O Alerta Vermelho da Loucura

I say strange because I'm not quite sure what exactly "Hatchet for the Honeymoon" was supposed to be (but enjoyed it nonetheless). It features many of the traditional giallo elements - a black-clad killer, lots of beautiful young women who may as well have "Murder Victim" tattooed on their foreheads, incompetent detectives, childhood psychological trauma, spooky childhood toys... Yet it also diverges from the giallo blueprint in some ways by incorporating an odd, Twilight Zone-style supernatural element into the plot, and also a wry commentary on bourgeois married life. There are clear elements of both Psycho and Peeping Tom in the story, and it also predates both the 1980 slasher film He Knows You're Alone, and the Bret Easton Ellis book (and later film) American Psycho.

As usual with Mario Bava, the cinematography, production design and lighting are all beautiful to look at, and there are two great suspense set-pieces: the scene where the killer waltzes with his next victim to the eerie tune of a music box in a shadowy, elegant store-room full of creepy plastic mannequins in wedding dresses; and the scene where he talks to the suspicious cop while his dead wife's arm is hanging from the staircase and dripping blood onto the carpet.

It's also a surprisingly funny film in many ways. Special mention must go to Laura Betti's hilarious performance as Mildred, the evil wife from hell.

All in all, "Hatchet for the Honeymoon" is an intriguing and often underrated addition to Mario Bava's formidable canon. Stylish, entertaining and darkly funny.

In the late sixties Bava began reinventing the murder mystery formula he single-handedly created with films like THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH and BLOOD AND BLACK LACE. In this film you know from the start who the killer is and so this film becomes a look into the crazed mind of a guy with childhood trauma who kills women. There's a great experimental score, cool fashions and a dance nightclub sequence for all you Sixties kitsch fans out there. Stephen Forsyth gives a great wide-eyed psycho performance and Bava forsakes his usual stylishly colored lighting for dreamy surreal imagery during the murder scenes. Bava even sticks in scenes from his earlier films on a TV as an in-joke for his fans.

The man who brought you such successful chillers as "5 Dolls for an August Moon" , ¨Operazione Paura¨ ,¨Black Sabbath¨ , "Six Women for the Murderer" , ¨The Evil Eye¨ goes back in this nice film that packs great cinematography , impressive spectacle and well staged killings . It begins developing an elaborate animated collage for the film opening credits , being originally created by the great Mario Bava . The flick deals with a respected fashion mogul who runs a house of style where happens several bloody murders and gruesome executions . As a bridal design shop owner called John Harrington (Stephen Forsyth) kills various young brides-to-be (Femi Benussi) in an attempt to unlock a repressed childhood trauma that's causing him to commit murder . John contracts a new fashion model , that person ultimately being Helen Wood (Dagmar Lassander) , who eventually gets a little too close for his comfort . Harrington is facing further torment in the mutually unsatisfying marriage to Mildred (Laura Betti , originally the script didn't include the role , it was only after expressed interest in working with Bava that the director re-wrote the script so that Betti could have a suitable starring) who subsequently to return to haunt him as a ghost . Meanwhile , a police inspector named Russell (Jesus Puente) investigates the strange killings , being his prime suspect Harrington . When Russel enters Carrington's home , the latter tells the screams heard are caused by the television set (the TV show that Harrington refers to in an attempt to fool Inspector is a clip from Mario Bava's own Black Sabbath (1963) - specifically the "Wurdalak" sequence featuring Boris Karloff) .

Mario Bava strikes again in this mysterious and grisly picture with haunting atmosphere , colorful photography and strange musical score . Bava's great success (the first was ¨Black Sunday¨ or ¨Mask of Demon¨)is compellingly directed with startling visual content . This frightening movie is plenty of thrills , chills , high body-count and glimmer color in lurid pastel with phenomenal results . Interesting screenplay filled with twists , turns and rare situations by prolific Santiago Moncada , an usual playwright . This is a classic slasher where the intrigue , tension , suspense appear threatening and lurking in every room , corridors and luxurious interior and exterior . Nice as well as twisted acting by Stephen Forsyth as a psychotic killer who manages a model house . This genuinely mysterious story is well photographed by the same Mario Bava with magenta shades of ochre , translucently pale turquoises and deep orange-red . Filmed on location in Barcelona , Harrington's villa , Rome , Paris and studios Alfonso Balcazar . The Spanish villa that the majority of the film was shot at was formerly the touristic home of Spanish dictator Generalissimo Francisco Franco .

The movie well produced by Manuel Caño belongs to Italian Giallo genre , Bava (¨Planet of vampires¨, ¨House of exorcism¨) along with Riccardo Freda (¨Secret of Dr. Hitchcock¨ , ¨Il Vampiri¨) are the fundamental creators . In fact , both of whom collaborated deeply among them , as Bava finished two Fedra's films ¨Il Vampiri¨ and ¨Caltiki¨ . These Giallo movies are characterized by overblown use of color in shining red blood , usual zooms and utilization of images-shock . Later on , there appears Dario Argento (¨Deep red¨, ¨Suspiria¨,¨Inferno¨), another essential filmmaker of classic Latino terror films . Rating : Good, this is one more imaginative slasher pictures in which the camera stalks in sinister style throughout a story with magnificent visual skills.

Interesting, complex look at a man who must kill young brides in order to unlock the secret of who killed his own mother. With each hacked bride, the main character of Harrington sees more and more of his terrible childhood memory when he saw his own mother axed. The acting in this film is nothing terribly special, nor is the story, but Bava'a direction is a visual treasure to behold. As always, he makes the most he can with the camera lens. Some of the shots are inspiring as Bava directs our attention through small orifices sometimes like a small window. His use of a room with mannequins is very effective too. Bava even has fun with his little joke of having Harrington watching Bava's own Black Sabbath on television when having just killed his wife he is visited by the police. Style and visual artistry ripen all around only to be harvested by Bava's gluttonous camera lens. The plot, although missing huge pieces of coherence and logic, is fairly well-crafted. The acting is adequate. I particularly liked the actress that played Harrington's vitriolic wife and the character of the police inspector.The sense of the sixties and fanciful colours pervade almost every scene, and the soundtrack is very suitable to this material. For some horror fans, the film may seem somewhat slow, but it kept my interest throughout.

The wedding dress designer John Harrington (Stephen Forsyth) has a stylish studio and is unhappily married with the wealthy Mildred Harrington (Laura Betti). His mother was murdered in the studio when he was a boy and he has a childhood trauma with her death. John is a madman and serial-killer, who murders brides-to-be with a hatchet and uses an incinerator to get rid of their bodies is his greenhouse. When John kills Mildred, her ghost haunts him and his madness gets worse. Inspector Russell (Jesus Puente) is investigating the murders and John Harrington is his prime suspect. Will John escape from the smart inspector?

"Il rosso segno della follia", a.k.a. "Hatchet for the Honeymoon", is a different giallo from Mario Bava since the viewer knows who the serial-killer is since the beginning. The cinematography, camera work and locations are magnificent and supported by a great music score. The profile of the serial-killer is interesting and his duel with the intelligent inspector is a good part of the film. Laura Betti in the role of John's wife is top-notch. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Alerta Vermelho da Loucura" ("The Red Alert of Madness")