BLOOD AND BLACK LACE | 6 DONNE PER L’ASSASSINO

ITALY, FRANCE, WEST GERMANY | 1964 | COLOR | DCP | 88’ | ITALIAN

The mother of all slasher films comes from Italy, signed by the greatest horror master of European cinema and it is actually his most enjoyable film. Immersing everything in an impressive technicolor pool, Mario Bava moves away from the world of realism composing an operatic thriller where every scene counts and every murder depiction is a small masterpiece, as a series of female models die by the gloved hand of an unseen sadist killer. Plot and characters give subtle ways to the genuine glorification of style and direction, which Bava showcases with a perverse joy that feels contagious. L.K.

DIRECTOR: Mario Bava
SCREENWRITER: Marcello Fondato
DoP: Ubaldo Terzano
MUSIC: Carlo Rustichelli
EDITOR: Mario Serandrei
PRINCIPAL CAST: Eva Bartok, Cameron Mitchell, Thomas Reiner, Claude Dantes, Dante Di Paolo

MARIO BAVA (1914-1980)
The ‘Master of Italian Horror’ aspired to be a painter, and in a way he made it through his camera. He started off as an assistant in Italian studios during the Mussolini era. He became Roberto Rossellini’s cinematographer, after having worked as a visual artist and screenwriter. His impact on later directors (Fellini, Carpenter, Burton, Scorsese, Tarantino) is immeasurable.

FILMOGRAPHY (SELECTED)
1974 Rabid Dogs
1974 Lisa and the Devil
1972 Baron Blood
1971 A Bay of Blood
1968 Danger: Diabolik
1966 Kill, Baby, Kill
1965 Planet of the Vampires
1964 Blood and Black Lace
1963 Black Sabbath
1963 The Girl Who Knew Too Much
1960 Black Sunday