Kill Baby, Kill

1966 ‘Operazione paura’ Directed by Mario Bava

An 18th century European village is haunted by the ghost of a murderous little girl.

Giacomo Rossi-Stuart Erika Blanc Fabienne Dali Piero Lulli Luciano Catenacci Giovanna Galletti Micaela Esdra Franca Dominici Giuseppe Addobbati Mirella Pamphili Valerio Valeri

Alternative Titles

O Ciclo do Pavor, Die toten Augen des Dr. Dracula, Curse of the Dead, Don't Walk in the Park, Kill Baby Kill, Operation Fear

horror mystery thriller

85 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Ian West ★★★★★ 15

A town petrified by ghostly revenge, shadowy alleyways driping with fog, radiant lighting billowing through cobwebs, and Bava’s exquisite use of color framed with hallucinogenic cinematography—all climaxing together to create one of the best displays of gothic atmosphere I’ve ever seen. Chilling, unsettling, and damn beautiful.
I watched this a few years back for the first time and I liked it just fine, but with each revisit I’ve fallen in love with so many different aspects of Kill Baby, Kill, especially after purchasing the new Kino Lorber blu Last fall—it was a total game changer, jolting my system into orgasmic ecstasy with a gothic horror meets acid trip atmosphere so perfectly controlled by Bava as he ratchets up the tension... slowly…
Review by SilentDawn ★★★★½ 4

84/100
Bellowing, screeching winds and suspicious residents wander within luscious, radiant spaces; a town crumbling under the weight of curses and paranoia. Color paints and sings its way across a lonely town with secrets, practically engulfing its own atmosphere through multicolored mazes of exterior tunnels, interior passages and foggy, vividly textural cemeteries. Set design and camera movement each embody the aura of a restless specter, roaming and gliding across an environment which is representative of the last town on the face of the Earth. Nothing is even remotely familiar, even the genre cliches, because of Mario Bava's spin on the world of Gothic horror. It's all trickery, an arresting cinematic painting oozing with scare tactics and indescribably lucid images. Bava…
Review by claire 🗡️💀🕷️ diane ★★★★ 5

i still think of Black Sunday as one of the best lit films of all time. perhaps my favorite black and white aesthetic next to kurosawa. but this was a revelation: bava has a supreme magic in how he can make darkness overflow with color, too. this is perhaps the most perfect wedding of virtuoso chiaroscuro lighting and brilliant color i've ever seen. the striking shots are countless. and the locations are brilliant. there's this pervading sense that they're hanging right at the edge of the world.
the long zoom out from a distant sun as night falls, until it is nothing but a glowing dot over the horizon. or the arms clutching candles (a nod to Cocteau?) in the…
Review by Tony the Terror😼🏳️‍🌈 ★★★★★ 7

Film 9/15 for BB and BC Podcast Movie Challenge November 2017
1 movie that English is not the native language
Oh, how I love this movie! I have seen it before (but never enough) but this challenge gave me the perfect opportunity to revisit it.
The plot involves a murderous young girl ghost who is terrorizing a village. Basically, if a townsperson sees her, they will die. So...she’s the OG Sadako, y’all! This movie is pretty much the perfect 60’s gothic horror film. I mean, if someone wanted me to recommend that type of film I’d almost definitely suggest this one. I’m not entirely sure why Black Sunday is the more well-known of Bava’s works. I mean, I love that…
Review by Slig001 ★★★★½ 1

This is definitely the underrated gem of Mario Bava's filmography! Kill Baby Kill is a Gothic horror taking influence from the likes of Roger Corman's Poe cycle but spicing things up with plenty of Italian flair! The plot focuses on a coroner who travels to a village where strange murders have been happening. He faces fierce opposition from the local people as he tries to get to the bottom of the mystery. The strong point is certainly the atmosphere. Bava's use of colour is masterful. The village setting is apooky and provides an excellent location for a story like this. The central mystery escalates well and there's more interesting revelations to come even after the initial reveal. The melodramatic acting bodes well with the striking score. Theres plenty of disorientating scenes - the spiral staircase section towards the end is a particular highlight! Overall, it's great stuff despite being overshadowed by more popular Bava efforts.
Review by DBC ★★★★ 2

Hooptober Fest 5.0
Film 21/46
Six films from before 1970 (4/6)
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Shout-out to BAKA's review for turning me on to this flick. If you're a genre fan who's not already reading his succinct and wonderfully worded horror reviews, I highly recommend 'em!
The ghost of a young girl named Melissa (Valerio Valeri) is holding a small Carpathian village captive and punishing them for past sins. Will dapper brown-suited doctor Paul Eswai (Giacomo Rossi-Stuart) and his mighty blonde swoop of hair be able to stop her before she kills again?
Mario Bava gives me just about everything I'd hoped (and expected) of a mid-60's Italian Gothic horror directed by one of the founding fathers of giallo: dark rich atmosphere, memorable…

Recent reviews

Review by Jim Laskowski ★★½

The vengeful ghost of a 7-year-old child haunts an Italian village.
Chock full of Bava atmosphere, Kill, Baby… Kill! Is a must for Mario Bava fans. Typical Italian fare: cheesy acting, fantastic score, confusing at times storyline and, if you decide to watch the English dubbed version, a horrible dub job, everything you expect, know and love about Bava films.
This one is more the creepy ghost story and less giallo. There aren’t many chase scenes, absolutely no sleaze, with a little more Hammer Studio vibe. Plenty of cobweb filled corridors and secret passages. Definitely worth the watch, but in my opinion, probably not a buy.
Review by HugoNebula ★★★½

A generic plot filmed with pace and bravura; a handsome production, beautifully lit and shot in typical Bava style, with many eerie moments.
Review by The Horror Ghoul ★★★★

60s and 70s gothic horror, doesn't normally lure me in or keep my attention; but all the foggy graveyards, huge cobwebs, thick atmosphere, beautiful set designs (especially that hypnotic spiral staircase) and the ghostly little girl peering in windows with her evil laugh and haunting this small village, was downright creepy and had me enthralled. And at 83 minutes, it doesn't overstay it's welcome. This is Italian gothic horror at its finest and in my top 3 favorite Bava.
8/10
Review by Ian Smith ★★★★

Gothic horror with all the right giallo touches. Beautifully shot and lit, with an engaging mystery and a few bloody deaths besides.
Review by ah23ks9 ★★★

o que acontece que todo mundo é bonito nos filmes do mario bava
Review by Zach Milne ★★½

This was a strange yet funny movie about witches and a dead girl who kills.
They loved using the fog machine in this movie .
Not the worst Mario Bava movie but he's made better movies.
Review by bogart_on_gin ★★★★

the colors of death
Review by juan martinez ★★★½

Primera película que veo de Mario Bava y realmente me dejó con ganas de ver más de su cien
Review by Dylan Benedict ★★★½

Cool little gothic story. I still think these Italian horror films didn't really hit their stride until the 70s. But for what it is Kill Baby Kill is a fun time. The visuals and the atmosphere are the best thing about it. It's a gothic melodrama come to life.