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Released by: Arrow Video
Released on: 12/06/10
Director: Mario Bava
Year: 1971
Cast: Isa Miranda, Brigette Skay, Luigi Pistilli, Claudine Auger
The Movie:
Also known as Carnage and Twitch Of The Death Nerve, Bava's Bay Of Blood is not only a really solid and fantastically bloody giallo, it's also one of the most influential horror films of the seventies. A huge influence on the slasher films that would follow in its wake, it may not have been as gory as the films H.G. Lewis was making around the same time but it certainly helped set the standard for stylish kills and beautifully macabre murder set pieces.
A wealthy old countess (Isa Miranda) trapped in her wheelchair is murdered one dark and gloomy night, and her killer is then murdered himself! It turns out the killer was the countess' husband and that the body is nowhere to be found. The motive for the slaying? The countess was the sole owner of a sizeable amount of land surrounding a large bay - someone wanted it, and she wouldn't sell. Shortly after her death, four teenagers show up in the area to party on the grounds once owned by the countess. They start off having a great time until slowly but surely someone begins slaughtering them one by one.
Noted as the film responsible for launching the slasher film craze and an undeniable influence on Sean Cunningham's Friday The 13th, the film is famous (or maybe notorious is a better word) for its creative kill scenes. Brigitte Skay returns after her stint in Four Times That Night to have her throat whacked with a machete. A man and a woman are punctured by a spear while having sex in the bedroom (a scene blatantly swiped later on in Friday The 13th Part 2) and one unlucky man gets a machete blow to the face. Certainly gorier than any other film Bava would make, Bay Of Blood's murder set pieces are aided considerably by the inventive special effects work of Carlo Rambaldi and an excellent and tense score from Selvio Cipriani.
Performances from Luigi Pistilli (from The Case Of The Scorpion's Tale) and Claudine Auger (who starred in Black Belly Of The Tarantula) stand out in the film and the script not only provides ample opportunity for creative bloodshed but also for a fair bit of genuine mystery and suspense. Bava plays the selfish and greedy characters off of one another nicely and it's interesting to watch as the killer eliminates almost everyone who gets in the way. The strong script, good performances, inventive camerawork and stylish cinematography all work alongside the impressive body count scenes to make for one of Bava's most enjoyable films.
The whole thing moves to a rather fantastic rhythm, with Bava's skill behind the camera made all the more obvious by the way in which the director paces the picture and integrates it with the score. It's edited quite masterfully, not quite wallowing in the gore the way later slasher pictures would but certainly showing us more than audiences of the day likely expected to see, but the film is cut really well. Each edit has a purpose, and each camera angle was obviously quite carefully planned and set up with a very specific intent. Bava's renowned eye for detail helps this picture overcome its fairly basic (and at times almost pedestrian) script and stand out as a seminal horror film whose influence would reach far wider than anyone involved with it ever likely expected.
Video/Audio/Extras:
NOTE: This review is based on a set of test discs that may or may not represent finished, retail product.
Both versions of the movie are presented in 1080p AVC encoded 1.85.1 widescreen and in pretty decent shape, with the American cut of the film looking a quite a bit cleaner and less beaten up than the Italian version, which has a fair bit more ware and tear and which features less impressive color reproduction. The American cut is by far the cleaner, more colorful, and more stable of the two versions. Compared to the standard definition release that Arrow has put out, both versions show considerably more detail and better, more natural looking color reproduction. There are some minor compression artifacts here and there and print damage is noticeable throughout but this is definitely an upgrade over what's been made available in the past.
Well, the Italian cut of the film includes an Italian language DTS-HD mono track with optional English subtitles while the American cut includes an English language DTS-HD mono track with optional English subtitles also provided. The clarity of each track is fine. Like the standard definition release, there's a bit of mild hiss here and there and the odd pop but overall there aren't any glaring problems here. These sound like older mono mixes, but that's not an issue in and of itself. Comparing these lossless versions to their standard definition counterparts, you're able to make out more subtleties with the score and sound design, which is definitely a nice plus.
Arrow's Blu-ray disc an audio commentary track from Mario Bava biographer Tim Lucas overtop of the American cut of the film. Lucas does a fine job of explaining the history of the film as well as covering its influence. He discusses the Italian language version of the film, talks about his own personal experience seeing the film for the first time, and he discusses the production in a fair bit of detail providing criticism, trivia and anecdotal information. Never at a loss for words when discussing Bava, Lucas proves to be an amiable and interesting source of information. This track was ported over from the Anchor Bay release which was included in the Mario Bava Collection Volume 2 boxed set release.
Additionally, the disc includes a few featurettes starting with Joe Dante Remembers Twitch Of The Death Nerve (11:54) where the director of The Howling and Gremlins talks about his favorite Bava films, and notes that Bava, during his time, was criminally underappreciated as a director. From there he goes on to talk about why he likes Bava's films and what makes them interesting to him and how AIP wound up with some of Bava's titles in their catalogue. A second featurette, Shooting a Spaghetti Splatter Classic (20:24) is an interview with the film's cameraman, Gianlorenzo Battaglia, in which he talks about his work on this picture. He begins by talking about how he started his career as an assistant to Mario Bava before working as an assistant cameraman. From there he elaborates on what it was like working with Bava, memories of shooting Bay Of Blood, how and why certain compositions were chosen, and what it was like on set. There are also trailers here for the film under the Carnage (3:46) title and the Twitch of the Death Nerve () title with commentary by Edgar Wright. You don't get the option to watch the trailers without Wright's commentary, unfortunately, but he's an amusing commentator nevertheless and he notes how the Carnage trailer was an inspiration for his Don't! trailer which was used in Grindhouse. Rounding out the extras on the first disc are two English language radio spots for the film that play out with some pressbook and promotional artwork underneath, some menus, and chapter selection.
Also here is the Italian cut of the film with the original mono audio as well as a brand new featurette entitled Argento! Bava! Fulci! The Giallo Gems of Dardano Sacchetti (31:48). Once you get past the unusually long opening credits sequence, this featurette turns out to be a pretty interesting interview with the man who wrote Bay Of Blood among many other Italian genre films during the industry's heyday. Sacchetti talks about how he got involved with the likes of Bava and Argento, how he can turn a synopsis into a screenplay, and about various influences on his work. He also talks about some of the more infamous set pieces that occur in some of the movies he worked on, Argento's rock star persona during the Giallo boom, and the use of storyboards.
The Final Word:
If the test discs are anything to go by, one of Mario Bava's most influential films, Bay Of Blood gets a pretty solid Blu-ray release from Arrow. The extras are pretty decent and having both the Italian and American cuts of the film in one set is a nice plus - seeing the film is HD is also a nice plus, as it really brings out quite a bit more detail and makes its unique style all the more impressive.
Click the images to go to full size screencaps!
The Italian Cut:
The American Cut:
