A Bay of Blood [Blu-ray] - Classic Horror Movie for Halloween Nights & Movie Collector's Edition

Warning SPOILERS!!! People ask me why I review so many Italian films. I tell them it's because there are so many good, influential films that they need to see. This one influenced countless slasher films that came after it was released, many of them copying the killings verbatim (especially the FRIDAY THE 13TH franchise). This film has yet to be beaten for sheer terror and originality, nearly ten years before American horror films dared to tread the same ground (Granted, films like SAVAGE WEEKEND and THE REDEEMER [both 1976] were early adopters of this genre, but they didn't gain popularity until the '80s home video boon began). There are thirteen killings in this film and I will count them off in this review.The film opens with the wheelchair-bound Countess Federica (Isa Miranda; DORIAN GRAY - 1970) looking out the window of her huge lakeside mansion, a forlorn look on her face. As she is wheeling herself into another room, someone slips a noose around her neck, kicks the wheelchair away and hangs her (Killing #1). It is then revealed that the killer is her husband, Filippo (Giovanni Nuvoletti). He places a suicide note next to his wife's body and is then viciously stabbed in the back by some unknown killer (Killing #2).A few days later, four young adults enter the Countess' property in a dune buggy. While three of them break into the mansion for some sex and disco dancing, Brunhilde (Brigitte Skay) goes skinnydipping in the bay, gets her foot caught on a rope and dredges-up the corpse of Filippo. Before she can make it to the mansion to tell her friends about discovering the dead body, she is chased by someone, who graphically cuts her throat with a curved blade (Killing #3). Robert (Roberto Bonanni) hears a noise outside, opens the front door and has his face cleaved in two by the same curved blade (Killing #4). The killer pulls the blade out of Robert's face (surprisingly graphic and as good as anything Tom Savini has ever done) and enters one of the bedrooms, where Duke (Guido Boccaccini) and Denise (Paola Rubens) are making love. The killer runs a spear through their naked bodies, pinning them to the mattress (their death throes look like they are still humping! Killings #5 & #6). The Countess' neighbors, the always inebriated tarot card reader Anna (Laura Betti; HATCHET FOR THE HONEYMOON - 1970) and her eccentric husband, entomologist Paolo (Leopoldo Trieste; DON'T LOOK NOW - 1973; he keeps and insect in his pocket that he talks to!) are visited by married couple Renata (Claudine Auger; THE SUMMERTIME KILLER - 1972) and Albert (Luigi Pistilli; THE EERIE MIDNIGHT HORROR SHOW - 1974). Renata wants to know more about her father, Filippo (They hope to inherit the Countess' millions). Paolo tells her that her father was a womanizer and Anna tells the couple that the Countess' fortune is going to Simon (Claudio Volonté; VENGEANCE - 1968), who is her illegitimate son. This news doesn't sit too well with Renata or Albert, so they go and see fisherman Simon by the dock on the bay (and, no, he isn't sitting!). While they are talking to him, they find her father's dead body in Simon's boat (his face is engulfed by a live squid, which is very unnerving!). He tells them that he found the body floating in the lake. Renata gets sick, so she goes to the mansion to wash her face in a bathroom, where she discovers the mutilated bodies of the four young adults. Suddenly, caretaker Frank Ventura (Chris Avram; THE SLASHER...IS THE SEX MANIAC! - 1972) appears, hatchet in hand, and he chases Renata, forcing her to grab a pair of scissors and stabbing him by thrusting her hand through a glass door. Albert checks up on his wife and sees Paolo running out the door. Renata explains to Albert what she has done and tells him he must kill Paolo before he calls the police. Albert strangles Paolo as he is on the phone (Killing #7) and when Anna sees Frank's body, someone lops her head off with the hatchet (Killing #8). Renata then tells Albert that she killed Anna and that they must get rid of Simon so they can inherit the fortune. It turns out Frank is not dead and he tells his wife Laura (Anna Maria Rosati) to go get Simon. Simon accuses Laura of killing Filippo, but she tells him that Frank killed him.A flashback ensues, where we find out what actually happened to Countess Federica on that fateful night. Frank and Laura wanted to buy the bay and the area surrounding it, but the Countess refused because Frank wanted to industrialize the area, ruining its natural beauty. Laura became Filippo's mistress, using sex as a way to get him to kill his wife. The rest is history. When Laura tells Simon the story, he strangles her with his bare hands (Killing #9). This triggers another flashback which shows us that Frank paid Simon to kill his wife (These people are despicable!). Back in the present, Albert kills Simon by impaling him with his own fishing spear, pinning him to a wall (Killing #10). Frank tries to kill Albert, but he gets the upper hand, killing Frank instead (Killing #11). This triggers a fast-forward, where we see Frank and Renata standing outside, Frank burning the Countess' will, thereby letting them inherit her fortune. What they don't see in all their giddiness is someone pointing a shotgun at them. We hear, "Daddy!" and the sound of a shotgun blast, Albert and Renata's lifeless bodies lying on the ground (Killings #12 & #13). The shooter? Their young son, who turns to his little sister and says, "Mommy and Daddy are sure good at playing dead!" Kids. You can't live with them and you sure can't kill them!This atmospheric film was directed and co-written by Italy's master of the macabre, Mario Bava (PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES - 1965; 5 DOLLS FOR AN AUGUST MOON - 1970; BARON BLOOD - 1972; RABID DOGS - 1974). Bava was also a master with the camera (he also was cinematographer on this film), knowing how to turn the most ordinary things into something creepy and dangerous (He does it here with squids. I know he is trying to get squids to represent a symbol of something deplorable, but they just come off as creepy. I have no idea why some people eat them. I guarantee they wouldn't be if they watched this film!). What amazes me is that Bava didn't get the recognition he so richly deserved until after his death (in 1980). People now know that he was a genius with a camera and was way ahead of his time, as most of his films still hold up today, Originally filmed as REAZIONE A CATENA ("Chain Reaction") and later known as ECOLOGIA DEL DELITTO ("Ecology Of A Crime"), this film pre-dated most of the slasher films that flooded U.S. theaters and home video from the '80s right up to this day.Released theatrically in the U.S. by Hallmark Releasing under the titles CARNAGE and TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVE (which is how I originally saw it on a double feature with an edited version of Amando Ossorio's TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD [1972]). Hallmark later released it under the ridiculous title of LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT PART II. It was released on fullscreen VHS by Gorgon Video (under the review title) and on VHS in England under the title BLOOD BATH. It also received a widescreen VHS & DVD release early in the New Millennium courtesy of Image Entertainment (both a long OOP). But it's the Blu-Ray, from Kino Lorber, that you should buy. While it is short on extras (just some trailers for other Bava films that are on Kino's roster), it contains the U.S theatrical version (in Italian or English dubbed. For once, the English dub is not intrusive, as most of the actors are speaking English) and the alternate European release (in Italian with optional English subtitles) which adds more exposition to the film. Both versions look absolutely marvelous and show-off Bava's mastery behind the camera. Be sure to listen carefully in the beginning of the film to learn what a "squonk" is. Frank's description is a good reference to how all of the people in this film behave. I consider this a masterpiece of Italian horror. The soundtrack, by Stelvio Cipriani (CITY OF THE WALKING DEAD - 1980, and nearly 240 other Italian films!), is also very memorable. Also featuring Renato Cestiè & Nicoletta Elmi as Renata and Albert's young son and daughter. The theatrical version is Rated R. The European version is Not Rated.