Mario Bava Boxed Set: Anchor Bay, 2007

5 Disks:

Black Sabbath

Black Sunday

Girl Who Knew Too Much, The

Kill, Baby… Kill!

Knives of the Avenger

Product Description:

More than a quarter of a century after his death, director Mario Bava remains one of international cinema’s most controversial icons. Today his influence — marked by stunning visuals, daring sexuality and shocking violence — can still be seen in the works of Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, Tim Burton, Dario Argento and countless others in a legacy that extends far beyond the horror genre. This collection brings together 5 landmark movies from the first half of Bava’s career — encompassing the original giallo, a bold Viking epic, and his three gothic horror masterpieces — featuring new transfers, original European versions, and exclusive featurettes to create the definitive celebration of one of the most important filmmakers of all time.

Spotlight Review: Kill, Baby… Kill!

Forget the lurid title, and you have an authentic gothic masterpiece by the great Italian horror maestro, Mario Bava. Wait… forget all the lurid titles this 40 year old film is known by — Curse of the Dead, Curse of the Living Dead, Don't Walk in the Park, and Operation Fear — and enjoy it for Bava's trademark chilling visuals, classic ghost story elements, and gorgeous actresses.

This vividly hued, deeply shadowed atmospheric mystery suspenser begins with a pointy iron-fence impalement death, and leads into the arrival of the perfectly coiffed, famed Dr. Paul Eswai (Giacomo Rossi-Stuart) who's been called to the small town do an autopsy on the punctured girl. With the help of a voluptuous blonde medical student named Monica Schuftan (Erica Blanc), he finds a coin lodged in the girl's heart… why is it there, and who put it there?

Eswai soon discovers that the village lass's death isn't the first suspicious one and it's not the last. As the dedicated doc tries to get to the bottom of the fatal gloom that's settled like a pall over the village, he learns that all roads lead to the Graps Estate, where a little aristocrat named Melissa was killed some 20 years before. Is it her ghost seeking revenge, or something even more sinister?

Filled with iconic imagery — a sullen blonde child with a bouncing ball, spiral staircases, wall sconces made of arms and hands, staring eyes through bedroom windowpanes — Kill, Baby… Kill! is more than just a pretty picture. At its heart is a wickedly cool Euro-horror story that's sure to stick with you long after the lights have been turned out for the night.

The movie is presented in its native Italian, along with supplemental materials that include  a dubbed international trailer, and some original TV spots.

= = =