Blood and Black Lace (1964)

A masked, shadowy killer brutally murders the models of a scandalous fashion house in Rome.

Director:

Mario Bava

Writers:

Marcello Fondato (story and screenplay), Giuseppe Barilla (collaboration)

Stars:

Cameron Mitchell, Eva Bartok, Thomas Reiner

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Cameron Mitchell	...	Massimo Morlacchi / Max Morlan
Eva Bartok	...	Contessa Cristiana Cuomo / Countess Christina Como
Thomas Reiner	...	Ispettore Silvestri / Inspector Sylvester
Arianna Gorini	...	Nicole
Dante DiPaolo	...	Franco Scalo / Frank Scalo (as Dante Di Paolo)
Mary Arden	...	Peggy Peyton
Franco Ressel	...	Marchese Riccardo Morelli / Marquis Richard Morell
Claude Dantes	...	Tao-Li / Tilde
Luciano Pigozzi	...	Cesare Lazzarini / Caesar Lazar
Lea Lander	...	Greta (as Lea Krugher)
Massimo Righi	...	Marco
Francesca Ungaro	...	Isabella
Giuliano Raffaelli	...	Zanchin
Harriet Medin	...	Clarissa / Clarice (as Hariette White Medin)
Mary Carmen	...	Model (as Mara Carmosino)

Storyline

Isabella, a young model is murdered by a mysterious masked figure at a boarding house run by Max Morlan and his lover Countess Christina Como. When Isabella's boyfriend is suspected of the killing, her diary, which apparently has some incriminating evidence linking her to the killer, disappears, the masked killer begins killing off all the models in and around the house to find the diary.

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Plot Keywords:

giallo | pair of killers | betrayed by boyfriend | countess | murder conspiracy | 

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Taglines:

Guaranteed! The 8 greatest shocks ever filmed!

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Italy France Monaco West Germany

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

7 April 1965 (USA)

Also Known As:

Blood and Black Lace

Filming Locations:

Villa Sciarra, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Emmepi Cinematografica, Les Productions Georges de Beauregard, Monachia Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor) (Technicolor: US prints)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Most of the male characters were dubbed by Paul Frees for the American release of this film.

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Goofs

When the killer slaps Peggy while interrogating her in the English dub, she speaks and screams at the same time.

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Quotes

Inspector Sylvester: Perhaps the sight of beauty makes him lose control of himself, so he kills.

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Alternate Versions

UK cinema and early video versions were cut by the BBFC to heavily edit the violence in the murder scenes including a woman being battered against a tree trunk, the bathtub killing, the gauntlet murder and shots of Peggy being held against a hot stove. The UK censor cuts were restored in the 2000 Nouveaux video release though the film was missing an overhead shot of blood flowing in the bathtub water.

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Connections

Referenced in Bloody Pit of Horror (1965)

User Reviews

BLOOD AND BLACK LACE gets an atmospheric and compelling direction from genre master Mario Bava

The flick deals with a respected house of style (managed by Eva Bartok and Cameron Mitchell) where happens several bloody murders and gruesome executions . A diary seems to implicate about anybody fashion models are dieing . Then the diary disappearing originates a real massacre of the remaining fashion girls . An inspector (Thomas Reiner) investigates the strange killings with numerous suspects (the usual baddies Franco Ressel and Luciano Pigozzi or Alan Colins , Massimo Righi , among others).

Bava's second great success (the first was ¨Black Sunday¨ or ¨Mask of Demon¨)is compellingly directed with startling visual content . This frightening movie is plenty of thrills, chills, high body-count and glimmer color in lurid pastel with phenomenal results . This is a classic slasher where the intrigue, tension, suspense appear threatening and lurking in every room, corridors and luxurious interior and exterior . This genuinely mysterious story is well photographed by Ubaldo Terzano and Mario Bava with magenta shades of ochre , translucently pale turquoises and deep orange-red .

The movie belongs to Italian Giallo genre , Bava (¨Planet of vampires¨, ¨House of exorcism¨) along with Riccardo Freda (¨Secret of Dr. Hitchcock¨ , ¨Il Vampiri¨) are the fundamental creators . In fact , both of whom collaborated deeply among them , as Bava finished two Fedra's films ¨Il Vampiri¨ and ¨Caltiki¨ . These Giallo movies are characterized by overblown use of color in shining red blood , usual zooms and utilization of images-shock . Later on , there appears Dario Argento (¨Deep red¨, ¨Suspiria¨,¨Inferno¨), another essential filmmaker of classic Latino terror films . Rating : Good, this is one more imaginative slasher pictures in which the camera stalks in sinister style throughout a story with magnificent visual skills.