5 bambole per la luna d'agosto

The late Italian director Mario Bava (1913-1980) made a handful of genuinely great films, like Black Sunday, Lisa and the Devil, and Blood and Black Lace, along with many that almost transcend kitsch, i.e. Diabolik and Black Sabbath, and some that are simply wonderful kitsch. Of the third category, this may be the best example.

A group of rich, decadent swingers in the most tasteless fashions of the time (the year is 1970) cavort about on an island owned by one of them. One guest is a scientist with a formula that could be worth a fortune. When he refuses to sell the formula, everybody on the island starts dying one by one (a la Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians,) the bodies literally piling up in the meat locker, just one example of the hilariously dark humor Bava brings to this dubious premise.

Bava made no bones about this movie being a paycheck job, or of his shame for it - the script was atrocious, the producer refused to let him have any say in the casting, or let Bava use most of his usual crew, and budget cuts forced the director to have almost every murder take place offscreen. But Bava's films always had a misanthropic wit(except Black Sunday, with its clear-cut good versus evil scenario,) and in the case of "Five Dolls For An August Moon," it almost seems like the director's contempt for the project actually made the end result funnier and more brazen than expected. Bava had a technical facility that most money-burning present day directors would kill for, and a complete lack of pretensions to being anything other than a hard-working director for hire. When the chemistry was just right, it could create a glorious bauble (or, less often, something even better.)

Is it good? Well, as the saying goes, how could something so right be so wrong?

George Stark (Teodoro Corrà), a wealthy industrialist, invites several business friends and their partners to his island retreat for the weekend, with the intention of convincing scientist Gerry Farrell (William Berger) to sell his secret formula for a new industrial resin. Philanthropist Gerry isn't interested in making a deal, intending instead to make his invention public, a fact that forces one or more of the guests to turn to murder.

The general consensus seems to be that this is one of director Mario Bava's weakest efforts (even Bava himself was reportedly not fond of the film, being contractually obliged to direct); I can't really comment much on that since I've seen too few of his films to compare, but what I can say is that, even though I found the twists and turns of this Italian variation of Agatha Christie's Ten little Indians virtually impossible to fathom (especially the twist ending), there were still enough positives to make it worth a go.

As with many a giallo, the female cast are very easy on the eye, with genre regular Edwige Fenech stripping off whenever possible as always. There are numerous murders, and although they all occur off-screen (we get to see just the aftermath), the hanging up of the steadily growing number bodies in a meat locker is wonderfully macabre and darkly amusing. The jazzy score is super cool, perfectly complementing the wonderful '60s/'70s architecture and decor of the island's house. And despite Bava's purported disinterest, there is still an unmistakable sense of style, with effective uses of whip-pans and rapid zooms, and at least one stunning scene worthy of a genius, wherein a display of glass balls roll down a spiral staircase, along the floor, and into a bathtub where a woman has committed suicide.

All said and done, if this is his worst, I really must check out his best.

It has striking set pieces, sets, and color schemes. A pity the plot is not more original. But Bava's morbid sense of humor permeates the film.

Five couples come to an island for rest and relaxation. There is a maid and manservant. One of the guests tries a sacrifice--to whom, what or why isn't explained. The lights go out. The sacrifice is dead when the lights come back on--or is she? One of the guests is an inventor with an invention worth millions. After turning down three financial offers for the formula to it, people start dying. The boats that are an avenue of escape are stolen and the only telephone line is cut. The list of suspects dwindles. Will anyone survive the movie?

The cinematography was done by Antonio Rinaldi. Bava himself did the quick, jumpy editing, which contributes to the viewers' sense of unease. The dominant colors in this film are dark blue and purple, especially at night; in three scenes, the only colors used are black, white, and red. The actors are adequate.

The plot isn't exactly logical and the ending comes close to breaking the bounds of disbelief. It's like Bava gave up on everything but the visuals. So the plot may become unbelievable, but the film's a visual feast and Bava keeps things moving so I didn't have time to get bored.

Seemingly Mario Bava was not pleased with having to direct this film. He carried out his duties as a director for hire though but despite the presence of the beautiful giallo regular Edwige Fenech, his disinterest to the project shows and the movie is wildly uneven but hugely likable. It's about an inventor who, along with a group of would-be investors, assemble on an island. The investors want a formula from the inventor and are willing to pay big for it but he does not want to sell out. Before long people start being murdered one by one. It's a variation on Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians.

It has the breezy atmosphere that many late 60's Italian thrillers have. It wasn't until after Dario Argento's The Bird with the Crystal Plumage became an international success that the giallo genre became more direct, aggressively suspenseful and violent. Five Dolls is very much a product of the gialli that came before this. Its lounge music soundtrack and languid nature testify to this. As an actual mystery thriller it's pretty lacking it has to be said. It feels like Bava's contempt for the material is reflected in his complete indifference in creating a suspenseful or thrilling movie. While it's a whodunit with quite a number of murders, they are all committed off-screen. This is not to the film's advantage at all. Characters suddenly die from out of nowhere with no build up. Sometimes it feels like Five Dolls is a lampoon of the genre. Judging by the black humour Bava utilised in the following year's Bay of Blood it is entirely possible that he isn't taking things entirely seriously here either.

What Five Dolls does have though is a beautiful look and feel. This is hardly surprising I suppose seeing as its Bava's trademark. The cinematography is always interesting, with several well composed shots and good use of the beach-front location and villa. While the production design, fashions and cool décor are all appealing. The interest of the film, therefore, is more in watching a chic melodrama involving a group of largely unsympathetic rich people. It works better as this, than as a thriller. Still, it does have some nice macabre touches that would have graced his best films, such as the repeat scene of the murder victims hanging up in the freezer wrapped in plastic; or the shot of crystal balls rolling en mass down a set of stairs and into a bathroom leading us to yet another dead body. But perhaps best of all is the opening party scene which introduces all of the characters. It's campy to the max, with lots of slow zooms into all of the character's faces, while Fenech dances in a crazy sensual way. This sequence, like many others, benefits from the score by Piero Umiliani. It's a very eccentric soundtrack of organ-driven Italo-pop. Five Dolls is certainly a film that favours style over substance.

Five Dolls for an August Moon is not one of Mario Bava's best films but it is among his most charming. Despite the inherent weakness of its plot and mystery-thriller elements there's just something extremely likable about it. It's of its time in the best possible sense.