Hatchet for the Honeymoon (1970)

A cleaver-wielding bridal designer murders various young brides-to-be in an attempt to unlock a repressed childhood trauma concerning the death of his mother.

Director:

Mario Bava

Writer:

Santiago Moncada (screenplay)

Stars:

Stephen Forsyth, Dagmar Lassander, Laura Betti

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Stephen Forsyth	...	John Harrington
Dagmar Lassander	...	Helen Wood
Laura Betti	...	Mildred Harrington
Jesús Puente	...	Inspector Russell (as Jesus Puente)
Femi Benussi	...	Alice Norton
Antonia Mas	...	Louise
Luciano Pigozzi	...	Vences (as Alan Collin)
Gérard Tichy	...	Dr. Kalleway (as Gerard Tichy)
Verónica Llimerá	...	Betsy (as Veronica Llimera)
Pasquale Fortunato	...	John Harrington as a Boy (as Fortunato Pascuale)
Ignasi Abadal	...	Jimmy Kane (as José Ignacio Abadaz)
Silvia Lienas	...	Vicky
Montserrat Riba Vidal	...	Rosy Miller (as Monserrat Riba)

Storyline

The owner of a design house busies himself murdering the new brides who have modelled his bridal fashions. When he decides to murder his wife, she becomes the ghost that wouldn't leave.

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Plot Keywords:

serial murder | italian cinema | spanish cinema | human monster | spanish horror | 

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Taglines:

...Blood curdling!

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

GP

Details

Country:

Spain Italy

Language:

Italian English

Release Date:

9 February 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Hatchet for the Honeymoon

Filming Locations:

Villa Parisi, Frascati, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pan Latina Films, Mercury Films, Películas Ibarra y Cía.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to star Laura Betti while shooting at the villa in Spain numerous policemen kept watch during filming because there were concerns that fake blood might stain the floors of the villa.

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Goofs

"Screenplay" is misspelled as "Screemplay" in the opening credits.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Mildred Harrington: John? John!
John Harrington: [shaving] Just a minute, Mildred.
John Harrington: [voice-over] My name is John Harrington. I'm 30 years old. I am a paranoiac. Hmph... "paranoiac". An enchanting word. So civilized, and full of possibilities. The truth is, I am completely mad... the realization which annoyed me at first, but is now amusing to me. Quite amusing. Nobody suspects I am a madman... a dangerous murderer. Not Mildred, my wife... nor the employees of my fashion center... nor, of course, my customers.
[...]

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Connections

Features Black Sabbath (1963)

User Reviews

Succulent Bava, served extra-rare

A note: Was this movie ever called in English HATCHET FOR A HONEYMOON, rather than the awkward HATCHET FOR THE HONEYMOON? I seem to recall this from a Leonard Maltin book circa 1978. Or am I as cracked as Bava's protagonist?

For my money, this is primo vintage Bava--which is to say Dario Argento in top hat and tails, Jess Franco with a finishing-school diploma, or, to look at the glass as half empty, Richard Lester after three hits of dirty windowpane acid.

To top this voiceover narration, you'd have to go either to BARRY LYNDON or, on the other hand, MASSACRE MAFIA STYLE: "My name is John Harrington. I'm thirty years old. I am a paranoiac. Paranoiac! What a marvellous world. So delicate. And full of possibilities. The fact is, I'm completely mad." And so is Bava's odyssey through the crazy-straw-shaped brain of J. Harrington, Esq., a hunky sociopath whose sexual fires are only stoked by burying a hatchet in the flesh of virginal-looking brides in their white-veiled drag--and, when they have the ill fortune to be there, their bridegrooms.

The hyper-lusciosity of Bava's style suggests a Bertolucci blissfully unconcerned with agrarian collectivism. Mate that rococo with Nicolas Roeg's brand of kaleidoscopus maximus and you have an inkling of what Signior Mario is up to. Note to Greil Marcus: as a sequel to "Lipstick Traces," how about a book tracing the parallel histories of canonical surrealism (Bunuel-Dali-Aragon-Bataille) and Italian horror of the seventies?