On DVD: Mario Bava Collection Volume 2

Directed By Mario Bava

Starring William Berger, Isa Miranda, Chris Avram, Elke Sommer, Brett Halsey, Telly Savalas, Lea Lander

Ture fans of horror know the name Mario Bava as one of the premiere directors of Italian horror. The bigger name from Italy, and rightfully so, is Dario Argento but Bava is just as important to the genre in a different way. Bava is more low budget than Argento and a little less artistic and sometimes more humorous.

The Movie(s)

If you're uninitiated to the Italian horror film I recommend dropping any expectations about these films and about Italian horror in general because it's a very different experience than the factory pressed horror that's so common in the United States. I said earlier that Bava was a less artistic filmmaker than Argento and I stand by that but he is more artistic than most American horror filmmakers. Italian horror films are often like a vacation video because the filmmakers love to feature the sights and sounds of their country and it usually works to upgrade the production values of an otherwise lower budget film. It probably only works on us here in the States because it feels exotic. Maybe if you live their you take these beautiful vistas and magnificent architecture for granted. The filmmakers don't though because Bava and Argento both shoot their country quite lovingly.

These films have been on DVD before but Anchor Bay brings them to us with new transfers and sometimes new extras, and unfortunately sometimes lacking extras from previous releases. Five Dolls for an August Moon is a film that brings a group of shallow people together for a vacation filled with partying that leads to a bunch of murders. There really isn't much more to the story than that. It's far from Bava's best but it's a great example of how Bava is able to take a basic script and make it engrossing with his style and use of atmosphere. The previous release of this film featured both the original Italian language track with subtitles and an English dub. Unfortunately the English dub was dropped for this release. That makes me sad because sometimes I like to just soak in the imagery and not have to worry about reading the subs.

7/10

Roy Colt and Winchester Jack is a very low budget western comedy that I hate to say isn't very good. As I said before Bava can take a mundane script and make something really cool out of it just from his execution of the film. The problem here is that the budget is so low it constricts Bava's shooting of the film. Here's the other thing, even the most serious Spaghetti Western is still a comment on the American genre taking it to an extreme so fi you're already doing that it can be tough to add an additional layer of slapstick comedy on top. It can, and ahs been done successfully, but not this time. Also, the transfer is very poorly color balanced so even Bava's use of color isn't apparent on this disc.

3/10

Now, Bay of Blood, or often also known as Twitch of the Death Nerve (my favorite title for this film) is what I'm talking about. This may not be Bava's best film but it's easily one of his most memorable on so many levels. This movie, like Five Dolls for an August Moon brings together a cast of characters to basically kill off. The difference is that Bava has refined the art of this type of film and he shoots the kills here with a level of love akin to how Michael Bay shoots big guns. Now, also like Five Dolls, this is a low budget film but Bava does a lot with a little crafting a really slick film. Also interesting in this film is that it doesn't feature the gothic and dark feel you might expect. It's very bright, sunny, and quite glossy which really sells the lives the characters in the film live. I have to mention the score for this film too. It's odd off putting and effective and you should recognize it because Quentin Tarantino refurbished it for his Kill Bill films. This is a must see Bava film.

8.5/10

Baron Blood is a return to Bava's gothy roots after the bright and shiny Bay of Blood. Now this film features some gorgeous and effective scenes, especially those on the streets but the characters just aren't as engaging as those in Bay of Blood. The basic setup is that a man returns to Austria to discover his heritage. He visits a castle owned by an ancestor that was cursed by a witch he burned. The man inadvertently awakens his ancestor, the Baron, who promptly returns to his killing ways. I like this movie overall, I like the setting and the dark atmosphere but I will warn that the film feels a bit draggy through the middle.

7/10

Four Times That Night sees Bava trying his hand at a different genre, the sex comedy. This isn't Bava's comfort zone so it's not the best you'll see in the genre but it's still pretty good. In this film a couple go out on a date and the story of the date is told Rashomon style from four perspectives. This is standard 70's era teasing exploitation not excessive at all in levels of nudity or sex. It's ok with some of the scenes actually being funny but the film just doesn't feature that classic Bava style of filmmaking that we all know and love.

5/10

Lisa and the Devil is film that has actually aged pretty well even though Telly Savalas is in it. Lisa is a young tourist who gets lost and finds herself at an old mansion seeking shelter for the night. Once inside she meets Savalas as the devil and enters a world of darkness and debauchery. Bava wanted to make a landmark film with Lisa and the Devil, and while it again isn't my favorite of his films it is exceptional in execution and as I said it has aged really well. I loved watching the characters, which are all excellently cast, move about the mansion and the scenes of horror they encounter are fantastic.

8/10

Rabid Dogs is a lesser seen crime thriller from Bava that doesn't disappoint. Thieves botch a getaway and are forced to steal a man's car. They take a woman hostage and force the owner of the car to drive them away. This film is suspenseful and dramatic focusing on the man trying to save the woman, himself, and a sick child. Anchor Bay released this film in a stand alone DVD earlier this year and this is the same disc just repackaged in a slim case.

7.5/10

The Video

The transfers for the films vary a bit but overall they look good but not great. Roy Colt and Winchester Jack looks the worst with horrible color balance featuring some really terrible looking browns. These films all feature some level of grain and they often look aged in spots but just as often other than the above mentioned film colors can look quite vibrant and in an Italian film in general but especially with Bava films colors should look as great as he meant them to look when he made these films. Bava is one of those filmmakers that influenced generations of filmmakers so normally I'd gripe that these shouldn't just be good transfers they should be hi def restorations. I said normally because some of these films just aren't that seminal. I'd love to see hi def restorations of Twitch of the Death Nerve and Lisa and the Devil though.

7/10

The Audio

The audio is pretty consistently basic throughout this box set. Dialogue, effects, and score are mostly clean throughout although there are some instances where the dialogue can seem separate from the rest of the film or a little low in the mix.

5/10

Packaging and Bonus Features

There's not a lot in the way of extras in this box set. Other than a brief making of featurette here or there (that are usually pretty disappointing) the big extras are the commentary tracks by Bava expert Tim Lucas. He digs deep into the Bava history book and shares tons of great information on the director and these films as well as offers opinion on some decisions the director makes. Each of Tim's commentaries help create a deeper viewing experience.

More specifically, Five Dolls for an August Moon has no extras. Neither does Roy Colt and Winchester Jack. Bay of Blood is the first of the discs to feature a Lucas commentary and as I mentioned above, the commentary is fantastic. This guy really knows his Bava. Baron Blood also features a great commentary from Lucas. There are no extras for Four Times That Night either. Now, Lisa and the Devil has a commentary from producer Alfredo Leone and Elke Sommer. There's also a commentary from Tim Lucas. These two commentaries offer a lot of great behind the scenes and historical information about the film. The extras aren't deep, and the little making of stuff that is here is weak. It's really all about the commentaries and they're all excellent.

Now, the packaging here is kind of basic for a Bava Collection and so are the extras. Bava is one of the great filmmakers in the history of horror and he deserves a plush box set with some extensive documentary coverage of the man and his movies. This isn't it, but these aren't Bava's best films so based on the level of the films the extras are probably equal.

6/10

I'd love to see Anchor Bay get the rights to more of Bava's better films such as An Axe for a Honeymoon, Danger, Diabolik, Blood and Black Lace, and others for a more elegant box set. But, they've done a good job with the films they have. Bava fans should defintiely be buying these boxes and fans of real horror should at least give them a rent because there's something redeeming in each of the films and a few of these such as Twitch of the Death Nerve are near classics.

Overall (Not an Average) 8/10

The Review

Five Dolls for an August Moon 7/10

Roy Colt and Winchester Jack 3/10

Bay of Blood (Twitch of the Death Nerve) 8.5/10

Baron Blood 7/10

Four Times That Night 5/10

Lisa and the Devil 8/10

Rabid Dogs 7.5/10

The Video 7/10

The Audio 5/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features 6/10