Rating: 
Summary: Middling Bava is still impressive
Review: A unique blend of giallo and ghost story/tale of madness, Hatchet for the Honeymoon is quite an entertaining trifle. The plotting is careless, what with the police inspector showing up at just the right moment at least three times too many, but Mario Bava's many visual and editing flourishes are so clever they're downright witty. I particularly like the way the psycho, John Herrington, literally puts his wife at a distance by looking at her through the wrong end of his binoculars while she harangues him. Also wonderful is a transition where the camera pans across a line of mannequin heads that seem to float against the black background of a darkened room. The camera stops at the final head, which we realize with a start is Herrington, and we hear a woman's voice speaking. There's a momentary sense of dizzying disorientation before the camera suddenly continues its pan and we see the woman speaking and realize that we're in a different scene now. There's also a bit worthy of Hitchcock at his best involving a single drop of blood poised to drop from a dead woman's hand that threatens to expose Herrington while he's being questioned by the police. The picture and sound quality of the DVD is not in the same league as other movies in the Bava Collection such as Black Sunday or Black Sabbath, but it's safe to assume that Image did the best they could with the best source material they could find. Overall, perhaps not among Bava's very best films, but still more than worthwhile for those who appreciate imaginative, well-crafted filmmaking.
Rating: 
Summary: Great movie but very poor picture and terrible sound!
Review: As always, my review is based on the QUALITY of the DVD.I appreciate Image Entertainment giving us the opportunity to view "Hatchet for the Honeymoon" and another work of Mario Bava to observe. It is remarkable that we have this new entertainment medium and that we can enjoy these films from so long ago. But -- this DVD is the worst one that I own. The picture is lousy and the sound is awful. You get the 1.66:1 screen ratio, but that wouldn't be so bad if the picture was CLEAR. I'm not sure if this was released prematurely. Just take into consideration my review of picture + sound to make your decision if you really want to buy this. In addition, it comes in a snap-case although there are some notes within. Volume is at an all-time low. I had to crank up my speaker and software volume to the maximum and still had trouble hearing the dialogue. You could not possibly eat potato chips and listen to this at the same time! The movie itself is pretty good, perhaps worthy of three stars. Some good points: a nice, recurring love/fantasy theme music or melody. Perhaps the love theme is derived from the bridal costumes and weddings. Parts of the movie are quite haunting. There are no luscious beauties here at all found in other Bava films; the women are rather plain with the exception of what appears to be one beautiful, tall Black woman walking by (quick) and an extremely nice, long pair of legs close-up. While the theme music is pleasant, there are nauseating guitar sequences during action shots. Horror buffs and people who crave gore will not find either in this movie. Own this only if you are serious about building a Mario Bava collection (I am).
Rating:
Summary: Great movie but very poor picture and terrible sound!
Review: As always, my review is based on the QUALITY of the DVD. I appreciate Image Entertainment giving us the opportunity to view "Hatchet for the Honeymoon" and another work of Mario Bava to observe. It is remarkable that we have this new entertainment medium and that we can enjoy these films from so long ago. But -- this DVD is the worst one that I own. The picture is lousy and the sound is awful. You get the 1.66:1 screen ratio, but that wouldn't be so bad if the picture was CLEAR. I'm not sure if this was released prematurely. Just take into consideration my review of picture + sound to make your decision if you really want to buy this. In addition, it comes in a snap-case although there are some notes within. Volume is at an all-time low. I had to crank up my speaker and software volume to the maximum and still had trouble hearing the dialogue. You could not possibly eat potato chips and listen to this at the same time! The movie itself is pretty good, perhaps worthy of three stars. Some good points: a nice, recurring love/fantasy theme music or melody. Perhaps the love theme is derived from the bridal costumes and weddings. Parts of the movie are quite haunting. There are no luscious beauties here at all found in other Bava films; the women are rather plain with the exception of what appears to be one beautiful, tall Black woman walking by (quick) and an extremely nice, long pair of legs close-up. While the theme music is pleasant, there are nauseating guitar sequences during action shots. Horror buffs and people who crave gore will not find either in this movie. Own this only if you are serious about building a Mario Bava collection (I am).
Rating: 
Summary: Solid little thriller - Basic DVD
Review: Bava's "Hatchet" is not one of his better films, but it is definitely entertaining and worth a look for fans. Actually, I enjoyed the film more now than when I first saw it years ago so it's aged pretty well. A cross-dressing maniac is dispatching young brides one by one....what is the secret from his past that makes him want to murder all these young lovelies on their wedding nights? It's a fun giallo with a neat twist regarding his ugly wife returning from the dead to haunt him. The DVD from Image is a very basic package....no trailer this time, just a small poster-photo gallery and the always excellent liner notes by Video Watchdog's Tim Lucas. The film itself looks better than previous VHS releases, but the colors are not as sharp as they once were and there are some blemishes to the print materials used. Still, it's overall a nice presentation and worth the $$$$.
Rating:
Summary: Solid little thriller - Basic DVD
Review: Bava's "Hatchet" is not one of his better films, but it is definitely entertaining and worth a look for fans. Actually, I enjoyed the film more now than when I first saw it years ago so it's aged pretty well. A cross-dressing maniac is dispatching young brides one by one....what is the secret from his past that makes him want to murder all these young lovelies on their wedding nights? It's a fun giallo with a neat twist regarding his ugly wife returning from the dead to haunt him. The DVD from Image is a very basic package....no trailer this time, just a small poster-photo gallery and the always excellent liner notes by Video Watchdog's Tim Lucas. The film itself looks better than previous VHS releases, but the colors are not as sharp as they once were and there are some blemishes to the print materials used. Still, it's overall a nice presentation and worth the $$$$.
Rating:
Summary: probably the best this movie will ever look
Review: Bava's intriguing and original twist on the Italian giallo (a genre he had pretty much invented with Evil Eye and Blood and Black Lace) with an empathic view towards the killer (who is never hidden like in other thrillers but revealled right at the start). However, this is not a harrowing portrait of perversity like Henry:Portrait of a Serial Killer or even Psycho. Bava's colourful compositions and beautiful cinematography give the proceedings a decidedly playful appeal - and his surreal flashbacks whenever the killer strikes avoids the use of on-screen gore. His use of voice-overs in the opening is inspired, as our 'hero' ponders his madness, what drives him to kill, etc. All this is delivered with a suitible ironic european flavour that non-Bava fans may be rather baffled by. It's a shame that 'Hatchet' didn't receive the sort of dvd treatment 'Black Sunday' or 'Lisa & the Devil' got from Image, but it's a solid addition to any collection of Bava's work or fans of early Italian horror. The image quality looks reasonable enough, but the sound quality is rather distracting, although perfectly audible. Of course there aren't any extras.
Rating:
Summary: Don't bury the Hatchet
Review: From the mind of the Italian master Mario Bava comes another fantastic of madness and murder. One could enjoy this movie for his direction alone. The sharp edits and distortions against his fluid camera style enspire new depths of fear in this film. Needless to say, character depth (aside from the crazed mind of the main character) is not his movies strong point. But you're sure to enjoy the surprises and twists as you watch the clever inspector try and figure out who is behind the murder spree. Some may find it a little light on gore (especially if you're a Fulci fanatic ;), but Bava doesn't disapoint in this twisted story where a psychotic's only relief comes from hacking up virginal brides (et al.)
Rating:
Summary: A bit of a klunker...
Review: I'm a newbie to the world of Mario Bava, but having already seen "Black Sunday" and "Black Sabbath," both of which I enjoyed immensly, I found this film nowhere near the same level. To me, this film is hopelessly dated, and overall it's poorly conceived and executed. Whereas "Sabbath" and "Sunday" have aged well, this one resembles a bad '70s TV movie. Everything about it looks and sounds cheesy, most notably the whiny sound effects, the jarring sound track, sloppy editing, and Bava's goofy overuse of the zoom lens. While the story here could have been interesting, the execution suffers to the point that it greatly detracts from the film. I mean, why would the killer's wife not divorce him? She's the one with the money, she despises him and chides him for being worthless, yet she tells him she'll never give him the divorce he wants. Seems like she'd be the one wanting the divorce! This is important because this is the plot device that ultimately drives the story, yet it's so logically flawed that it gets the whole affair off on the wrong foot. Also, the killings are so tame they are unrealistic. In one scene, the killer is butchering his wife with a cleaver and is interrupted by the nosey detective at the front door. The killer then answers the door and there's no blood on him or anything! I would think if you had just hacked somebody with a cleaver there'd be blood just about everywhere! So, while there are some cool aspects to this movie, overall it's a klunker and only recommended for fans looking to see all of Bava's work.
Rating:
Summary: A bit of a klunker...
Review: I'm a newbie to the world of Mario Bava, but having already seen "Black Sunday" and "Black Sabbath," both of which I enjoyed immensly, I found this film nowhere near the same level. To me, this film is hopelessly dated, and overall it's poorly conceived and executed. Whereas "Sabbath" and "Sunday" have aged well, this one resembles a bad '70s TV movie. Everything about it looks and sounds cheesy, most notably the whiny sound effects, the jarring sound track, sloppy editing, and Bava's goofy overuse of the zoom lens. While the story here could have been interesting, the execution suffers to the point that it greatly detracts from the film. I mean, why would the killer's wife not divorce him? She's the one with the money, she despises him and chides him for being worthless, yet she tells him she'll never give him the divorce he wants. Seems like she'd be the one wanting the divorce! This is important because this is the plot device that ultimately drives the story, yet it's so logically flawed that it gets the whole affair off on the wrong foot. Also, the killings are so tame they are unrealistic. In one scene, the killer is butchering his wife with a cleaver and is interrupted by the nosey detective at the front door. The killer then answers the door and there's no blood on him or anything! I would think if you had just hacked somebody with a cleaver there'd be blood just about everywhere! So, while there are some cool aspects to this movie, overall it's a klunker and only recommended for fans looking to see all of Bava's work.
Rating:
Summary: A minor classic from the master--Mario Bava
Review: IL ROSSO SEGNO DELLA FOLLIA(Hatchet for the Honeymoon) is laced with interesting and creative touches, but Bava discharges most of the narrative in an off-handed, almost thoughtless fashion, suggesting that he had little faith in the project. Whereas SEI DONNE PER L'ASSASSINO manages to creat a genuinely disturbing atmosphere, this film is constantly undermined by a cluttered, muddled narrative. In Bava's best work, psychological motivation is not terribly important (the main motivation is greed), but by relying on the old "twisted mamma's boy" motif, the film often seems like an imitation of PSYCHO. In a brief, almost tossed-off line of dialogue Bava (intentionally or not) sums up this major weakness. While interrogating Harrington, Inspector Russell remarks: "I can accept any crime as long as I can understand the human impulse which motivated it." Paradoxically, IL ROSSO provides too much explanation for the bloodshed. For Harrington, violence takes the place of sex. The fact that he is impotent is slyly alluded to in the dialogue. For example, Mildred refers to her first, deceased husband by saying, "At least while he was alive, he was a man. But you. . . How easily one can be fooled by appearances." Harrington's overwhelming desire to find out the truth about himself (ironically, the one thing that would probably cure his sexual inadequacy) compels him to channel his energies into violence, and it is in this medium that he finds satisfaction. Early in the film, Harrington locks himself away in his private study. After examining the carefully made up mannequins that adorn the room, he goes over to his desk drawer and withdraws the butcher's cleaver with which he murders his victims, and proceeds to stroke it in an almost sexual fashion. The implications of this scene are subtle, but very clear. The cleaver, which penetrates the bodies of his female victims, serves as a Freudian phallic symbol. The act of "stroking the cleaver" therefore becomes a form of masturbation. As a prototypical macho man, Harrington has no problem in overwhelming his victims with his "sexual" prowess, but in Helen he meets his match. It is Helen who knocks the cleaver out of his hand, rendering him helpless. Without wanting to stretch the point too far, this act of severing the phallic weapon from the murderer's hand has a slight under-tone of castration. For the very first time in the film, Harrington's air of smug self-assuredness crumbles when Helen counters his attack; he is reduced to tears. The links between sexual images (the fashion salon, Harrington's pretty-boy demeanor, the immaculate way his victims need to be dressed in order to "excite him"), the sexual act itself, and violence are therefore very clearly worked out for the observant viewer, though the somewhat heavy-handed Freudian approach of Santiago Moncada's screenplay hamper Bava's efforts. Bava's favored theme of surface appearance vs. reality is very much on display in this film. Like Massimo and Christina in SEI DONNE PER L'ASSASSINO, Harrington owns a fashion business, establishing a witty tie to bava's first fully developed giallo, while at the same time confirming the director's mistrust of "beauty" in its ideal, almost pornographic form. Harrington is a literal fashion peddler. Not only does he sell chci wedding apparel at his salon, but his style of dress suggests a marketing tactic of a different kind. He is a kind of gigolo, selling himself to the female public in order to find "willing" victims. Apart from enabling him to carry on with his sanguinary activities, this also serves to satisfy his inflated ego. This idea extends even further witht he revelation that Harrington cannot "function" without the presence of a wedding gown. In this case the image -- the surface gloss -- serves as a catalyst for violence. In the end, this cannot be considered one of Bava's more accomplished works. Though there is plenty to praise in the film, IL ROSSO SEGNO DELLA FOLLIA simply lacks the impact of Bava at his best. It is momentarily eye-catching -- espcially for experienced Bava-philes who can recognize the director's "handwriting" -- but the viewer leaves it feeling empty; the expected connection between the film (or narrative) and the audience simply is not there. Rating: 4 out of 5 Grade: B+ 90%
|
