La Baie sanglante

AKA Twitch Of The Death Nerve, and distributed in the USA under the title The Last House On The Left Part 2 despite having nothing whatsoever to do with Wes Cravens film, this 1971 effort is considered to be Mario Bava's most violent film and is the spouting artery from which all future slasher films would flow. When crippled Countess Federica is murdered at her isolated mansion, a gruesome battle ensues to secure the rights to her valuable property around an isolated bay. Everyone, from illegitimate children to shady real estate agents, stakes a claim, only to be killed in increasingly bizarre ways, from simple shootings to a couple impaled by a fishing spear whilst having sex. The gruesome makeup effects are by Carlo Rambaldi, who would later earn Oscars for his work in Alien (1979) and E.T. (1982). Total Film magazine named it one of the 50 greatest horror films of all time.

An elderly heiress is killed by her husband who wants control of her fortunes. What ensues is an all-out massacre.

From legendary director Mario Bava (who doubles as cinematographer) and legendary horror screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti comes a film that essentially everyone (including Sacchetti himself) accepts as the original slasher film (now fondly referred to as the grandfather of the modern slasher film), and being a precursor to "Friday the 13th".

Some people have given "Black Christmas" credit for being the start of it all, and it does have more of the modern look, but "Bay" has so many stylistic flourishes and plot similarities that it has to be given credit. I also believe "Blood and Lace" is under-appreciated in this regard, though I suppose "Bay of Blood" is the more influential.

Aside from the obvious concept of kids going into the woods and dying, we have some of the classic slasher themes: camera from the killer's point of view behind a tree, the double impalement of a couple making love. Bava was way ahead of the curve with this film, despite claims from Luca Palmerini that it is "predictable" or Jim Harper's calling it "blackly humorous". (Harper also points out the "flimsy story", but seems to be a fan of the film overall and recognizes its importance.)

As usual, the biggest critic is Howard Maxford (who never ceases to amaze me how he got a gig as a horror critic when he seems to hate them all). He tries to be complimentary by saying the film has "occasional pretensions to style", but has the overall opinion that Bava's work is "hard to sit through". Sure, it was not the most exciting film in the world, but if Maxford cannot relax for less than 90 minutes, he should not be a film reviewer.

I think the opening with the old woman in the wheelchair being hung had plenty of style and called to mind the later works of Argento (by which I mean the middle of his career, the late 1970s). Argento was allegedly such a fan of this film that he stole a copy from a theater. That would not surprise me.

While the film as a whole has bland moments and your basic murder shots, this scene seals it for me as making the film more worthy of respect... Bava's influence on others is obvious (the entire Italian horror subgenre more or less owes its existence to his films), but I think the finer points are often overlooked. Do not overlook this film.

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-

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!