A Bay of Blood (1971)

★ 6.6 1h 25m IMDb

Horror Thriller

An elderly heiress is killed by her husband who wants control of her fortunes. What ensues is an all-out murder spree as relatives and friends attempt to reduce the inheritance playing field, complicated by some teenagers who decide to camp out in a dilapidated building on the estate.

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Cast

Claudine Auger as Renata Donati Died 2019 · Paris, France Claudine Auger (born Claudine Oger; 26 April 1941 – 18 December 2019) was a French actress best known for her role as Bond girl Dominique "Domino" Derval in the James Bond film Thunderball (1965). She...

Luigi Pistilli as Alberto / Albert Died 1996 · Grosseto, Toscana, Italy Luigi Pistilli (19 July 1929 – 21 April 1996) was an Italian actor of stage, screen, and TV..

Anna Maria Rosati as Laura

Chris Avram as Franco Ventura / Frank Ventura Died 1989 · Bucharest, Romania Chris Avram was a Romanian-Italian film actor..

Leopoldo Trieste as Paolo Fosatti / Paul Fosatti Died 2003 · Reggio Calabria, Calabria, Italy From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Leopoldo Trieste (3 May 1917, Reggio Calabria – 25 January 2003) was an Italian actor, film director and script writer. Trieste was born in Reggio Calabria. He...

Director Mario Bava

Cast Claudine Auger, Luigi Pistilli, Claudio Camaso, Anna Maria Rosati, Chris Avram, Leopoldo Trieste, Laura Betti, Brigitte Skay, Isa Miranda, Paola Montenero

Wuchak 6/10 Aug 11, 2022

**_Seminal Italian slasher_**

At a bay on the remote coast of central Italy, corpses mount up as several people contest over the valuable property rights. Some of those involved are four party-minded youths in a yellow dune buggy.

Mario Bava's "A Bay of Blood" (1971) is called “Ecology of Crime” in Italian (translated) and is known by a few other names, like “Twitch of the Death Nerve” (“A Bay of Blood” is easily the best title).

With one foot firmly in giallo territory, it is hailed as the progenitor and blueprint for the kitschy slasher craze that would soon emerge with "Halloween" (1978) and "Friday the 13th" (1980). But let’s not forget about the influential films that led up to this one, like "Psycho" (1960), "Dementia 13" (1963) and Bava’s own “Blood and Black Lace” (1964), not to mention "Silent Night, Bloody Night,” which was shot at the same time as “A Bay of Blood.” These paved the way for early 70’s slashers like “Home for the Holidays” (1972), "Torso (1973), "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (1974) and "Black Christmas" (1974).

While this is superior to “Dementia 13,” the somewhat convoluted story is not as compelling as “Psycho,” “Silent Night, Bloody Night” and “Friday the 13th.” Speaking of the latter, devotees of “A Bay of Blood” suggest that it heavily influenced the first two “Friday” films, but this would mostly apply to the four youths visiting the desolate bay and a couple of death scenes, which amount to a fraction of the runtime. There’s nothing in “Bay” about camp counselors staying at a summer camp and the dynamics thereof.

Brigitte Skay is a highlight on the female front as Louise, but there are a few other notables, like Paola Montenero (Sylvie), Anna Maria Rosati (Laura) and the joyless Claudine Auger (Renata). On the other side of the gender spectrum, Claudio Volonté is reminiscent of Oliver Reed as solemn fisherman outcast Simon.

The movie runs 1 hour, 24 minutes, and was shot about an hour’s drive south of Rome in Sabaudia, Italy, at the producer’s beach house, along with some bits shot at Fogliano, which is 12 miles north.

GRADE: B-