MARIO BAVA DOUBLE FEATURE: Kill Baby Kill (1966) & A Bay of Blood (1971)

KILL, BABY... KILL! (1966) d. Mario Bava (Italy)
A BAY OF BLOOD (1971) d. Mario Bava (Italy)

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Equal parts conjurer of Gothic nightmares, pioneer of modern cinematic violence, and astonishing visual stylist, Italian filmmaker and horror legend Mario Bava has delivered so many genre high water marks that it’s difficult to keep track. From the black-and-white splendor of Black Sunday to the hypnotic colored gels of Black Sabbath to establishing the hallmarks of the giallo, Bava was constantly innovating and imagining new ways to dazzle and disturb audiences.

YOUR VICE IS A LOCKED ROOM AND ONLY I HAVE THE KEY (1972) Blu-ray review

Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (1972) d. Sergio Martino (Italy) (97 min)

Once-successful author Oliviero (Luigi Pistilli), already crippled by writer’s block (and an excess of alcohol and drugs), hits a new low when his more-successful mother passes away. He celebrates her wake by holding a colossally inappropriate orgy of sexuality and abuse, the latter directed toward Irina (Anita Strindberg), his long-suffering emotional and physical punching bag of a wife. Their less-than-idyllic existence is further complicated by the fact that several of Oliviero’s mistresses keep getting bumped off by a killer wielding a curved saber, and further still by the presence of his trampy niece Floriana (Edwige Fenech) who comes to stay and play (doctor, head games, et al) with them both. The result is a marvelous guessing game of who’s the victim, who’s the villain, and who will take their clothes off next.

THE IGUANA WITH THE TONGUE OF FIRE (1971) Blu-ray review

The Iguana with the Tongue of Fire (1971) d. Riccardo Freda (Italy) (96 min)

Dario Argento’s The Bird with the Crystal Plumage launched a wave of “animal-in-the-title” offerings, including this high energy (and equally high nonsense) effort which boasts a rogues gallery of perverse characters, violent murders, and ridiculous plotting where anyone could be the killer! Possibly the only giallo set in Dublin, Ireland, things kick off with an audacious pre-titles, acid-throwing, throat-slashing set-piece, with the victim’s naked corpse unceremoniously deposited in the trunk of the Swiss Ambassador’s limousine. When the icy government official (Anton Diffring, The Man Who Could Cheat Death) claims diplomatic immunity, the cops recruit former badge John Norton (Luigi Pistilli, Twitch of the Death Nerve) to find the killer.