A Bay of Blood (1971)

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Generally credited as the inspiration for most of the slasher and serial killer movies in the next 70's and 80's, Bava's "A Bay Of Blood" isn't perfect by any means, but is well worth your time to take it in at least once, if you can.Whereas most of the films it inspired keep things simple (one killer, a bunch of nubile young victims, various gimmicky shocks and inventive ways to skewer and maim them), "Bay" distinguishes itself by having multiple killers, bright, crisp photography, and a whole lot of off-putting or unlikable characters who each get a brief moment of "stage time" before they dispatch each other in various jarring and startling ways. Mostly I think what makes Bava better than his imitators is his timing and setups - he knows just how long to focus in on his characters and just how much "humanity" to imbue them with before they get shuffled off this mortal coil. Saw it once, don't feel the need to ever see it again, but I thought it was pretty darned good.

This movie begins with a wealthy countess by the name of "Federica" (Isa Miranda) being murdered by her husband "Filippo Donati" (Giovanni Nuvoletti) while she is sitting in her wheel chair. Immediately afterward Filippo is stabbed to death by an unknown assailant wielding a knife. His body is then weighed down and placed in the bay next to the countess' house. Meanwhile four young adults happen to stumble upon a cottage and they are subsequently murdered as well. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie I will just say that this film greatly resembles the slasher films made popular a few years later. Admittedly, the suspense wasn't as great, the script was poor and the ending left much to be desired. However, it managed to maintain my interest for the most part and it does have several attractive actresses in "Claudine Auger" (as "Renata"), Anna Maria Rosati ("Laura") and Brigitte Skay ("Brunhilda") who certainly add to the scenery. All things considered then, I believe that this would be a decent companion in a slasher double-feature and certainly worth viewing for those who enjoy this particular genre. Accordingly, despite the faults I mentioned earlier, I rate this movie as about average.

Mario Bava's highly regarded "Reazione a Catena", which translates as "chain reaction" in English, is rightfully considered one of the principal inspirations for what would become the "body count" horror movie. Here, we have characters often sharing one common trait: unbridled avarice, as they scheme to get their hands on a prime piece of bay side property coveted by all. To meet this end, people are quite willing to kill each other, and any & all potential witnesses to boot. The movie is co-written and photographed by Bava, and it bears the mark of the director's work by being extremely striking visually. Once the haunting music courtesy of Stelvio Cipriani is added, we get an effective melding of soundtrack & image. Right from the start, this aesthetic is stressed with the opening credits. The scenery is certainly beautiful, and the "prowling" camera-work also adds to the experience. It would be fair to say that these elements take precedence over an admittedly fairly simple story. The first nine minutes play out without using any dialogue, and they're riveting. It's hard to forget that image of a squid slithering over a dead body's face. Of course, many adoring horror fans love this movie for its treatment of all cast members as fair game. The gore is very well done - it was the work of future Oscar winner Carlo Rambaldi, who went on to work on such films as "King Kong" '76, "Alien", and "E.T.". If one has seen such slashers as "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th" parts 1 and 2 before seeing this film, they'll right away notice how "Reazione a Catena" influenced them. The acting is pretty good, from such principals as Claudine Auger ("Thunderball"), Luigi Pistilli ("The Good, the Bad & the Ugly"), Claudio Camaso ("Vengeance"), Laura Betti ("Hatchet for the Honeymoon"), and Isa Miranda ("The Night Porter"). Brigitte Skay ("Homo Eroticus") supplies some full frontal nudity as a bonus. Overall, this is a fun film, which keeps the carnage going right up until the very end, with a delicious denouement. It may not be among the best of Bava's work, but its status is undeniable and it's nothing if not entertaining. Seven out of 10.

I watched it on the Horror Channel and am seeing for the first time (I'm mid 40's) a number of horrors of this vintage on this channel. It is not my usual fare, so I'm not expert. The version was dark and well saturated. It was dubbed, too. Normally I never watch my World Cinema dubbed but this is 80's horror and like badly dubbed porno of a certain age, a degree of naffness adds to the overall charm. And you don't want your screen littered up with tiny writing when you want to see all the gory details, do you?No, there's not much plot - that also would get in the way, too much to think about. Something about the Bay in question being turned into a holiday resort and the consequent nasty removal of those persons inheriting that land. What you DO get are some very inventive murders - 13 of them, apparently, naked bathing beauties and some pretty scenery. Much better than today's total, full-on barrage of splatter. It looks quite European.What is great about this director is the very fast moving camera - it zooms in and out very fast at times for maximum shock effect, which may only appear for a few seconds. Unfortunately the dark screen hid quite a lot of detail, there were fight scenes where you could only make out wrestling bodies and nothing else. The final scene will have you in amused disbelief.I enjoyed it, at least and seems to be a bit of cult classic, so is recommended.