Im Blutrausch des Satans

I recently watched Mario Bava's Italian giallo classic, A Bay of Blood (1971), on Tubi. The film revolves around a small town by a lake where the land is in dispute following the death of the countess who owned it. As individuals arrive at the countess's home, they are systematically murdered. The stakes rise as the quest for the house becomes deadlier.

Directed by the iconic Mario Bava, known for Lisa and the Devil, and starring Claudine Auger (Thunderball), Luisi Pistilli (The Good, The Bad and the Ugly), Claudio Camaso (Vengeance) and Anna Maria Rosati.

This movie embodies the essence of a classic slasher, with an engaging plot, unique circumstances, clear motives, and a captivating "whodunit" element. The cast excels, and the female actors are stunning as always. The film features a classic soundtrack from its era, and the kills become increasingly gruesome as the story unfolds. There's ample gore, blood splatter, and an entertaining decapitation scene. It uses the iconic red paint for blood and incorporates amusing use of an octopus 🐙 . The final revelation is worthwhile, leading to a rewarding conclusion.

In summary, A Bay of Blood is an entertaining Italian giallo, not without its flaws, but certainly worth watching. I would rate this a 7/10 and highly recommend it.

Twitch of the Death Nerve (1971)

**** (out of 4)

Mario Bava's landmark film can now be considered one of the very first slashers and of course a major influence on Friday THE 13TH. The film takes place at a lake-side resort where a variety of people are brutally slaughtered by an unknown maniac. Also known as A BAY OF BLOOD and a dozen other titles, this Bava film mixes the giallo with what would become known as the slasher and the end result is certainly something special and ground- breaking. To say the film was a major influence on the genre to come would be an understatement because there's simply so much going on here that other filmmakers would steal from. Obviously there's the graphic violence, which is scattered throughout the film and this is what got the movie its original reputation. The effects are quite ghastly for their time and especially a couple throat slashings, a memorable beheading and of course a sex scene where two victims are offed at the same time (and later stolen in Friday THE 13TH PART 2). The film is also quite sleazy with not only the gore but a fair amount of nudity and sex. This certainly wasn't the first film to use sex and violence but Bava really puts his own spin on it because the movie just feels so dirty. I say that in a good way because the director adds a certain poetry to the death scenes and he also lingers on them for long periods after the victims are stabbed or whatever else their fate is. Instead of cutting to the next scene Bava just keeps the camera on the victims as they take their last few breathes and this here is quite effective and at times ugly. The film is certainly far from flawless as some of the performances aren't all that impressive and the director goes for way too many zoom shots. With that said, there are enough twists in the story for ten movies and it's constantly catching you off guard. No matter what you call the film there's no question about its importance to the genre and it ranks as one of the best in Bava's career.

This film is the first i have watched from the infamous "video nasties" list (these were banned movies, in the 80s, that would result in you being prosecuted for owning them in the uk) .

I choose at random and thankfully this seems to be one of the better films of that ilk! The acting isn't going to win any awards but it is passable and in some cases genuinely good.

Theres some nudity, nothing too extreme. The reason i guess this film was banned was due more to the violence. Its nothing you haven't seen before and even for it's time it is not too over the top. There are some well executed kills, a good job by the special effects team! The camera work is quite good and there are some impressive shots.

The main plot revolves around the passing of an estate to the former owners children, it quickly turns into a whodunit with 90% of the characters being horrible caricatures! This makes for some fun kills and a pace that really ramps up in the 3rd act.

In closing this is an entertaining movie and if your looking for some competent early 70s schlock then id recommend giving this a whirl!

At a bay on the remote coast of central Italy, corpses mount up as several people contest over the valuable property rights. Some of those involved are four party-minded youths in a yellow dune buggy.

Mario Bava's "A Bay of Blood" (1971) is called "Ecology of Crime" in Italian (translated) and is known by a few other names, like "Twitch of the Death Nerve" ("A Bay of Blood" is easily the best title).

With one foot firmly in giallo territory, it is hailed as the progenitor and blueprint for the kitschy slasher craze that would soon emerge with "Halloween" (1978) and "Friday the 13th" (1980). But let's not forget about the influential films that led up to this one, like "Psycho" (1960), "Dementia 13" (1963) and Bava's own "Blood and Black Lace" (1964), not to mention "Silent Night, Bloody Night," which was shot at the same time as "A Bay of Blood." These paved the way for early 70's slashers like "Home for the Holidays" (1972), "Torso (1973), "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (1974) and "Black Christmas" (1974).

While this is superior to "Dementia 13," the somewhat convoluted story is not as compelling as "Psycho," "Silent Night, Bloody Night" and "Friday the 13th." Speaking of the latter, devotees of "A Bay of Blood" suggest that it heavily influenced the first two "Friday" films, but this would mostly apply to the four youths visiting the desolate bay and a couple of death scenes, which amount to a fraction of the runtime. There's nothing in "Bay" about camp counselors staying at a summer camp and the dynamics thereof.

Brigitte Skay is a highlight on the female front as Louise, but there are a few other notables, like Paola Montenero (Sylvie), Anna Maria Rosati (Laura) and the joyless Claudine Auger (Renata). On the other side of the gender spectrum, Claudio Volonté is reminiscent of Oliver Reed as solemn fisherman outcast Simon.

The movie runs 1 hour, 24 minutes, and was shot about an hour's drive south of Rome in Sabaudia, Italy, at the producer's beach house, along with some bits shot at Fogliano, which is 12 miles north.

GRADE: B-

This is one of Bava's few films where everything works. It does exactly what it sets out to do. The minimalistic script makes no attempt at either character motivation or logic, but serves merely as an engine for the 13 bloody murders. Here the main pleasure, as in all subsequent body count movies, is in seeing in which new and inventive manner the next murder will be committed, but as usual, it is Bava's visual style which sets this film above Friday 13th and all it's imitators, as well as a knowing sense of humour and a pounding jazzy soundtrack. Here Bava's style is refined and reduced ad absurdam, with intermittent atmospheric interludes making use of the natural features of the landscape, from slow pans across the horizon, focus pulls through the foliage, and rapid zooms in and out of each bloody murder. It is true that the script loses its footing in the final quarter, unable to maintain the intensity throughout, but that fact notwithstanding, this is one of the finest films of its genre.