Cinco Bonecas pela Lua de Agosto

Art direction and cinematography are as distinctive as any of Bava's other giallo films of the period, but the garbled script to what is essentially little more than a standard body-count movie really lets this one down. After a plodding and talky start, the film disintegrates into a total mess. Bava pulls off the odd visual flourish, but such scenes never gel together. Still, the mesmeric use of zooms, focus pulls, and tracking shots and the stylish use of colour ensures that, from an entirely aesthetic perspective, this film never becomes boring, and as an auteur piece, is well worth a watch. Now, if only I could work out what the hell happened in it...

One of the few films directed by Italian horror maestro Mario Bava that I hadn't seen, as well as a film starring my latest object of cinematic lust, Edwige Fenech, 1970's "Five Dolls for an August Moon" was one that I eagerly popped into my DVD player at home. And it turns out that it was well worth the wait. In this very interesting giallo, a group of businessmen convenes, with their wives, at an ultramodern beach house on what looks to be a lonely Mediterranean island, with the purpose of convincing a scientist to sell them the formula for his new industrial resin. Before long, though, "Ten Little Indians" style, the group's members start to be killed off one by one, and, in a nice, eerie touch, are kept hanging in plastic wrap in the house's meat locker. The plot here is complex enough without being ultimately impossible to understand or swallow, although one or two points do not withstand logical consideration after the movie is done. Still, Bava's direction is typically stylish, with some memorable set pieces (dig those bouncing marbles!); a chic, jazzy score by Piero Umiliani aids immeasurably in moving things along (what a terrific soundtrack CD this film could have!); and the picture, though not as graphically violent as, say, Bava's "Twitch of the Death Nerve" (1971), still provides some grisly moments. And Edwige? Well, whether doing a frenzied dance number in gold lame bell-bottoms and matching brassiere or strutting around in various states of undress, this luscious Eurobabe does not disappoint. She is easily the hottest of the "five dolls" here; whotta knockout! My thanks to Image Entertainment for this great-looking DVD of a film never released theatrically here in the U.S.

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.

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.