A Bay of Blood (1971)

The murder of a wealthy heiress by her husband triggers a series of brutal killings in the surrounding bay area.

Director:

Mario Bava

Writers:

Mario Bava (screenplay), Giuseppe Zaccariello (screenplay) (as Joseph McLee)

Stars:

Claudine Auger, Luigi Pistilli, Claudio Camaso

3 wins.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Claudine Auger	...	Renata Donati
Luigi Pistilli	...	Alberto / Albert
Claudio Camaso	...	Simone / Simon (as Claudio Volonté)
Anna Maria Rosati	...	Laura (as Anna M. Rosati)
Chris Avram	...	Frank
Leopoldo Trieste	...	Paolo Fosatti / Paul Fosatti
Laura Betti	...	Anna Fosatti
Brigitte Skay	...	Brunhilde
Isa Miranda	...	Countess Federica Donati
Paola Montenero	...	Thérèse / Denise (as Paola Rubens)
Guido Boccaccini	...	Luca / Duke
Roberto Bonanni	...	Roberto / Bobby
Giovanni Nuvoletti	...	Count Filippo Donati

Storyline

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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Plot Keywords:

inheritance | murder | teenager | serial murder | wife killer | 

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Taglines:

The ultimate tolerance test for violence!

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian English

Release Date:

3 May 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Bay of Blood

Filming Locations:

Fogliano, Latina, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nuova Linea Cinematografica

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min 76 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Roberto Rossellini (who Mario Bava had worked for on his own films) shot a day's worth of second-unit footage. While it's uncredited, most of the footage appeared in the final cut.

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Goofs

The Count is stabbed repeatedly in his back and then he falls on his back and dies. When the killer is dragging him away, there should be a blood trail leading from The Countess to the door.

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Quotes

Simon: Man should live and let live, and without any interfering.
Paolo: Even that poor squid was free once, Simon, eh? I study Coleoptera because I love them.
Simon: Sure, but the squirming little creatures still end up under your microscope. Yeah, he's dead all right but at least I eat my squid. But I don't kill as a hobby like you do.
Paolo: Good lord, Simon. You make me feel like a murderer.
Simon: I'm not saying that, Mr. Fossati, but if you kill for killing's sake, you become a monster.
Paolo: But, man isn't an insect, my dear ...
[...]

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Alternate Versions

The film (as 'A Bay Of Blood') was rejected for cinema release by the BBFC in 1972 and, under the pre-VRA (Video Recording Act) title 'Blood Bath', ended up as one of the original 39 "video nasties" in the UK. The film was eventually released in the UK market on video by Redemption Films in 1994, as 'A Bay Of Blood', after 43 seconds of cuts, that were also missing in the 2002 Film 2000 DVD. The cuts imposed were these:

• The murder of a teenage girl loses 2s in 2 cuts, the first of her throat being cut from behind, and the other of a graphic hatchet blow to the head.
• Nearly the entire scene (21 sec) is cut from the boy's death with a machete embedded in his face.
• Three cuts (total 9 sec) reduce the death of a couple impaled together with a spear whilst making love, blood welling from the wounds, and their writhing bodies in the spasms of death.
• Reduction of 11 sec from a man's death, as he's being forced up a wall by a spear impaled in his stomach. The cuts were fully waived for the 2010 Arrow DVD.

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Connections

Featured in Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th (2013)

User Reviews

Influential, but relatively average

After the Countess Federica (Isa Miranda) is murdered in her mansion by her husband, the beautiful surrounding bay area is up for grabs. The Countess' husband is murdered himself straight after committing the act and the body is hidden, and family members and a real estate agent conspire with their own murderous aspirations to claim their inheritance. The Countess' daughter Renata (Claudine Auger) and her husband Albert (Luigi Pistilli) arrive at the bay and start investigating the goings-on themselves, only to discover the possibility that everyone could somehow be involved in trying to claim the bay for themselves.

As a horror fan, the work of Mario Bava has somehow alluded me through the years. This is the first horror film of his that I've seen, having only seen his comic-book masterpiece Danger: Diabolik, which I consider to be the greatest comic-book film ever made alongside The Dark Knight. Yet knowing he is held is such regard by horror fans, I refuse to form an opinion of him based on this film, as it is as silly and pornographic as the majority of giallo films of the time. The plot and the focus on humanity's greed is directed with such an amateur grasp of subtlety that the film loses all weight. And the segment of the film devoted to the murder of four horny teenagers seems to serve no purpose other than to fill half an hour of film and play with some gore.

Yet if there's one thing I know about Bava, it is that the man knows how to shoot a film. If Argento oozes style, Bava certainly has class. For such a low-budget movie, he makes the most of reportedly using a children's buggie as a steadicam, to build up tension and atmosphere, especially in the opening scene, where the Countess is kicked off her wheelchair and is left hanging mid-fall by a noose. The murders in the film, however, certainly lack class. Special effects artist Carlo Rambaldi (who most famously developed E.T. and Alien - which he won an Oscar for) creates some truly gruesome gore effects that come at the right time when you're just waiting, an eventually looking forward to, the demise of the four visiting youngsters. Special mention must also go to a close up of an octopus sliding across a rotting cadaver's face. The film was influential, perhaps, but relatively average in its own right.

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