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A Bay of Blood
Italy 1971
Starring: Claudine Auger Isa Miranda Luigi Pistilli
Directed by Mario Bava
Review by Peter Lynch
FILM: 5
Promoted as Twitch of the Death Nerve, this disc carries the title A Bay of Blood on the print and appears as a part of Image Entertainment's ‘Mario Bava Collection’. Initially released to disc in a desperately poor transfer by Simitar in 1999, Mario Bava's Antefatto finally receives the high quality DvD it deserves and we've all been waiting for, visually at least. A late entry in the highly rated Italian horror auteur’s catalogue, Antefatto retains the traits of the rest of his colourful horror oeuvre; a tenuous plot, inventive camera work and editing, arty diaphanous lighting using red and blue filters and an atmospheric, phantasm-like feel throughout.
Where it differs from and improves over many of his films though, is in the simplicity of the narrative - allowing for greater appreciation of the gorgeous compositional sense, cinematic virtuosity and incandescent beauty of the lighting, retention of interest, the high body count; this is easily Bava's most graphic film and a widely acknowledged influence upon American slashers such as Halloween and especially Friday the l3th and Friday the l3th Part II (which recycled one memorable scene shot for shot) making A Bay of Blood one of the most significant horror films of out time. Interestingly, Bava can also be said to have designed the blueprint for the celluloid gialli with Sei Donne per L'assassino (1964).
In a nutshell, various people in an isolated house are killed one by one in gruesome, creative ways and 13 people die 13 deaths. Countess Federica (Isa Miranda) is the elderly owner of a coveted estate, which resides on a stunning bay; a lakefront property ripe for development, which it transpires many people would like to get their hands on and will do anything to do so. The killing of an elderly wheelchair-bound victim at the pictures opening kicks off a chain of events centring upon a list of potential heirs falling victim to unknown assassin or assassins, meeting consecutive untimely ends, usually courtesy of lethal weaponry. The slayings briskly, with little time to breathe in-between, with gunshots, stabbings, hatchet and knife stabbings, strangulations, decapitations and a two-for-the-price-of-one impalement, to name but a few, there’s even a subplot involving slaughtered skinny-dipping, camping teenagers. Bava creates an affecting, melancholic, agreeably downbeat mood for this strikingly shot and directed film, his outstanding mastery of cinema technique to the fore, creating a wonderful, colourful canvas of set pieces for the murder sequences, with a breathtaking atmospheric quality inherent throughout.
A Bay of Blood is an indisputable masterpiece, as Bava also renders a more thought-provoking, cynical movie than the unsuspecting viewer might expect, cutting right to the heart of the human animals base instinct for advancement through savagery. Also known, inter alia as Last House on the Left, Part II (though it has no connection with Craven’s picture), Twitch of the Death Nerve and Carnage.
VIDEO: 4
Image Entertainment presents A Bay of Blood in a new 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, its original aspect ratio and it looks fabulous. The vibrant colours are absolutely amazing and the image is sharp with some striking detail. This is generally a very good transfer by Image, though a few minor problems remain. There is some print damage and blemishes such as nicks, dirt, white specs, scratches and lines here appear periodically, plus a couple of instances which show damage around an obvious splice. These do not really become distracting at any stage however. Simitar's DvD, which came out openly under the title A Bay of Blood was one of the worst DvD’s ever seen, outside Diamond Entertainment, this, despite it’s problems is a revelation; light years better. Blacks are deep and accurate, fleshtones spot on, whilst there is little grain after the opening credits. Lovely and perfectly in keeping with Bava’s compositional intentions.
SOUND: 1
Image Entertainment presents A Bay of Blood in English Dolby Digital Mono. This is largely free of hiss, distortion or background noise, but also of dialogue unless you turn the volume up to maximum, at which time, when music and ambient sound kicks in, you’ll be adjusting your underclothing as well, because they are encoded at a normal level. This is, I have heard due to the original source materials and if so, Image cannot be blamed per-se, but surely they could’ve remixed the damn thing! I was constantly adjusting the volume... and my temper! Simitar's disc had this sound problem too for what it is worth.
EXTRAS: 1
I found the supplemental material disappointing in this age of the jam-packed ‘special edition’, but Image cannot really be blamed, there cannot be a huge amount of material about on this picture. I was disappointed in the lack of a commentary track. Okay not Bava given that he’s dead, but surely Bava expert Tim Lucas (of Video Watchdog, who does contribute to the disc) could’ve been prevailed upon to record one. Included on the DvD are similar extras to the other Image Bava discs. The Carnage (one of many alternative titles) theatrical trailer is absolutely terrible. It looks bad and makes the film appear more like Corman’s The Trip than a horror movie. Could they not have scored the Italian trailer as Reazione a Catena or Antefatto? A couple of equally awful US Radio Spots, a Mario Bava biography and filmography along with liner notes from Tim Lucas, photo and poster galleries, six trailers for other titles in Image's ‘Mario Bava Collection’ and a wonderful, canny little special feature entitled ‘Murder menu’, which I have previously only seen on Japanese DvD’s that allows you to chapter select any of the film's murder scenes round off a thin set of additional materials, but it's hard to feel bad at Image, they have at least made some effort and the transfer is pleasing.
OVERALL: 4
Probably not a ‘great’ film as such, but certainly a very good one, even for those like myself, who are not particular Mario Bava aficionados and a significant one for reasons I have already covered. Image has produced an attractive looking disc, with a wonderful video transfer given source materials, however the audio is definitely lacking, to such an extent that it did become an irritant and for any future re-issue, the aural needs considerable work. The DvD features only a few extras, none genuinely startling, some terrible, but several, especially the Tim Lucas info do provide some elements of real interest. The film itself is a graphic gialli and essential for both Bava fan and gialli disciple and desirable for anyone with any sort of horror collection on disc. Undoubtedly Image’s DvD is way way better than the Simitar version.
