Welcome to Mario May, where we’ll be discussing the films of Mario Bava. Now, we’ve already discussed several of them over the years, so be sure to review our thoughts on those by searching “mario bava” from the Home page (or by clicking the links in the filmography below.) This month, we’ll discuss some Bava films I watched for the first time. Next up…
Here’s another Italian film made on a bet that Mario Bava had to rescue. This time he was director from the start… and he lost the bet with American distributors to complete Kill, Baby… Kill (1966) in 12 days. At 14 days, the production ran out of money, but Bava and the cast agreed to complete filming without pay. All this was for a 30-page script supposedly written when the bet was made.
Watching it today, you’d never suspect the behind-the-scenes drama. It’s a competent combination of disparate horror elements, creating a unique experience that some film experts claim is Bava’s best work. Interestingly, it doesn’t completely embrace the style for which Bava is known. I was at least a third of the way into it when I finally exclaimed, “There’s the color!”
The most gruesome scene occurs the instant the film rolls. A young woman runs from someone or something, screaming. She climbs a bell tower, looks down upon a spiked fence, and takes a dive. The camera freezes on the bloody spikes protruding from her now-dead body as the credits roll. That’s one way to grab the viewer! You’ve got to continue watching to see what exactly happened and why.
We’re then placed into familiar territory when the driver of a carriage tells his passenger, Dr. Paul Eswai (Giacomo Rossi Stuart), that it’s as far as he goes. Perhaps the men in red hoods carrying a coffin through the village had something to do with that. On foot, then, Eswai finds the local inn. As he enters, the entire crowd stops what it’s doing and quietly stares at him as if they’re frozen.
We soon learn that the good doctor is there to perform an autopsy of the young woman who leapt from the bell tower, and the men in red hoods were hurrying to bury her before he could perform it. The villagers see no need for one. They believe she didn’t die from an accident or murder; she died because of the secret of Villa Graps. We spend the rest of the film learning about the secret and all its wicked twists and turns.
If not hooked by now, you will be when the autopsy is ultimately completed and a coin is found embedded in her heart. Such a coin is apparently placed in hearts of other victims of the “secret”, or curse, by a witch. But Ruth (Fabienne Dali) is a good witch, relatively speaking, trying to protect the villagers, but also perpetuating ignorance and superstition, or at least that’s what Eswai and medical student Monica Schuftan (Erka Blanc) believe.
I hesitate to go further with the plot for fear of spoiling any surprises. Some twists are predictable enough that they wouldn’t surprise anyone, but other turns are interesting variations on the norm. Kill, Baby… Kill was not what I expected, perhaps because of its title. It doesn’t sound like what is, if that makes any sense. I know I’m late to the party in watching this, so if you haven’t seen it, I recommend you give it a try.
Kill, Baby… Kill is available as part of the Mario Bava Collection box set from Shout! Factory. I’m in the process of moving, though, and it’s safe and secure in some identified box, so I watched in streaming on Shudder.
Mario Bava Filmography (Director)
1957
Lust of the Vampire (uncredited)
1958
The Day the Sky Exploded (uncredited)
1959
Hercules Unchained (uncredited)
Caltiki, the Immortal Monster (uncredited)
The Giant of Marathon (uncredited)
1960
Black Sunday
Esther and the King (Italian Version)
1961
The Wonders of Aladdin
Hercules in the Haunted World
Erik the Conqueror
1963
The Evil Eye
Black Sabbath
The Whip & the Body
Blood & Black Lace
The Road to Fort Alamo
Planet of the Vampires
Savage Gringo
Knives of the Avenger
Kill, Baby… Kill
To be continued…
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