This past year I picked up the two box sets that comprise the Anchor Bay Mario Bava film collection and made him a bit of a personal film project for the year. Last night I watched what was described on the back of the slimcase packaging as "the film he'd envisioned his entire career..." Lisa and the Devil (this sentence was shortly followed by "after the commercial disaster of Lisa and the Devil). This rounded out a nice array of his work that I had now watched including Black Sunday, Black Sabbath, Baron Blood, Knives of the Avenger, Bay of Blood (a.k.a. Twitch of the Death Nerve) and 5 Dolls for an August Moon. I feel that even though I am saving some other gems in the collection for future viewing...much like keeping a fine vintage wine in the cellar...I can say that I like Bava very much.
Italian cinema has a style all its own, and I love the way it permeates through all the genres of film. I especially love the way it embellishes the b-movie genres: Spaghetti westerns, ultra-violent cop dramas, sword and sandal, thrillers and horror. Bava touches upon all these genres, and adds a slight intellectual edginess in the visual style that I find immensely appealing. All his films have some moment that I find just beautiful, and while they may at times be a bit lacking in story or character, they are always saturated with stylization.
If you get the chance I highly recommend getting Black Sunday. It seems shockingly brutal for its time period. And it has some truly spectacular eyeball scenes.
Same to same,
Hendry
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