Blood and Black Lace
1964 ‘Sei donne per l'assassino’ Directed by Mario Bava
Synopsis
Isabella (Francesca Ungaro), one of many beautiful models employed at a fashion house, is walking through the grounds that lead to the establishment one night when she is attacked and violently killed by an assailant wearing a white featureless mask. Police Inspector Sylvester (Thomas Reiner) is assigned to investigate the murder and he interviews Max Marian (Mitchell), the manager who co-manages the salon with his lover, the recently widowed Countess Cristina Como (Bartok). Max attests that he can not provide any information whatsoever that can assist the inspector, but as the investigation continues all of the fashion house’s various sins, including corruption, abortions, blackmail and drug addiction, begin to come to light. It is revealed that Isabella had kept a diary detailing these vices, and suddenly almost every employee becomes nervous.
Cast
Studios
Recent reviews
More-
smuki krāsaini filtriņi uz gaismām. maniaks galina sievietes.
-
Having introduced gory violence to gothic horror in Black Sunday, Bava did the same to the murder mystery in Blood and Black Lace, thereby contributing to the invention of giallo. The original title, Six Women for the Murderer, is a bit of a giveaway; the six women in question are all models working at the same fashion house, and they meet their ends one by one in a variety of grisly ways, the nastiest being a big metal claw to the face. This period of horror filmmaking is often characterised by a clash between the formal acting style of the past couple of decades and the violence of the next, and while I can imagine that juxtaposition being appealing to…
-
It was a dark and stormy night. Might be the color of the print but the CUs have a dash of Anger to them. Framed by purse straps. Hand retreating from light switch. Really put some wind-up into that slap. Otherworldly.
-
Mario Bavas giallo set the template for all those to follow. It's lurid, nasty and features one of the first black gloved killers shot in amazing colour. Influenced everyone from Argento to Scorsese's Kundun.
-
In this special giallo-themed episode of the Movie Matters podcast, regular hosts Lee Howard and Michael Mackenzie welcome special guest and giallo enthusiast Sandy "The Gialli Fan" Richardson of the Dark Dreams web site to discuss that unique brand of Italian murder-mystery thrillers from the 70s. In addition to delving into three films by the "big three" giallo directors - Mario Bava's BLOOD AND BLACK LACE, Lucio Fulci's DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING and Dario Argento's DEEP RED - Lee, Michael and Sandy also count down the top 10 giallo films as submitted by the listeners, reveal their own personal favourites and suggest some must-have giallo DVD and Blu-ray Disc releases.
Listen to our review of BLOOD AND BLACK LACE.
Subscribe…
-
imho Bavas best movie.
-
Mario Bava's Blood and Black Lace is frequently mentioned as one of the very first examples of the "giallo" film subgenre. Indeed, its unrestrained fascination with murder and paranoia is delicately balanced out by its vivid coloring and elaborate settings - traits that would later influence the works of Dario Argento, among others. Accompanied by daring camera movements, this makes an excellent staple in the horror industry's feats.
-
One of the first giallo films, very violent and controversial for it's time. You can really see where Argento got his influence from. If you love classic slashers and all the cheesiness that comes with them, it's an interesting watch. Feels a bit dated though, hopefully they'll be a bluray release in the future.
-
Clever enough to foreground the fundamental misogyny of the slasher genre, with the world's most stolid, dumb, and thoroughly unintimidating cop (Thomas Reiner) speculating that maybe the killer is roused to fear and murder by the sight of beautiful women (though in fact that's a narrative feint; the truth is nothing of the kind). The boutique setting is appropriate for a movie that makes murder into an excuse for Sheer Style, though all the non-murder stuff is rather tedious camp. (Best bugeyed groaner: "Look at his face! This man hates women!" Paging Stieg Larsson.) A memorably rough screening of the best print Anthology Film Archives could find (scratched, lightly pink, jumpy), one with the last two shots flat-out missing — those projected from a VHS or DVD source with someone's voice-over commentary about Dante's Inferno.