A genuine craftsman whose skills were largely unappreciated during his lifetime, Mario Bava is finally receiving recognition courtesy of directors such as Quentin Tarantino and Edgar Wright. With The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963), he made the first Giallo movie, a sub-genre whose conventions (graphic slayings, a barely seen killer etc) laid the groundwork for Halloween (1978) and the American slashers of the 1980s. Friday The 13th Part II (1981) even copies murders from Bavas Bay Of Blood (1971), including a machete to the face and two lovers being skewered on a bed. Like Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci, Bavas films arent about plot but the mastery of cinematic technique, which is vividly displayed in the likes of Black Sunday (1960), Blood And Black Lace (1964) and 5 Dolls For An August Moon (1970).
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'
