Five Dolls for an August Moon (1970) User Reviews

If this is his worst, I really must check out his best.

[BA_Harrison · 6/10 · 27 November 2016]

George Stark (Teodoro Corrà), a wealthy industrialist, invites several business friends and their partners to his island retreat for the weekend, with the intention of convincing scientist Gerry Farrell (William Berger) to sell his secret formula for a new industrial resin. Philanthropist Gerry isn't interested in making a deal, intending instead to make his invention public, a fact that forces one or more of the guests to turn to murder.

The general consensus seems to be that this is one of director Mario Bava's weakest efforts (even Bava himself was reportedly not fond of the film, being contractually obliged to direct); I can't really comment much on that since I've seen too few of his films to compare, but what I can say is that, even though I found the twists and turns of this Italian variation of Agatha Christie's Ten little Indians virtually impossible to fathom (especially the twist ending), there were still enough positives to make it worth a go.

As with many a giallo, the female cast are very easy on the eye, with genre regular Edwige Fenech stripping off whenever possible as always. There are numerous murders, and although they all occur off-screen (we get to see just the aftermath), the hanging up of the steadily growing number bodies in a meat locker is wonderfully macabre and darkly amusing. The jazzy score is super cool, perfectly complementing the wonderful '60s/'70s architecture and decor of the island's house. And despite Bava's purported disinterest, there is still an unmistakable sense of style, with effective uses of whip-pans and rapid zooms, and at least one stunning scene worthy of a genius, wherein a display of glass balls roll down a spiral staircase, along the floor, and into a bathtub where a woman has committed suicide.

All said and done, if this is his worst, I really must check out his best.

Good Bava Giallo

[Prof-Hieronymos-Grost · 7/10 · 18 July 2005]

An industrialist invites some of his friends to his island retreat in order to persuade a chemist (William Berger better known as Django}to sell them his new secret formula for an industrial resin. Of course he doesn't want to sell at any price and this leads to resentment and veiled threats which leads to all on the island being killed off one by one, in this "Ten little Indians" type thriller and of course there is a storm brewing and the phones are down, I think you get the picture….Now how do I review a Bava film without mentioning "Stylish" or "Superb use of Colour"…. I don't think I can really,but I will try…..This films theme is reminiscent of Bava's more famous work Bay of Blood, with its high body count….it has a funky little score too, very 60's…..the film at times tends towards black comedy with the body bags swinging in the freezer, I have to say it made me laugh and as with all Bava films the women are quite nice to look at…in particular Edwige Fenech a lady I have heard a lot about and I can see why….all in all an enjoyable little thriller, not Bava's best work but certainly worth a look

Bava and Edwige: A Winning Combination

[bensonmum2 · 7/10 · 25 January 2005]

• Plot: (from IMDb) George Stark is a wealthy industrialist who invites five business friends of his to his remote Mediterranean island for a weekend of relaxation and business when he introduces them to Professor Farrell, a brilliant chemist who gives investment ideas to the group. But against Farrell's wishes, the group goes behind each other's back to obtain information on Farrell's chemistry ideas and soon the guests and residents start turning up dead one by one as Stark and Farrell must rally the group together to determine the identity of the killer (or killers) despite nobody trusting anyone.

• Most people I know would list Five Dolls for an August Moon as among their least favorite film that Mario Bava made. Bava himself considered it his worst (I guess Bava never had the misfortune of watching his movie Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs). I, however, do not agree. It has a funky, late 60s/early 70s feel to it that I just love. Everything about the movie is the absolute height of fashion from that period. The clothes, the people, the house, the music, the attitudes, etc. can best be described as "groovy".

• Those who like a lot of gore with their killings may be disappointed by all of the off-screen murders. The aftermath of a couple, however, are fairly gruesome. But those with a morbid sense of humor will get a kick out of watching the bodies pile-up in the freezer. Just imagine the sight of five or six bodies wrapped in plastic being placed on meat hooks one at a time in a freezer while accompanied by some less than appropriate music. I just love it. Another plus for Five Dolls for an August Moon is the presence of Edwige Fenech. Similar to what I stated when writing about The Case of the Bloody Iris, Edwige makes any movie a better movie.

• While this movie may not be for everyone, if you're a fan of Bava, Edwige, or funky 70s movies, you might find something here to enjoy.

An incomprehensible but sporadically beautiful mess

[Jasper-12 · 5 April 1999]

Art direction and cinematography are as distinctive as any of Bava's other giallo films of the period, but the garbled script to what is essentially little more than a standard body-count movie really lets this one down. After a plodding and talky start, the film disintegrates into a total mess. Bava pulls off the odd visual flourish, but such scenes never gel together. Still, the mesmeric use of zooms, focus pulls, and tracking shots and the stylish use of colour ensures that, from an entirely aesthetic perspective, this film never becomes boring, and as an auteur piece, is well worth a watch. Now, if only I could work out what the hell happened in it...

Bava Plus Edwige...What's Not To Like?!?!?!

[ferbs54 · 7/10 · 6 November 2007]

One of the few films directed by Italian horror maestro Mario Bava that I hadn't seen, as well as a film starring my latest object of cinematic lust, Edwige Fenech, 1970's "Five Dolls for an August Moon" was one that I eagerly popped into my DVD player at home. And it turns out that it was well worth the wait. In this very interesting giallo, a group of businessmen convenes, with their wives, at an ultramodern beach house on what looks to be a lonely Mediterranean island, with the purpose of convincing a scientist to sell them the formula for his new industrial resin. Before long, though, "Ten Little Indians" style, the group's members start to be killed off one by one, and, in a nice, eerie touch, are kept hanging in plastic wrap in the house's meat locker. The plot here is complex enough without being ultimately impossible to understand or swallow, although one or two points do not withstand logical consideration after the movie is done. Still, Bava's direction is typically stylish, with some memorable set pieces (dig those bouncing marbles!); a chic, jazzy score by Piero Umiliani aids immeasurably in moving things along (what a terrific soundtrack CD this film could have!); and the picture, though not as graphically violent as, say, Bava's "Twitch of the Death Nerve" (1971), still provides some grisly moments. And Edwige? Well, whether doing a frenzied dance number in gold lame bell-bottoms and matching brassiere or strutting around in various states of undress, this luscious Eurobabe does not disappoint. She is easily the hottest of the "five dolls" here; whotta knockout! My thanks to Image Entertainment for this great-looking DVD of a film never released theatrically here in the U.S.

Mario Bava's whodunit in which various guests are invited at a deserted island where a number of murders happen

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 9 December 2021]

This 1970 rendition inspired by "Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None" regarding the known plot , as various people (William Berger , Ira von Fürstenberg , Edwige Fenech , Howard Ross , Mauricio Poli , Ely GalleaniIi) are invited by a mysterious host , industrialist George Stark (Teodor Corra) , to relax on his desolate island so that they can exploit the monetary value of one of the guests' revolutionary resin formula . As the group of investment speculators attempt to talk scientist Gerry Farrell (William Berger) into selling the rights of the new formula while they stand at the wild weekend retreat on the private island . But Farrel seems disinterested and tempers rise with the stakes . The wives and girlfriends along for the fun and erotic games feel the tension as their men stray , or attempt to get them to use sex to close a deal . Then a murderer within the group disrupts the proceeding . Once the killings start the possibility of anyone trusting anyone is left far behind . As someone begins to kill them one by one , choosing grisly methods to murder . Freely based on the popular novel Ten Little Indians and subsequent stage play by Agatha Christie about a unseen killer who sequentially knocks off the visitors . Agatha Christie tale of 10 people invited to an isolated place , hovering around mouthing chunks of exposition while waiting to get murdered . The guests discuss and argue each other , only to find that an unseen person is killing them one by one . Just before the gripping climax of the film , you will be given some seconds to guess the killer's identity ! The film will pause and on the screen you will see clues to help you decide who the murderer is...but the person in suspect is always the person who is murdered next . There is no way for any of them to flee , so they set about attempting to determine who their hidden host might be and where he might be hiding . Island of terror!

Whodunit in which some guests have been invited by an entrepeneur , joining various colleagues and their wives , being key figure a brilliant chemist who has some investment ideas , when they are all gathered, they're distrusting to each other , while the competitors try to cheat one another with secret bids ; subsequently , the people are being killed off one by one . A psychological thriller in which a number of strangers are forced to come face to face with their sinister aims after receiving invitation to an isolated location off the civilization . Passable adaptation , though the script is unfaithful to the original Agatha Christie novel , being more an inspiration than a correct retelling . Excruciantly tense and so-so recounting with the usual suspicious characters , packing tension , thrills , chills , twists and turns , but being slowly paced . The whole cast overacts at times and playing cardboard roles against beach scenarios and a luxurious mansion . The cast of connivers is interchangeable , though there's a few familar faces such as : Edwige Fenech , William Berger , Maurice Poli . However , being hard to keep straight and in some cases more easily identifiable by their now-hideous 1970 fashions than the faces .

This medium-budgeted picture is a really slow with some interesting elements , being professionally directed by Mario Bava ; but it sticks little with the original and classic version . Allegedly a professional assignment given Bava with just two days' notice, the movie is a fair murder mystery in which even this filmmaker's visual tricks can't sustain interest enough . It packs an evocative cinematography by Antonio Rinaldi and Mario Bava himself , being shot in Anzio, Rome, Lazio, Dear Studios, Rome, Lazio, Tor Caldara, Lazio where in the Sixties were filmed lots of Peplums . Atmospheric and intriguing score by Piero Umiliani , including lounge sounds and catching songs by Alessandroni . The flick was nicely shot by Mario Bava who made decent horror films until his death .

This is one of the innumerable versions based on Agatha Christie famous novel . The best version (1945) resulted to be the classic by Rene Clair with Barry Fitzgerard , Roland Young , June Duprez , Mischa Auer , C Aubrey Smith , Judith Anderson and Richard Haydn ; furthermore , 1965 version set in Austrian Alps by George Pollock with Hugh O'Brian as Hugh Lombard , Shirley Eaton , Fabian , Leo Genn , Stanley Holloway , Wilfrid Hyde-White and Daliah Lavi. ¨Ten Little Indians¨ (1974) by Peter Colinson with Charles Aznavour , Maria Rohm , Adolfo Celi , Elke Sommer , Stephane Audran , Alberto De Mendoza , Richard Attenborough , Teresa Gimpera . And 1989 rendition ¨Ten little Indians¨, switching from an isolated island to African landscapes located in the sabana , it was shot in South Africa by producers Avi Lerner and Harry Alan Towers directed by Alan Birkinshaw , most actors are mediocre and unknown , though there are three important players as Donald Pleasence , Brenda Vaccaro and Herbert Lom who had acted in a previous remake playing the doctor . Furthermore , a Russian version (1987) by Director: Stanislav Govorukhin with Russia Stars: Vladimir Zeldin, Tatyana Drubich, Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy .

Ten Little Sleazebags

[rooee · 5/10 · 30 January 2016]

"Maestro of the Macabre" Mario Bava directs this island-set murder mystery, which owes more than a little to Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians. Although it has some of the hallmarks of giallo – a bevy of vixens luxuriating upon middle-aged sleazebags, ropey dubbing, and murder wounds that bleed peri-peri sauce – it isn't exactly a slasher. It's brief and bloody but not particularly brutal.

The opening starts like a fairy tale – albeit a very 1970s Italian one. Isabel (Justine Gall) prances through the woods like Carroll's Alice and comes to a house. Through the window she watches a forbidden party taking place. It appears that she witnesses a ritual murder – except it turns out to be a game.

But then a real corpse is found and the real game begins. On a remote island populated by self-interested, alcoholic, amoral millionaires ("Filthy swine from the same mould!"), everyone is a suspect.

The chief one initially is George (Teodoro Corra). He's brought a bunch of smug gits to the house to hammer out a business deal. They're all vying to purchase a secret scientific formula from Professor Fritz (William Berger). So when the professor cops it, the accusations start to fly and tensions start to fray. The bodies pile up quicker than you can say "Dario Argento".

Five Dolls wasn't a big release at the time and it's not a classic movie by any means (Bava himself disregarded it), but it's solid and reasonably tense. Naturally, once the murders begin everyone behaves like cogs in a movie narrative machine rather than a convincing human being, but that's par for the course. This is virtually a tech demo for Bava's craft – he's the Hitchcock of Italian cinema, as his choices of shots, focus, and fluid camera shifts show. And if nothing else you have a fantastic, unique jazzy score from Piero Umiliani, who even gives the bodies in the freezer their own jaunty piano theme.

Murder mystery fans will be frustrated by the film's pace, which sometimes gives us literally seconds between homicides. We're furnished with few clues to play with and the final twist is a dirty cheat. But let's not pretend there's no pleasure in watching these sharks eat each other; we're here to find out which of them makes it out alive, period.

Five Dolls is drenched in atmosphere and the production design gives a wonderful sense of the otherworldly – we could be on an alien planet. Silly and sexy, it's not an essential movie, but if you're interested in a macabre and hallucinatory curio from one of horror's most influential artists, look no further.

Handsomely photographed film from Mario Bava

[AlsExGal · 6/10 · 14 May 2021]

It has striking set pieces, sets, and color schemes. A pity the plot is not more original. But Bava's morbid sense of humor permeates the film.

Five couples come to an island for rest and relaxation. There is a maid and manservant. One of the guests tries a sacrifice--to whom, what or why isn't explained. The lights go out. The sacrifice is dead when the lights come back on--or is she? One of the guests is an inventor with an invention worth millions. After turning down three financial offers for the formula to it, people start dying. The boats that are an avenue of escape are stolen and the only telephone line is cut. The list of suspects dwindles. Will anyone survive the movie?

The cinematography was done by Antonio Rinaldi. Bava himself did the quick, jumpy editing, which contributes to the viewers' sense of unease. The dominant colors in this film are dark blue and purple, especially at night; in three scenes, the only colors used are black, white, and red. The actors are adequate.

The plot isn't exactly logical and the ending comes close to breaking the bounds of disbelief. It's like Bava gave up on everything but the visuals. So the plot may become unbelievable, but the film's a visual feast and Bava keeps things moving so I didn't have time to get bored.

Weird, Flawed and Silly Black Humor Comedy

[claudio_carvalho · 4/10 · 9 July 2009]

The wealthy investor George Stark (Teodoro Corrá), his partner Jack Davidson (Howard Ross) and their business friend Nick Chaney (Maurice Poli) invite Professor Fritz Farrell (William Berger) and his wife Trudy Farrell (Ira Furstenberg) to spend a weekend with their wives Jill Stark (Edith Meloni), Peggy Davison (Helena Ronee) and Marie Chaney (Edwige Fenech) in a remote island that belongs to George. Fritz has invented a formula of an industrial resin and the three businessmen wants to convince the scientist to sell it to them for millions of dollar. The host George releases his yacht and crew to stay alone in the island with his wife, guests and the young woman Isabel (Justine Gall). When the houseboy and lover of Marie Jacques (Mauro Bosco) is found dead on the beach, they realize that the phone is out of order, so they can not call the police; they bring the corpse to the refrigerating chamber where meet and food are stocked. Fritz refuses to sell his formula and while on the beach, Isabel surprisingly shoots him on the head; however his body is not found. Then, each guest is murdered and the survivors bring the bodies to the freeze and try to discover who might be the killer.

"5 Doll for an August Moon" is a weird, flawed and silly black humor comedy by Mario Bava. The development of the key character Isabel is awful and the viewer never knows who she is, what the relationship of her parents and George is and why she is in the island during a business meeting. The plot is inconsistent, like for example, when Peggy is murdered - the situation does not make sense in the end. The final twist is confused and I did not understand the situation: Fritz is accused of killing his associate Dr. Kruger. If that is true, why? Wasn't he an altruist man that did not want to sell the formula but donate is for magnanimous purposes? If he confessed the crime under the influence of Pentothal, why would Isabel bother to bring him to justice? Wouldn't be smarter using the Pentothal to get the number of his bank account? My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

Note: On 14 June 2020 I saw this film again.

Edwige Fenech + Bava!!!

[BandSAboutMovies · 7/10 · 26 January 2018]

Bava believed this was one of his worst films. It wasn't released in the U.S. until 2001. And yet, I found plenty to like about this murder-filled affair. It also taught me an important lesson: if you invent a new chemical process, don't go to a rich industrialist's vacation island.

George Stark is one of those industrialists and he's invited a bunch of guests to his private island, including Professor Farrell, who has created an industrial resin. Several of the guests want him to sell it. Here's where the hijinks ensue.

Stark's wife Jill is sleeping with Farrell's wife, Trudy (Ira von Fürstenberg, The Fifth Chord). Stark's partner Nick treats his wife, Marie (Edwige Fenech!) horribly, but allows her to sleep with Charles, one of the servants. Isabelle (Ely Galleani, A Lizard in a Woman's Skin) is a teenage girl along for the ride. And Jack and Peggy just seem to get along, unlike everyone else.

The men beg Farrell for his formula, sending away the only way off the island - a motorboat - away until the deal is done. So when Charles is killed, they simply hang him in the freezer until they can get the radio working to call the mainland. As you do.

Then, teenage Isabelle kills Farrell, but the others only know he's dead. The killings now pick up, with Peggy being shot to death, Marie being stabbed and Jill being electrocuted in the bathtub. One by one, their bodies are added to the freezer.

With Isabelle having gone missing, Stark, Jack, Nick, and Trudy decide to stay in the same room for the night, as one of them has to be the murderer. Nick takes off after an argument and is found dead the next day, so of course, as is custom, he is also added to the freezer.

Stark has a boat, which makes you think he'd be the suspect. But as he comes back to the house, Jack reveals that he has killed everyone else to steal their checks. He kills Stark and meets with Trudy, who was the real boss. She's got the resin formula. He has the checks. But they're both out for themselves and end up killing one another. Isabelle makes herself known and takes everything.

That's not the whole story. Isabelle also shows up to see Farrell in prison. He didn't die, but had come up with the whole scheme with Trudy. Turns out he wasn't the good man that he appeared to be and had stolen the formula. He got Isabelle to be part of his plan, but she gave him a drug that would make him appear to be dead, then pushed him out to the sea. Rescuers found him and he was so messed up on the drug that he confessed. She laughs about the whole thing and leaves the prison, finding it all rather funny that he'll be hung in the morning while she'll enjoy three million dollars.

There are better Bava films to be found, but there are plenty of twists and turns in this film. It's certainly entertaining and you know, Edwige Fenech is in it. So there are way worse movies to spend your time with.

Just remember. If you come up with a great formula or steal one, just keep it to yourself. And don't go on vacation. Stay at work.

Visually imaginative, but the story's a letdown

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 16 July 2016]

A sluggish giallo from Mario Bava, largely considered to be one of the director's worst and for good reason: unfortunately, it seems writer Mario di Nardo forgot to populate his story with any likable characters whatsoever, leaving viewing a somewhat hollow experience. The plot is basically yet another variation on the old AND THEN THERE WERE NONE story by Agatha Christie, as a bunch of stuffy, uninteresting, upper-crust types gather together at a remote island villa and find themselves offed one by one by a mysterious murderer. However, fans expecting any of the bloody antics highlighted in Bava's later A BAY OF BLOOD will be sorely disappointed to find that the murders themselves are in short supply; largely off-screen, and with minimal gore and violence.

Where the film does succeed is in Bava's effortless style and artistry with the camera and art direction. Packing his movie with (irritating) zooms, dissolves, sweeps, and close-up shots, the film looks good, very good in fact. Although the music has dated badly in the meantime and the fashions have gone out of the window, the visual spectacle is what makes this film work and Bava achieves some of his trademark imaginative imagery, including a beautiful cascade of glass balls leading to a murder victim and some splendidly macabre shots of dead bodies hung up in a meat locker. While it's nice to look at, the fragmented storyline, muddled conclusion and motive for the murders and frankly silly climax (belonging more in THE CABINET OF DR CALIGARI than here) make this a rum deal indeed.

Thankfully, with the appearance of some splendid Euro-babes - including the delectable Edwige Fenech and Ira von Furstenberg - Bava makes the effort to pack his film with provocative, naked female flesh on display, the result being that this is one of his sexiest movies. The sight of Fenech cavorting in bright orange underwear is enough to make any man's blood boil. An interesting male cast has also been assembled, with shifty performers like William Berger, Howard Ross and Teodoro Corra lurking about the premises, but the script is so uninteresting that it sucks life from the murder-mystery. Ultimately, the film itself is only worth watching for ardent giallo-lovers who can survive on style and artistry alone; as a film, this is an abject failure, deeply flawed and with little else to recommend it.

Wrapped in plastic...

[Red-Barracuda · 9/10 · 17 June 2012]

Seemingly Mario Bava was not pleased with having to direct this film. He carried out his duties as a director for hire though but despite the presence of the beautiful giallo regular Edwige Fenech, his disinterest to the project shows and the movie is wildly uneven but hugely likable. It's about an inventor who, along with a group of would-be investors, assemble on an island. The investors want a formula from the inventor and are willing to pay big for it but he does not want to sell out. Before long people start being murdered one by one. It's a variation on Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians.

It has the breezy atmosphere that many late 60's Italian thrillers have. It wasn't until after Dario Argento's The Bird with the Crystal Plumage became an international success that the giallo genre became more direct, aggressively suspenseful and violent. Five Dolls is very much a product of the gialli that came before this. Its lounge music soundtrack and languid nature testify to this. As an actual mystery thriller it's pretty lacking it has to be said. It feels like Bava's contempt for the material is reflected in his complete indifference in creating a suspenseful or thrilling movie. While it's a whodunit with quite a number of murders, they are all committed off-screen. This is not to the film's advantage at all. Characters suddenly die from out of nowhere with no build up. Sometimes it feels like Five Dolls is a lampoon of the genre. Judging by the black humour Bava utilised in the following year's Bay of Blood it is entirely possible that he isn't taking things entirely seriously here either.

What Five Dolls does have though is a beautiful look and feel. This is hardly surprising I suppose seeing as its Bava's trademark. The cinematography is always interesting, with several well composed shots and good use of the beach-front location and villa. While the production design, fashions and cool décor are all appealing. The interest of the film, therefore, is more in watching a chic melodrama involving a group of largely unsympathetic rich people. It works better as this, than as a thriller. Still, it does have some nice macabre touches that would have graced his best films, such as the repeat scene of the murder victims hanging up in the freezer wrapped in plastic; or the shot of crystal balls rolling en mass down a set of stairs and into a bathroom leading us to yet another dead body. But perhaps best of all is the opening party scene which introduces all of the characters. It's campy to the max, with lots of slow zooms into all of the character's faces, while Fenech dances in a crazy sensual way. This sequence, like many others, benefits from the score by Piero Umiliani. It's a very eccentric soundtrack of organ-driven Italo-pop. Five Dolls is certainly a film that favours style over substance.

Five Dolls for an August Moon is not one of Mario Bava's best films but it is among his most charming. Despite the inherent weakness of its plot and mystery-thriller elements there's just something extremely likable about it. It's of its time in the best possible sense.

Swinging Bava!

[Coventry · 7/10 · 28 November 2005]

Mario Bava himself repeatedly stated that this is the worst film he was ever involved in, so luckily enough there still are some loyal and naive fan-boys (like myself) to reassure the public that "5 Dolls for an August Moon" nonetheless remains a worthy purchase and definitely better than your average horror/mystery from the early 70's. Even though this giallo can't possibly reach the brilliance-level of nearly every other Bava film (the list is enormous, with "Black Sabbath, Kill Baby…Kill", "Blood and Black Lace, "Black Sunday"…), it's a light-headed and often ingenious effort. The plot is a very simple variation on Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians", set on an island inhabited by rich and utterly greedy bastards. The island's owner, George Stark, invited a bunch of businessmen and their wives over for a weekend of million-dollar-deals and adultery. One of the guests invented a groundbreaking formula (something about resin) and the others make it a sport to bid the most money for it. They aren't even ashamed to throw in their sexy wives as an extra. The party really gets interesting once the invitees' bodies turn up brutally murdered one by one. "5 Dolls for an August Moon" indeed looks more like a satire instead of a suspenseful giallo and it's obvious that Bava didn't put much devotion into it. The murders are mainly committed off screen but the emphasis lies on the comical storage of the cadavers, namely in a meat-locker and clumsily wrapped in plastics. The dialogs are weak yet almost the entire film is foreseen of a jazzy soundtrack, which actually makes "5 Dolls for an August Moon" Bava's most swinging horror movie (the über-cool "Danger: Diabolik" is falls into a class of its own). The totally unpredictable twist at the end is fantastic, in my opinion. The cast is more than interesting, particularly because the unearthly beautiful Edwige Fenech hops around in bikinis and lingerie most of the time. She's a good actress, but she's even a better nude model. For just this one time, don't listen to the master-director himself and watch this film! You won't regret it, especially not if you miss the typical tastelessness of the 70's.

Bava has made better films

[ODDBear · 5/10 · 19 February 2008]

Mario Bava himself claimed this film to be the worst of his career. Rumor has it he agreed to do it on a Friday and the following Monday he started shooting.

Nonetheless, 5 Dolls goes down pretty well. It's laid back loungy atmosphere has a charm to it, it's full of slick visuals and the camera work is terrific, as always when Bava is concerned. But as a murder mystery it's pretty thin.

It's never boring, always somewhat intriguing but never completely takes off. While Bava may have taken interest in the film visually speaking he obviously could have cared less when it came to the script or the actors. Everyone acts too suspiciously and to say some of their actions look out of place, well, that's putting it VERY mildly.

As said, it ain't boring and worth a spin on a slow night. If you're a fan of Bava, that is.

Bava has done better

[The_Void · 6/10 · 27 July 2004]

Mario Bava is a great horror film director, but this is not one of his best works.

The plot of this movie is along similar lines to that of one of his masterpiece's, "Bay of Blood", in that it revolves around money and a murderer. It follows the story of a wealthy industrialist that invites some of his friends to his remote Mediterranean island for a weekend of relaxation. It later transpires that one of the friends has a formula that has the potential to make a lot of money. What follows is a crescendo of murders as one by one the friends start turning up dead and the remaining survivors then don't know who amongst is the killer and therefore who to trust.

Unlike a lot of Bava's other work; this film features little in the way of suspense or atmosphere, and the music isn't always as good as Bava's fans have come to expect. It also doesn't have a lot in the way of ideas; Mario Bava is known for being creative, his movies usually bear this trademark and he is responsible for influencing many great horror movies, but this one doesn't cut it in that respect. The only really creepy part that this movie does have, in fact, is the spectacle of seeing the film's characters strung up in a meant freezer, but other than that it's pretty routine. By the time the film reaches it's climax, it doesn't really matter who the murderer is, as the intent is obvious from the start and the characters are largely samey and therefore uninteresting, and that's not a good way for a movie to keep the viewer's interest.

This film isn't especially bad, but it's very average and doesn't meet the high standards that Bava has set for himself with his earlier (and later) works. A year later, Bava would create Bay of Blood; I recommend seeing that instead if you're not a Bava fan, this one is for completists.

5 Dolls for an August Moon

[Scarecrow-88 · 7/10 · 29 March 2007]

A wealthy industrialist, George Stark(Teodoro Corrà), invites various couplings to his palatial island beach house with the goal of needling a "scientist", Prof. Farrell(William Berger)into selling a formula that could lead to millions. Several of the men who show up to George's shindig are business acquaintances also desiring to purchase the formula. One by one, the visitors(the wives who came along as well as their husbands)fall to a quiet killer using various methods while others' backs are turned. Playing off the oft-used "Ten Little Indians" concept, someone(..or more than one?)amongst the group is bumping the others off. For macabre humor, director Bava has George store each fallen victim in his freezer wrapped in plastic followed by some music to commemorate being among the death-list. Before long, they are dropping like flies until a mere three or four are squabbling over who is sneaky and slick enough to pull off the killings without being noticed.

That is what Bava toys the viewer with setting up a possible killer, and then subsequently upping the ante by pulling the rug from under us a good three times at the end. For a film Bava was forced into making, the twists that come at the end are quite inspired. I especially enjoyed his pokes at the wealthy..it's kind of a satire on just how greedy, vile, and back-stabbing the upper-class yuppie types can be. The desire for more and more wealth is played to it's zenith at the end. It seems that Bava doesn't give us anyone to care about, providing us with a list of unlikable, selfish cretins to root against. We are perhaps given a character with humanity in the scientist, but, as the film continues, even he is corrupt and exposed. Not violent at all for a psycho thriller/mystery. It features an attractive cast with a bevy of beauties wearing skimpy outfits. I think it comes off better because Bava seems to have contempt for these people which might explain why the scenes in the freezer seem much more absurdly amusing than a normal reaction might extract from the viewer. It's typically stylish, but Bava surprisingly holds back(..this might be considered a weakness from Bava's avid fanbase who like it when Bava lets loose a visual frenzy often making up for the story's lack of bite)allowing the mystery to take center stage.

Talk about a movie that makes no sense

[phuckracistgop · 2/10 · 30 January 2024]

I watched this out of curiosity and found out that I should have taken a pass on it. From the weird background music and god awful dance scene "I never understood why white people persist on dancing badly on film" but on with my review of this mediocre suspense movie that should have been left in the can. And what is with always having some knucklehead chasing after a woman who obviously does not want to have anything to do with them? Add the scene just prior to the return of the yacht in which the last three were laid out in the living room from drinking. Next thing you know the yacht arrives and no-one is in the house and it is spotless. Yet after the yacht leave the three people are back on the floor in the living room. Add that when they play back the reel to reel, you can hear the crew on the tape stating that the house is empty. No where is it explained how the crew missed these people and the alcohol on the coffee table, but whatever.

Style over substance and then some

[christopher-underwood · 6/10 · 11 January 2007]

Style over substance and then some! Always good to look at this doesn't merit the effort required to try and keep up with the plot twists and various character exchanges. Sort of Agatha Christie's, 'Ten Little Indians' without the suspense. The disc gives the option of watching in Italian without subtitles and perhaps that is what I will do next time. It's relatively short and without all the nonsensical dialogue there would be more time to enjoy the wondrous visuals. The girls, the interiors, the seashore, those sweet camera angles and the girls again in such super costumes and sometimes out of them. A quirky soundtrack completes the heady brew and is just fine as long as not too much attention is given to the plot involving a group of industrialists after some silly formulae.

"Houseboys come and go but there's always the bottle"

[hwg1957-102-265704 · 5/10 · 9 June 2022]

The film looks great with the ocean, the fascinating cliff edge house, the interesting decor, the visual flourishes like the walk-in freezer filling with bodies and the cascade of glass balls. You can almost get the tang of the sea. Unfortunately the plot is incomprehensible and by the end I was confused about who killed who and why they were killed. The acting is proficient but you never really got to know the characters. It plays out like Agatha Christie's classic 'And Then There Were None' story but throws out the substantial baby with the bathwater leaving a good looking but empty film. Of the cast Edwige Fenech as Marie Chaney held one's attention the most, for obvious reasons.

Watched it twice and both times had the same bafflement with the plot.

Not bad, but...

[markovd111 · 6/10 · 15 November 2021]

"Five Dolls for an August Moon" isn't a movie completely devoid of style and good directing, but it's boring story and cast of not very pleasant characters make for a mediocre movie which only the veterans of the genre will know to appreciate. There is some decent female nudity and even a touch of comedy (bodies constantly pilling up in the freezer) showing us that Bava wasn't completely clueless about this movie, but evidently didn't manage to make a good movie. 6/10! Only for the fans and the veterans!

bad taste can be so good

[phoenix2rachelsummers · 8/10 · 31 October 2004]

The late Italian director Mario Bava (1913-1980) made a handful of genuinely great films, like Black Sunday, Lisa and the Devil, and Blood and Black Lace, along with many that almost transcend kitsch, i.e. Diabolik and Black Sabbath, and some that are simply wonderful kitsch. Of the third category, this may be the best example.

A group of rich, decadent swingers in the most tasteless fashions of the time (the year is 1970) cavort about on an island owned by one of them. One guest is a scientist with a formula that could be worth a fortune. When he refuses to sell the formula, everybody on the island starts dying one by one (a la Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians,) the bodies literally piling up in the meat locker, just one example of the hilariously dark humor Bava brings to this dubious premise.

Bava made no bones about this movie being a paycheck job, or of his shame for it - the script was atrocious, the producer refused to let him have any say in the casting, or let Bava use most of his usual crew, and budget cuts forced the director to have almost every murder take place offscreen. But Bava's films always had a misanthropic wit(except Black Sunday, with its clear-cut good versus evil scenario,) and in the case of "Five Dolls For An August Moon," it almost seems like the director's contempt for the project actually made the end result funnier and more brazen than expected. Bava had a technical facility that most money-burning present day directors would kill for, and a complete lack of pretensions to being anything other than a hard-working director for hire. When the chemistry was just right, it could create a glorious bauble (or, less often, something even better.)

Is it good? Well, as the saying goes, how could something so right be so wrong?

Obscure Bava worth digging up

[Tender-Flesh · 7/10 · 19 December 2009]

This plays out less like a giallo film and more like a simple murder mystery, or, to be unkind, an adult Scooby Doo episode that mated with Gilligan's Island.

A group of acquaintances are staying together in a lovely villa while the men-folk discuss business. The business at hand involves a professor's new formula for an industrial resin that has the potential to make someone a lot of money. Several of the guys offer the professor million dollar checks for the formula, but he's not ready to sell out just yet. So, naturally, someone is just going to have to DIE! So, the only boat on the shore seems to have been set adrift, leaving the "friends and lovers" to figure out whodunit, and how to get home.

If I recall, all of the death scenes are off-camera, and Bava is having some fun with music scores and dark comedy. As the bodies pile up, the still-living decide to wrap the corpses in plastic and hang each of them in the meat locker next to a massive slab of beef to swing to and fro on hooks to a strange musical ditty that seems to be the "Meat Locker Theme." There is some blood, but it's tame, and you'll probably realize by the way these people treat each other, even supposed spouses and lovers, that none of these jerks deserves to make it back alive. The worst aspect of the film is the unbelievability with which the remaining cast carries on their daily routines on the island knowing there is a killer among them. They barely act upset when someone dies. Oh, there may be some tears, but they get over it real quick! I enjoyed how Bava set up so many of the scenes from the exact same camera points in the house or on the beaches, but had different action taking place. I wouldn't recommend this for giallo fans, but if you like Italian thrillers or just Mario Bava in general, search this one out.

Banal mystery

[Shinwa · 3/10 · 10 October 2000]

Essentially the same movie as Reazione a Catena, without that film's energetic use of explicit sex and gore, this is instead a glacially slow movie wherein a great deal of uninvolving acts of violence perpetrated on uninvolving characters pile up before an uninvolving (and predictable) conclusion. Since all of the bodies are found after the fact, there are no suspense scenes to speak of. Inappropriate music pops up every now and again, but Bava's directing talent only surfaces periodically...for most of the duration, this could have been directed by anybody. No interesting psychological angles, just formulaic dismissal of the cast. For completists only.

Nothing is as it seems

[gridoon2024 · 6/10 · 21 July 2019]

Moderately successful take on Agatha Christie's classic "And Then There Were None". Mario Bava fails to create much tension, mainly because the characters seems so blasè about the fact that they're getting picked off one by one, but he does shoot some standout corpse-discovery sequences, and the script hides several effective twists and red herrings. Very soft on the exploitation elements (gore and nudity). **1/2 out of 4.