Hatchet for the Honeymoon

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: 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: 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: Gripping and frightening
Review: Italian director Mario Bava (1914-1980) is one of the giants of the horror film genre. His films, no matter what the plot, always promised great style mixed with scenes of murder and mayhem. Bava's big break into the industry came with his 1960 black and white classic "Black Sunday" starring fan favorite Barbara Steele. This was only the beginning, as Bava churned out a series of gruesome shockers over the next seventeen years. Perhaps Mario's biggest contribution to the horror field was his 1972 picture "Twitch of the Death Nerve," also known as "Bay of Blood." It doesn't take too long to realize "Friday the 13th" shamelessly cribbed from Bava's bloodbath. The director's inventiveness goes far beyond hacking up a few unfortunate souls, however, as "Hatchet for the Honeymoon" shows. This is a relatively bloodless movie that attempts to rework the always entertaining Italian giallo formula, a movie that is a wildly inventive jaunt into the inner recesses of a mind twisted by insanity. Mario Bava is no longer with us, much to my regret, but the Bava legacy continues with son Lamberto, one of the guiding lights behind "Demons," an instant cult favorite with gorehounds worldwide.

I've seen quite a few Bava films at this point, and I have to say I think "Hatchet for the Honeymoon" one of his best. It's the story of John Harrington (Stephen Forsyth), a successful designer of female wedding apparel who suffers from two big problems. First, Harrington himself is the first to admit he's completely insane. An incident in his childhood involving a shadowy memory of echoing footsteps on a staircase and the gruesome murder of his mother haunts him. In order to discover the identity of the culprit behind this infernal crime Harrington decides he must murder woman with a small hatchet, a rather unpleasant situation all around. Each murder uncovers a bit more of the memory, and as Harrington ups his body count he comes closer and closer to revealing the identity of the person who took his mother's life. Second, and probably the biggest immediate problem, is his wife Mildred (Laura Betti). Theirs is a loveless marriage held together by Mildred's threats to leave and take her money with her, money that revived John's faltering business. Mildred also suspects John of infidelity, although she doesn't know anything about his true motivations for picking up women.

How crazy is John Harrington? Quite crazy. Every time he dispatches a victim, Inspector Russell (Jesus Puente) shows up at the house to ask a lot of pointed questions. It becomes clear rather quickly that this cop knows Harrington is behind the disappearances, but can't do anything for a lack a proof. But the good inspector doesn't necessarily have anything to do with Harrington's increasing insanity. What really sends our man over the edge, what really makes us aware of how far gone this guy really is, occurs when he decides he can no longer abide the presence of his wife Mildred. In a chilling scene that will probably stay with me long after the rest of the film fades away, John dons a wedding veil, along with some lipstick, and chases his dearly beloved down with the aforementioned hatchet. And wouldn't you know it? Russell happens to show up right after the conclusion of the dastardly deed. Harrington escapes through mere luck only to discover his crime has the sort of lasting consequences he never intended. And as John pursues his final victim, model Helen Wood (Dagmar Lassander), he finally learns whose footsteps he heard padding up that staircase, and who it was that killed his mother.

I absolutely adored "Hatchet for the Honeymoon." Everything worked like a charm to create a truly creepy, atmospheric horror film. Stephen Forsyth is great as the massively unhinged Harrington. Here's a guy who is a successful, good looking, cultured chap on the surface, but inside he's gone stark raving mad. It's to the actor's credit that he manages to convey all of these divergent traits at the same time. What really makes the film a winner is the style. Bava effectively uses flashbacks, lighting, camera tricks, and set pieces to craft a truly frightening film. The somber environment of Harrington's house, replete with a special little room full of mannequins wearing wedding gowns, serves as the centerpiece for most of the unfolding madness. Those flashbacks, with the booming footsteps and screaming woman, send chills down your spine even as you figure out exactly what happened to Harrington's mother long before the final denouement. The best stylistic element of the film is the clangy, driving score. It's haunting and creepy without going over the top. Bava fortunately doesn't overuse his background music, something that I cannot say for many of the other Italian horror masters.

Sadly, the mediocre picture and audio quality on the DVD nearly upset the effect of the film. There is no excuse for such a pedestrian transfer to disc; I know for a fact there are thousands of Bava fans out there that would willingly pay good money for a better quality DVD. The shoddy treatment afforded "Hatchet for the Honeymoon" recalls unpleasant memories of the audio problems on "The Twitch of the Death Nerve" disc, although it is unfair to say this DVD is as bad as that one. Extras on this disc include stills and a Mario Bava biography and filmography. "Hatchet for the Honeymoon" is now my favorite Bava film, and that's saying a lot. I hope a decent DVD arrives in the near future. If you want to explore the world of Bava, this is a great place to start.


Rating:
Summary: Hatchets & Lingerie & Wedding Veils, OH MY!
Review: Mario Bava's Hatchet For The Honeymoon tells the story of a unhappily married, very disturbed, young wedding dress & lingerie designer with a "killer" Oedipus complex, not to mention a MAJOR SEXUAL fetish for women mannequins, wearing wedding veils, & hacking up young brides with a smallish meat cleaver. Let alone his passion for his toy train set & his boyhood bedroom, untouched all these years.

The young man is COMPELLED to keep killing so that he may recollect what terrible and horrible things happened to him while a young boy. Great flashback scenes while the main character is a tad stuck in his childhood throughout the movie. That is precisely WHY you feel compassion for the killer.

The BEST part of this film isn't really the plot nor the acting although they are fine and stand on their individual merits alone. However, it is the directing & cinematograpy that really stands out in this gem! The movie is highly vivid and shot in a beautiful, fluid, cinematic style while systematically building the eventual outcome and great ending of the film.

If you like Bava's work or just like Italian horror in general, you will be pleased with this film. Happy Watching!

Rating:
Summary: Bava doing what he does best in a low-budget classic
Review: The incredible atmosphere! The music! The exquisitely beautiful European actress! Yes, this delectable little giallo film comes from the grand master of the art, director Mario Bava. Hatchet For the Honeymoon may not be Bava's best film, but it is definitely worth watching. You just won't find movies like this made in America; European films such as this just have a look and feel all their own, and I for one can't get enough of it. Unhappy with the problems a big budget brought to his previous film, Bava went out and made this relatively low-budget giallo gem of a film. You won't see any blood and gore here, as the killings take place off-camera for the most part, but you will get a double whammy of good old insanity and the always-welcome ghost.

John Harrington (Stephen Forsyth) has some issues; he freely admits in the opening narration that he is quite mad. His favorite hobby is killing brides on their wedding nights, but of course no one suspects that he is anything other than perfectly sane. Even after a certain policeman starts insinuating himself into his life, Harrington plays it pretty cool. The fact that many of the dead brides were killed in dresses Harrington designed and sold does seem a little suspicious to the cops, of course. As for why Harrington feels compelled to murder young brides, the source of the problem goes back to his childhood and a painful memory he has blocked out of his mind; each time he kills, he gets a little closer to finding out the truth locked inside his brain. You do have to feel sorry for the poor fellow in a way because he is trapped in a loveless marriage with a vindictive battle axe of a woman who refuses to divorce him; his wife Mildred (Laura Betti) insists that she will always be there by his side, and she really does mean it. Dagmar Lassander makes a great film even better, helping us get inside the mind of a madman while simultaneously allowing us to bask in the glory of her beauty. The movie sort of reshapes itself halfway through, stepping things up a notch to an even more enjoyable level, and the ending, while not exactly unpredictable, is pulled off very well.

I don't know what it is about Bava films, but I love everything about them. The distinctive music is just addictive to my ears, and Bava knows how to shoot scenes in the most interesting ways possible. There are some wondrous transitions between scenes, all sorts of awkward and slightly disturbing camera angles, and even the special effects, what few there are, come out feeling just right. Hatchet For the Honeymoon is basically a psychological film taking us into the disturbed mind of a madman; Harrington could be any man you see walking the street, a rabid wolf in sheep's (or in one case a bride's) clothing. Honestly, Bava was a genius; you could take away all of the dialogue in the film yet still follow events fairly closely thanks to some solid acting performances, the superb cinematography, and that ever-so-important music. If you are curious about giallo or European horror in general, this film makes for a great introduction to the genre.

Rating:
Summary: Bava doing what he does best in a low-budget classic
Review: The incredible atmosphere! The music! The exquisitely beautiful European actress! Yes, this delectable little giallo film comes from the grand master of the art, director Mario Bava. Hatchet For the Honeymoon may not be Bava's best film, but it is definitely worth watching. You just won't find movies like this made in America; European films such as this just have a look and feel all their own, and I for one can't get enough of it. Unhappy with the problems a big budget brought to his previous film, Bava went out and made this relatively low-budget giallo gem of a film. You won't see any blood and gore here, as the killings take place off-camera for the most part, but you will get a double whammy of good old insanity and the always-welcome ghost.

John Harrington (Stephen Forsyth) has some issues; he freely admits in the opening narration that he is quite mad. His favorite hobby is killing brides on their wedding nights, but of course no one suspects that he is anything other than perfectly sane. Even after a certain policeman starts insinuating himself into his life, Harrington plays it pretty cool. The fact that many of the dead brides were killed in dresses Harrington designed and sold does seem a little suspicious to the cops, of course. As for why Harrington feels compelled to murder young brides, the source of the problem goes back to his childhood and a painful memory he has blocked out of his mind; each time he kills, he gets a little closer to finding out the truth locked inside his brain. You do have to feel sorry for the poor fellow in a way because he is trapped in a loveless marriage with a vindictive battle axe of a woman who refuses to divorce him; his wife Mildred (Laura Betti) insists that she will always be there by his side, and she really does mean it. Dagmar Lassander makes a great film even better, helping us get inside the mind of a madman while simultaneously allowing us to bask in the glory of her beauty. The movie sort of reshapes itself halfway through, stepping things up a notch to an even more enjoyable level, and the ending, while not exactly unpredictable, is pulled off very well.

I don't know what it is about Bava films, but I love everything about them. The distinctive music is just addictive to my ears, and Bava knows how to shoot scenes in the most interesting ways possible. There are some wondrous transitions between scenes, all sorts of awkward and slightly disturbing camera angles, and even the special effects, what few there are, come out feeling just right. Hatchet For the Honeymoon is basically a psychological film taking us into the disturbed mind of a madman; Harrington could be any man you see walking the street, a rabid wolf in sheep's (or in one case a bride's) clothing. Honestly, Bava was a genius; you could take away all of the dialogue in the film yet still follow events fairly closely thanks to some solid acting performances, the superb cinematography, and that ever-so-important music. If you are curious about giallo or European horror in general, this film makes for a great introduction to the genre.

Rating:
Summary: Psycho with an axe !
Review: This film has a similar mood as a whole compared with Alfred Hitchcock¡¯s ¡°Psycho¡±. First of all, main character of this film, John, he commits murder because he cannot get out of his wife¡¯s spirit. In this film, when John commits murder, he always wears a wedding dress. It is similar to ¡°Psycho¡±, when murderer commits murder, he wear a mother¡¯s cloth. Anyway, two of murderer is not normal they have an abnormal mentality. Most of thriller movies like these, usually as if these characters appear. Whatever the reason, the mood of this film is excellent. It is supposed to be a film with good background music and mood. Mario Bava, one of a great horror director, his films has a unique style. This film also is a one of his stylish films.