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Mario Bava Career Overview (My Rankings)

posted 4 years ago by christomacin (4660)
2 replies | jump to latest

1. The Whip and the Body - 4 / 4

Whip and the Body isn't just a great genre film, but a great film period. The film sports the best performances save that of Barbara Steele (by Lavi and Lee) in any Bava film. Bava was in my opinion at his best in Gothic style films, and this is the most purely Gothic of them all. There is much to endlessly discuss and analyze about this film and it's themes of the divided self and the thin line between pleasure and pain, love and hate.

2. Lisa and the Devil - 3.5 / 4

This lush modern Gothic is probably Bava's last truly characteristic film. This time the usual lush cinematography is paired with psychedelic, mind-twisting weirdness. The Concierto aranjuez by composer Joaquin Rodrigo is used to good effect also. Telly Savalas is by turns comedic and threatening in the role of the lolly-pop sucking butler/Devil. It's Bava's most consummately crafted film, though not particularly scary.

3. Mask of the Demon - 3.5 / 4

This runs a close third to Whip and Lisa, sporting probably the best cinematography of any Bava film, sadly only one of two films in black and white. This is undoubtedly the scariest, creepiest, and most influential Bava 5b4 film, though in the end doesn't quite transcend the genre as completley as the Top Two did. Barabara Steele is simply mesmerizing in a dual role.

4. Black Sabbath - 3.5 / 4

"The Wurdulak" and "A Drop of Water" rank among Bava's best work, though "The Telephone" does bring the film down ever so slightly, a somewhat perfunctory time filler, though there's nothing wrong with it. "A Drop of Water" is probably the second scariest piece by Bava after Mask of the Demon. The photography is stunning as usual, and you can't go wrong with Boris Karloff in full Gothic mode.

5. Kill, Baby...Kill! - 3.5 / 4

Gloroius Gothic gorgeousness from Bava, sporting one of his best plotlines and featuring stunning images and several iconic scenes, such as the doppelganger catching up with himself which was later reused by David Lynch.

6. Blood and Black Lace - 3 / 4

No film this nasty has ever looked this gorgeous, has it? I'm not sure there's any "redeeming social value" here, but this film has some of Bava's most evocative set design and camera work. This little nihilistic little nasty is unsually well-plotted for a Bava film and keeps you riveting and intrigued from start to finish.

7. Bay of Blood - 3 / 4

Though slasher movies (of which this film is the granddaddy) just aren't my thing, this one is un 16d0 usually stylish and is also rare for having a moral, or an ideology at least, behind the killings. The ideology seems to concern ecologically issues, the innocence of children, and the depravity of adults...or something like that. Though film is light-years removed from the silken Gothic style of Blood and Black Lace and some of Bava's earlier stuff, and does have some grindhouse elements such as gratuitious nudity, still this film does have a special something. The use of the zoom lens is more effective than in any of his other films, being used to create a dream like effect.

8. Hatchet for the Honeymoon - 3 / 4

Bava plays this supernatural murder mystery partly for camp comedy, so it's not one of his more highly regarded films. Though Hatchet displays much of Bava's usual cinematic flair, the zoom lens was becoming ever more excessive by this point in his career. Some might find both the tongue-in-check humor and the borderline corny ending a bit much, but I liked it.

9. Baron Blood - 3 / 4

Along with Lisa and the Devil, this was a brief semi-return to Gothic form by Bava before his career went into permanent decline. The castle location used in the film is stunning, and Joseph Cotten is delightfully creepy in a dual role. The only thing that holds this film back is the somewhat excessive over use of the zoon lens and occasional lapses into tacky pulp storytelling.

10. Planet of the Vampires - 3 / 4

The basis for Ridley Scott's Alien, this is a fascinating hybridization of the Sci-Fi and Horror genres, and has some truly eye-popping visuals. This film is more Pop Art than High Art, but who's complaining?

11. Danger: Diabolik - 3 / 4

Another foray into 60's Pop Art and psychedlica by Bava, and his only superhero movie. Morricone's music score is a huge asset here. Not much grey matter being stimulated here, but an incredibly fun cinematic ride nonetheless. Marisa Mell makes a stunning leading lady.

12. The Girl Who Knew Too Much - 3 / 4

This Hitchcockian murder mystery is said to be the first Italian "giallo" (murder mystery film), which Bava repeated with greater success in Blood and Black Lace. It was also his second and last black and white film. It seems a bit tame and dated today, perhaps, but still pretty entertaining.

[–] christomacin (4660) 4 years ago

13. Rabid Dogs - 2.5 / 4

An undeniably effective thriller, this film is hampered a bit by the obviously low budget and the grungy grindhouse atmosphere of the film, which offered Bava little opportunity to stretch his usual stylistic wings. Luckily the plot is intriguing enough to keep you watching, though it can't be counted amongst his best films.

14. The Venus of Ille - 2.5 / 4

This TV movie was Bava's final completed work (with a little help from his son), and appropriately ended his career on a Gothic note. If only this film had been made as a full widescreen film ten years earlier it would have been one of his very best.

15. Shock - 2.5 / 4

Shock is a not-half bad final feature film by Bava, but it is still markedly inferior to his earlier work in the mid to late 60's. There are a few ill-advised forays into corniness late in the film that are a bit hard to swallow, but there is an undeniably atmosphere of dread in this film that mostly carries it through.

16. Hercules in the Haunted World - 2 / 4

Dumb, but endearingly so. This film does feature some of Bava's boldest cinematography and set design, as well as a villainous Christopher Lee, without which this film would have been unwatchable. To damn this film with faint praise I'd say it's pretty good as far as Hercules films go.

17. Five Dolls for an August Moon - 2 / 4

This is the weakest giallo film by Bava, and just doesn't quite work somehow.

18. Erik the Conqueror - 2 / 4

The better of Bava's two Viking films, it at least has a few decent actions scenes, though it isn't a terribly bright film either. There are at least two scenes that are visually spectacular, especially the scene in the cathedral, though I'm pretty sure Christian churches didn't have pipe organs in the 9th century...slight anachronism...he he.

19. Knives of the Avenger - 1 / 4

This film could have been titled "Shane Ericson", as it's basically a remake of Shane set in Viking times. The soundtrack even features a Western-style harmonica variation on the already Rawhide-ish main theme (I kid you not). It's the second and much less effective Bava Viking film, quite with surprisingly little action, though there are indeed a few visual flourishes here that tell you it's a Bava film.

20. Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs - 1 / 4

No film with Vincent Price can be all bad, can it? This film puts that proposition to the test and nearly succeeds. It's fun to watch I suppose if you are in the right frame of mind for 60's psychedelic silliness, which evidently I wasn't.

21. The Wonders of Aladdin - 1 / 4

Another foray into fantasy similar to Hercules in the Haunted World, just even dumber and more juvenile.

22. Four Times That Night - 1 / 4

A Bava sex comedy? No thanks.

23. Roy Colt and Winchester Jack - 1 / 4

Western's just weren't Bava's thing.

24. Ringo of Nebraska - 1 / 4

Ditto above.

25. Arizona Bill - 1 / 4

Ditto.

Bava also co-directed several films, the best of which is I Vampiri by Riccardo Fredda.

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Finally, I'll break his films down roughly by genre and style:

Gothic

Mask of the Demon, The (1960)
Black Sabbath (1963)
Whip and the Body, The (1963)
Kill, Baby...Kill! (1966)
Venus of Ille, The (1979)

Contemporary Gothic

Planet of the Vampires (1965) a sci-fi gothic to be precise
Hatchet for the Honeymoon (1969) perhaps giallo/contemporary gothic hybrid would be more correct
Baron Blood (1972)
Lisa and the Devil (1972)
Shock (1977)

Mystery/Thriller

Girl Who Knew Too Much, The (1962)
Blood and Black Lace (1964)
Five Dolls for an August Moon (1970)
Bay of Blood (1971)
Rabid Dogs (1974)

Fantasy

Hercules in the Haunted World (1961)
Wonders of Aladdin, The (1962)
Odissea: Polifemeo (1969)

Historical Adventure

Erik the Conqueror (1961)
Knives of the Avenger, The (196?)

60's Pop Art

Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs (1966)
Danger Diabolik (1967)

Comedy

Four Times That Night (1970)

Western

Arizona Bill (1964)
Gunman Named Nebraska, A (1966)
Roy Colt and Winchester Jack (1970)

[–] Mrmojo4700 (21544) 4 years ago

I would say Rabid Dogs and Shock rank among my favorites. I am a bit new to Rabid Dogs, and my DVD comes with two different releases that I’ve read have quite different feels so I plan on watching both versions again soon for comparison.

Thank you for your reviews. 👍