(1960)
Overall: GOOD
Though Mario Bava's stylized use of color is one of the most lauded talents he brought to horror cinema, the black and white Black Sunday, (The Mask of Satan, Revenge of the Vampire, La Maschera del Demonio),
still probably sits in most people's mind as his definitive film. It
is certainly one of the most atmospheric Gothic horror movies ever made and would prove largely influential across the globe,
reestablishing Universal's monster movie tropes for more generations to come. Particularly in
Italy, logic and realism are rarely a concern and memorable visuals,
gore, and moody evilness instead take center stage. This is certainly
the case here, where silly moments could become distracting if not for
the near suffocatingly dreadful and sinister ambiance that oozes from
every frame. Shadows, darkness, crypts, spiderwebs, howlings, plus a
thousand other horror staples are all exploited marvelously here, with
the added element of gore and sexual tension. The only shortcomings
present are with the melodrama and lousy musical score, both of which
are common drawbacks of the era more than anything else. Still, this established both Bava's reputation as a master in in the genre as well as British actor Barbara Steele's place as arguably Europe's premier scream queen.
(1963)
Overall: GOOD
Serving as both Mario Bava's final film in black and white as well as one that is regularly regarded as the first official giallo, The Girl Who Knew Too Much, (La ragazza che sapeva troppo), is a historically important thriller from one of horror's most important filmmakers. There are a couple of instances where Bava lets the flow drag a bit, failing to successfully ride that line of building tension where instead, some of the scenes become drawn-out and snore-inducing. There are some tonal problems as well when the movie occasionally decides to be a comedy, though this almost happens enough to conclude that it was meant not to be taken all that seriously. Bava himself was not that impressed with the senseless script or from working with American John Saxton who allegedly practiced his martial arts too much on set for the director's liking. Issues aside, the film is photographed beautifully, with Bava doubling as cinematographer. Shooting locations such as the Spanish Steps and the Trinità dei Monti in Rome are shown in expansive, shadow-drenched ways. As a precursor to the giallo film which would begin to get made in growing abundance over the following years, Bava proves quite innovative not so much in the slasher aspects of the sub-genre but more in the film noir/crime mystery ones where a pretty girl sees "too much", gets threatened, and becomes hellbent on discovering her pursuer.
(1963)
Overall: MEH
Drastically flawed due to its arduous pacing, The Whip and the Body, (La frusta e il corpo, What!, Night Is the Phantom), is nearly recommendable as a high water mark for Mario Bava's fantastic, visual style at least. The film was put together deliberately as an Italian answer to Roger Corman's The Pit and the Pendulum and Bava was brought in to direct and act as cinematographer, (uncredited), while Christopher Lee was scored in a practically tailor-made part as a sadomasochistic, black sheep of a noble family. From a pure optical standpoint, this is a triumph as Bava works his true strengths framing nearly every shot beautifully in expressive color pallets and shadows while staging some purely memorable scenes involving hands emerging out of blackness, eerily-lit crypts and hallways, and intense closeups of women's terrified eyes. Lee is naturally menacing and brutish, and even though his screen time is rather minimal, the most is made out of his foreboding demeanor. Sadly though, the movie is sloooooooooooooow as all hell. It becomes cumbersome how so many shots linger on and on while the story itself has virtually nothing to it. The whole thing succumbs to a boring game of people seeing and hearing things, screaming, and then other people running in to tell them it was all in their imagination.
(1965)
Overall: MEH
Mario Bava did not dip his toes too frequently into sci-fi throughout his career, making Planet of the Vampires, (Terrore nello Spazio), a rather unique work. Virtually all of its story elements are standard, familiar stuff with an alien force mysteriously overtaking a bunch of marooned astronauts. Yet while the script is not the most ingeniously original of its kind, it has some merit for its creepy atmosphere and colorful look which is straight out of pulp science fiction comics. The film was internationally financed by studios in American, Spain, and Italy and the ethnically diverse, (and post dubbed of course), cast are just as varied. Being made cheaply as a double feature though, the lack of budget is charmingly noticeable and Bava works quite a few wonders drenching the small sets with enough vibrant, multi-colored fog to obscure the plastic rocks and clunky toy spaceship. The big, giant alien skulls look pretty damn cool too. The only problem really is a common one in that the movie drags and absolutely no investment is made to flesh out any of the characters. This makes it problematic to care as everyone simply goes through the motions exploring their environment, trying to fix their ship to return to earth, and tediously discovering what is going on.
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