraid to tell ANYTHING and even though the local Inspector (Piero Lulli) is chewing 'em out day and night, these chumps just won't talk. They rather let Ruth, the local Witch, perform whip-swiningin' rituals on their own kids than say what's going on in the nearby creepy castle, so Eswai and his new-found sidekick Monica (Blanc) are up to find out.
Mario Bava was the godfather of italian horror, I guessed it after BLACK SABBATH and I'm sure after watching this. As much as I dig Dario Argento, he was clearly more than inspired by Bava : POV shots from whatever has a POV ( Fly-cam in BLACK SABBATH, Bottom-of-stairway-cam here), Kids playing a major role in the story, creepy clown puppets, a picture being used as a very important clue, the similarities to DEEP RED are obvious. Even my beloved SPIDER LABYRINTH stole from Bava but since you haven't seen it, you don't care anyway.
Like most italian horror movies, this movie understands it's plot mainly as an excuse for showing off tons of creepy images and dream-like sceneries, watch for the staircase scene and one guy repeatedly running into the same room by always running through the same door ( idea is also used in NOES 4 ). So if you're looking for plot, look somewhere else.
It doesn't help that the movie switches it's attention between it's many characters and, as said, rather shows as much creepy scenes than anything that drives the story forward.
The main reason to see this movie is Bava's directing and boy it's great. Colourful and creepy at the same time, this movie drips of atmosphere and dread. The whole atmosphere is spellbinding enough that I almost didn't notice the actors at all after about 60 minutes.
Comparing the movies of Mario Bava and Hammer movies (mention them because they were made at the same time) is comparing apples and oranges. The charm of Hammerflicks is that they are dated and somewhat campy. Bava, on the other hand really intends to creep you out, I'm sure that if I would have watched this at the same age as I watched BLACK SABBATH, this would have traumatized me the same way. But as it is, I couldn't get as warmed up to it as I would like to have could.
Bava wasn't all that experimental when it came to his directing style. The villan in this movie wears exactly the same make-up as the dead spiritualist in BLACK SABBATH, his apperances on windows and other reflections are basically the same. Also the way that Bava's creeping you out here gets a bit tiresome after a while ( HOWL, SCREAM, ZOOOOOOOOOOOM! ) and even if I didn't pay much attention to the plot itself, it becomes quite clear that Bava isn't the man to tell a story about a whole film's lenght (BLACK SABBATH was an anthology).
Not to mention the crappy german dubbing, I almost hurled at dialogue like "It's the dead Eyes of Dr. Dracula!" and "Help me, I'm dead". Makes me want to beat up everybody who bears the same second name as the genius who did the translation. Fuck me, half the reason why the plot seems so shoddy to me is that I don't get what people are trying to say. I understand that this is not the movie's fault but it still sucks. Gotta get an english version as soon as I find one. I'm jealous on every italo-horror fan living anywhere else.
Did I mention that the german version is called THE DEAD EYES OF DR. DRACULA?
Anyway, this movie is highly recommended. I bet that after a second viewing, I'd give this an 8/10 but I haven't got around yet. Check it out if you want to know where italian horror is coming from and if you want to see some truly asskicking directing.
7/10
Irrelevant Triva: Anyone remember MERCYFUL FATE? This movie may have inspired their songs "Mellissa" and "Is that you Mellissa?". After all, King Diamond is a big horror fan. I would look it up if I had the lyrics for the albums in reach but I'm lazy.
[This message has been edited by Dehydrator (edited 03-11-2002).]