Kill, Baby, Kill

Rating:
Summary: This baby is killer.
Review: *Kill Baby Kill* is that rarest of Sixties' horror films: a SCARY horror film. But hey, it was directed by Mario Bava, so are you surprised? However, Bava fans may be in for a let-down here, because it's not as gory -- not as "giallo", if you will -- as most of his later work. It's fitting that the DVD features the trailer for Argento's *The Bird with the Crystal Plumage* -- a film that stands in Argento's oeuvre about precisely as *Kill Baby Kill* stands in Bava's; i.e., an early work, not as gory, but with extremely admirable sequences and unsettling atmosphere. The movie concerns itself with yet another Young Handsome Rationalist (the eternal "Jonathan Harker" character), a big-city coroner, to be exact, who is sent to a small town that seems to be living under a curse. His mission? Investigate the corpse of an otherwise healthy young woman who has committed apparent suicide by falling onto a spiked iron fence from a height. Along the way he encounters an ethereal, spooked-out heroine . . . a local witch with a heart of gold . . . the local witch's love interest, the bald-as-Savalas mayor of the town . . . a decrepit countess living in a mansion that's roughly the size of the Pentagon . . . and her daughter's malicious, terrifying ghost. The girl who plays the ghost has a knack of looking absolutely evil, and that's a good thing because the movie stands or falls with her. What makes the movie art is Bava's wildly inventive direction, which seems to be inspired in equal measure by Alfred Hitchcock and massive quantities of psychedelic mushrooms. There's a magnificent winding staircase that gets the old spinning-camera treatment; there are the old Universal-style "haunted" sets with gorgeous matte-paintings in the background; there are feverish dream sequences; there are magnificent Italian ruins; and there's a sublime moment when our Rationalist, in an attempt to rescue his girlfriend in the countess' funhouse of horrors, keeps running over and over through the same room, only to catch up to . . . himself! What does it mean? I don't know. I just know I loved it.

Rating:
Summary: Classic Bava - budget disc
Review: As usual, Diamond delivers an interesting film on a budget disc.

One of Bava's better films about victims in a small Transylvanian village, who are found dead with gold pennies coins planted in their hearts.

Moody and stylish, with quite a few interesting sequences.

Uncut and in LBX but pic quality is on par with $6.99, which means not great. As usual for Diamond releases, there are only 4 chapters. Decent value for money thpugh.

Rating:
Summary: Mario Bava turns his talents to a Gothic ghost story
Review: Director Mario Bava ("Black Sunday," "Black Sabbath") creates an atmosphere gothic horror film in "Kill, Baby, Kill" ("Operazione Paura"). At first glance this is an old fashioned ghost story with all of the required horror movie elements, from the ignorant and superstitious villages, an old crone uttering curses, swirling mists, rooms strewn with cobwebs, and even a black cat. Of course there is also the one person who understands what is really going on and is ignored until it is way too late.

When Dr. Paul Eswai (Giacomo Rossi-Stuart) shows up to perform an autopsy on a young woman who died a violent death, he finds a fear stricken town in the best gothic tradition. When he finds the victim has a coin embedded in her heart, the town's shameful secret is told: twenty years earlier a young child, Melissa Graps, was run over and left to die during a festival. The townspeople are convinced Melissa's ghost is driving the guilty to suicide by appearing to them, and the good doctor's plea for rationality is ignored as the townsfolk are whipped into a frenzy of fear by the local sorceress, Ruth (Fabienne Dali). When Dr. Eswai and the lovely Monica (Erika Blanc) go to the local castle, Villa Graps, they find the Baroness also dead, another apparent suicide. There is only one thing left to do; explore the castle and find its deadly secret.

Title notes: "Kill, Baby, Kill!" was the film's 1968 release title, although it was first seen in the United States two years earlier as "Operation Fear." Other reissue titles were "Don't Walk in the Park" and "Curse of the Living Dead" (not to be confused with "Curse of the Dead," the release title in the United Kingdom). Whatever the title, this film is one of Bava's better efforts at creating an atmospheric horror film. Monica has a nightmare that is a very effective montage sequences. The film is also rather unique, especially for an Italian production, in that all of the really interesting characters are females, especially Ruth, who lends the movie some of its more effective twists. The more you can forget that this sort of story has been done to death in the United States in the years since 1966, the more you can enjoy this film. Certainly a lot more going on creatively both in front and behind the camera than you would find in the best Hammer films of the same time period.

Rating:
Summary: Ignore The Title!
Review: From the title, I was expecting a mad killer on a "bad trip", man. Fortunately, this was just the add-on title for american drive-in audiences. This is no maniacal hipster flick at all. Instead, it's a dark, gloomy ghost story. A small village is under a curse. It seems that twenty years earlier, the residents watched as a little girl named Melissa was trampled to death. No one did anything to help and now there's hell to pay. Melissa is back, exacting revenge by willing her victims to commit suicide. Impaling is her method of choice. A doctor comes to town to perform an autopsy and is soon caught up in the macabre goings on, when he finds a coin in the cadaver's heart. Enter Erica Blanc as Monica, a mysterious woman who has just returned after a twenty year absence. Together, our heroes attempt to figure out just what is happening. What is the connection between Monica and Melissa? Who is the old woman who lives in the decaying villa, and what does she know? Who is the strange witch who makes house-calls, and what is she up to? KBK is a gothic horror gem. Watch it and check out Melissa's eyes! She's a pretty creepy kid...

Rating:
Summary: A creepy masterpiece of horrific art
Review: Kill Baby Kill is a surprisingly good, beautifully presented, deliciously atmospheric horror film from noted Italian director Mario Bava. This is actually a fairly creepy ghost story, but there is a pretty significant death count nonetheless. The very first scene shows us a distraught young lady throwing herself, quite reluctantly, onto a spiked rail fence. Finding himself stymied in his investigation of the victim's death by a superstitious town population, Inspector Kruger calls in a coroner to perform an autopsy on the victim. Dr. Eswe finds himself having to walk a short distance into the small village because his driver refuses to enter it. He arrives to find a pretty desolate place with deserted streets, highly suspicious townspeople, and a mysterious but undeniable sense of gloom and doom. A young lady named Monica (Erica Blanc) soon arrives to witness the coroner's autopsy, one in which a coin is found nailed into the heart of the victim. Monica is one of the few people to have ever left the village, being taken away at just two years of age, but her connection with the townsfolk is predictably much deeper than even she knows. The townspeople won't talk about the suicide because 'the child' will kill them if they do; based on later evidence, this is sound thinking on their part. The evil force seemingly responsible for what becomes a string of deaths is the ghost of a little seven-year old girl who died twenty years earlier while the townspeople failed to notice or just refused to respond to her cries for help. Little Melissa does much to make this movie compelling, as the child actress is genuinely frightening with her large eyes, forceful glances, and innocent yet malevolent laughter. The doctor doesn't believe in the superstitious story of the ghost, but as he becomes more and more involved in the investigation, his ideas are forced to evolve somewhat.

The village setting is magnificently done, with ancient, moldering buildings, a seemingly perpetual darkness, vintage costumes, and an overall sense of grim tidings. At times, the movie seems to take on the appearance of a surreal work of art. Some innovative camera work lends great depth to the presentation, although the director does seem to get slightly carried away once or twice. Erica Blanc's presence helps make up for some minor weaknesses in the performance of Giacomo Rossi-Stuart as Dr. Eswe, although I think my problem with his performance, at least early on, was the fact that his fancy ways and looks just seemed incredibly out of place in a horror movie such as this. It took me a little while to fully get into the story, but by the mid-point of the film I was definitely hooked. It is not wholly original, and one of the major plot points can be easily foreseen very early on, yet I enjoyed this movie tremendously. You won't find a lot of gore here, nor even an excessive amount of suspense, but the atmosphere just overwhelms you as you progress, giving Kill Baby Kill an ambiance and character that most horror films can never hope to achieve. Music, direction, and standout individual performances combine to make this an engaging, creepy psychological masterpiece. The title makes this movie sound like some kind of B-movie, but in reality it is an impressive, polished, consummately professional work of horrific art.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent full-screen movie
Review: Once again, I have to rate the DVD by its' quality. This entertainment medium is ALL ABOUT great picture and fantastic sound. Although I appreciate the opportunity to see the Mario Bava movie, the DVD is not something that will excite your senses alone.

The DVD runs smoothly so at least it has that going for it. One can assume that this is all there is left to publish for this particular movie, even though it came years later than Bava's first features.

You will be treated to a couple beautiful women as a feast for the eyes. One is dressed up and one is dressed down. There is an older, spooky woman and of course the female child is unsettling to look at. The spooky village is dirty and old, and it has a wonderful cemetary set.

Gee, I wish that I could have seen this movie when I was younger! It's a film that I'll play often.