The Mario Bava Collection, Volume 1
 | Black Sunday / Black Sabbath / The Girl Who Knew Too Much / Kill Baby Kill / Knives of the AvengerDirected by Mario Bava, Salvatore Billitteri Starring: Barbara Steele, Michèle Mercier, Lidia Alfonsi, Boris Karloff, Mark Damon Starz / Anchor Bay, 1964, DVD Customer Rating: 19 reviews Recommend |
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More than a quarter of a century after his death, director Mario Bava remains one of international cinema’s most controversial icons. Today his influence — marked by stunning visuals, daring sexuality and shocking violence — can still be seen in the works of Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, Tim Burton, Dario Argento and countless others in a legacy that extends far beyond the horror genre. This collection brings together 5 landmark movies from the first half of Bava’s career — encompassing the original giallo, a bold Viking epic, and his three gothic horror masterpieces — featuring new transfers, original European versions, and exclusive featurettes to create the definitive celebration of one of the most important filmmakers of all time.
Five of Mario Bava's best films are included in this box set, minus his forays into eroticism, like Blood and Black Lace. Still, the lines between sexual pathos and violence blur in these selections that influenced not only other famed directors of Giallo, such as Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci, but also spawned the American golden age in horror, led by directors such as John Carpenter. Three black and white films here exemplify Bava's trademark use of chiaroscuro mixed with suspense-building cinematography first developed in early horror classics like Nosferatu and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. In the Hitchcock-inspired Evil Eye (1963), tourist Nora Davis (Leticia Roman) witnesses a murder but can't convince police of the crime. Kill Baby Kill! (1966) is the prototype for all little girl-ghost films. Dr. Paul Eswai (Giacomo Rossi-Stuart) is recruited to solve the mystery of Villa Graps, where Baroness Graps (Giana Vivaldi) reanimates her dead daughter, Melissa, by killing innocent villagers. In Black Sunday (1960), the witch Princess Asa Vajda comes back from the dead to inhabit her look-alike, Katia, both played by Barbara Steele, the original femme fatale to which all brunette vamps, like Soledad Miranda (Vampyros Lesbos) and Elvira, are indebted.
In Technicolor, Bava's fantastically rainbow-lit films underpin the director's fascination with connections between our world and those imagined. Black Sabbath (1963) is a trilogy hosted by Boris Karloff, who also stars as a Russian vampire in its segment, "The Wurdalak." "The Telephone," and "The Drop of Water," in which a nurse, Helen Correy (Jacqueline Pierreux), steals a ring then fears that her dead medium patient seeks revenge, are acute studies of guilt and paranoia. The Viking saga, Knives of the Avenger (1966), like Bava's Hercules in the Haunted World, spawned several sword and sorcery films, while protagonist Rurik's (Cameron Mitchell's) knife-throwing is indeed entertaining. Screened back to back, these films provide evidence of Bava's influence in the horror genre. Moreover, they reveal Bava's deep understanding of horror's many facets, whether sexually, psychologically, or physically based. —Trinie Dalton
Title: The Mario Bava Collection, Volume 1 (Black Sunday / Black Sabbath / The Girl Who Knew Too Much / Kill Baby Kill / Knives of the Avenger)
Sales Rank: 26091 in DVD
Actor: Barbara Steele, Michèle Mercier, Lidia Alfonsi, Boris Karloff, Mark Damon
Director: Mario Bava, Salvatore Billitteri
Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay, 2007-04-03, Theatrical Release: 1964-05-20
Format: Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC, Acpect Ratio 1.33:1
Languages: Italian (Original Language), English (Published)
Audience Rating: Unrated
Region Code: 1
Running Time: 430 minutes
Item Dimensions: 1 pounds
Package Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.6 x 1.7 inches, 0.95 pounds
- A masterpiece
- This film is one of the best horror films I have ever watched. Though it is vintage, it is excellent and ranks high with the best of the oldies. This film is absolutely fascinating gothic horror.… More reviews
- The Mario Bava Collection Volumen 1
- Do you enjoy GOOD horror movies? Tired of those bored movies about a stupid with a chainsaw? Looking for clasic movies of dark and sinister atmosphere? Well, if so, this is for you. Blood, superstition, legends, witchcraft and violences, mixed in 3 master pices of gothic horror (Black Sunday, Black Sabbath and Kill Baby Kill). No blood baths or stupid monsters, but… More reviews
- Classic early Bava
- This five early films show Bava developing from B&W - which he does in a really eerie way - to his first colour projects. There are some fine chills in these movies, which include a great turn from Boris Karloff.
These are psychologically intense in many places and all are well worth seeing. This is a fantastic set. … More reviews
- All Those Colours of the Dark
- Mario Bava is probably one of the most important and influential, yet lesser known, genre directors to come out of Italian cinema. His films combined an art house sensibility within the 'exploitation' tag they we're labeled with. As it's been noted elsewhere here, he was a master of the gothic horror film, yet his body of work included such genres… More reviews
- Great Bava Collection
- This box set contains five of Bava's films. 'Black Sunday', 'Black Sabbath' and 'Kill, Baby..kill' (along with two more) are the top notch gothic horror flicks included in this set. Each DVD is placed in its own slim keep case inside the very artistic outer box. All movies are presented in widescreen format and the… More reviews
