A BAY OF BLOOD

A BAY OF BLOOD

(A.k.a. TWICH OF THE DEATH NERVE; BLOOD BATH; REAZIONE A CATENA; A MANSAO DA MORTE; CARNAGE; ECOLOGY OF A CRIME etc)

A fragile old Countess (Isa Miranda), confined to a wheelchair, surveys her waterside estate late one evening. Knowing of her ailing condition and determined to inherit the asset from her, her husband (Giovanni Nuvoletti) tosses a noose around her neck and hangs her. He even takes the trouble of depositing a suicide note beneath her dangling corpse.

But he is not alone in his greed. Seconds later, he is stabbed to death by another greedy family member, equally eager to inherit the desirable property.

Mario Bava's enjoyable comic thriller then introduces us to an array of largely disagreeable characters - all seemingly striving to come across as more insane than the last - who represent greedy family members, demented handymen (check out the fisherman [Claudio Camaso] who we first meet chowing down on a squid - a good three decades before OLDBOY shocked arthouse knobs with a similar scene) and the creepiest kids you could ever hope to meet.

In this variation of Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians" and Roger Vadim's LA RONDE, the plot doesn't really add up to much other than a bunch of people knocking each other off for the pursuit of wealth. The film is novel in the respect that there is therefore not one killer, but several - a chain of violence that culminates in a wryly amusing epilogue.

If you want even more victims, Bava obliges by tossing in a group of party-seeking hippies - led by Robert (Roberto Bonanni) - who take up residence in a deserted building just footsteps away from the fateful bay. Yeah, they can dance and indulge in free love all they want, but basically they're screwed too.

As the non-plot progresses, Bava teases his viewer with snapshots of each character's life - their dysfunctional relationships etc - for no other apparent reason than to build a sense of caricature that is met by the (for its time) hyper-gory violence of the murders.

But with no real character hook, no-one to root for as such, and such a basic plot, A BAY OF BLOOD is difficult to warm to. Easy to like, as it's fast-paced and has a sense of Grand Guignol-esque fun about it but, even so, hard to engage with in terms of tension.

It's far better to accept the film as a decently-shot (not on a visual par with his earlier efforts such as BLOOD AND BLACK LACE, KILL BABY KILL and BLACK SUNDAY - this is Bava on a budget), black comedy with reasonable gore and a body-count that will satisfy all but the most unforgiving horror fans.

Undeniably an influence on the slasher films of the 1980s - there is a double-impalement scene that will invoke a strong sense of déjà vu in fans of FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2 - the movie can however be predated in terms of body-count by Bava's own BLACK LACE, and in the gore stakes by the 60s films of Herschell Gordon Lewis.

The picture quality offered on Arrow's blu-ray disc is a generally good one, offering vibrant colours and a pleasing lack of compression or print damage. The odd hair could be found on the print, and images were occasionally soft. But for the most part this is a nice proposition. Grain is evident but looks natural and film-like - it's not a complaint. The only gripe that carries any potential weight is that there is an occasional mild judder in some scenes. It's nothing huge, more like a slight shiver, but once it's been pointed out you definitely know it's there. The aspect ratio altered very marginally too, albeit very infrequently.

An inspection of the Anchor Bay version of the film - up until this point, the best this film has sadly looked - reveals that this blu-ray transfer is far superior in terms of detail, colour and all-round clarity. And the odd shiver exists there too ...

English 2.0 is clean and clear throughout, and the optional English subtitles are excellent. Again, the audio trumps the Anchor Bay DVD offering.

An animated main menu page is highly attractive, and leads to a pop-up static scene-selection menu allowing access to the film via 16 chapters.

Extra features begin with audio commentary from Tim Lucas. It's the same track that featured on Anchor Bay's version of the film in their Bava Box Volume 2 set from a couple of years back, and is well worth a listen.

Then we're treated to the Italian version of the film. This is presented in standard definition - noticeable from the off, with lesser colours and vibrancy in the images. The onscreen title is REAZIONE A CATENA. This comes 16x9 enhanced and with Italian mono, backed up by optional English subtitles. It's worth noting that this version is 51 seconds longer than the English HD print - but none of that is attributable to gore.

"The Giallo Gems of Dardano Sacchetti" is a 33-minute interview with the aged screenwriter. It's presented in HD and takes in not only his work with Bava but also the likes of Argento and Fulci. Illuminating stuff.

Next up, again in HD, is a 12-minute featurette tellingly entitled "Joe Dante Remembers TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVE". He actually remembers a lot more Bava films too - PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES, HATCHET FOR THE HONEYMOON etc. Not bad.

"Shooting A Spaghetti Splatter Classic" is a 21-minute interview with cameraman Gianlorenzo Battaglia, interspersed with clips from the main feature. He has a few interesting, favourable tales to tell about the shoot. One includes the squid-chomping. This is apparently a HD feature, but looks dreadful during the interview footage.

Next we get two trailers bearing the titles CARNAGE and TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVE, both introduced and commented over by SHAUN OF THE DEAD director Edgar Wright. Indicative of his age I suppose, he runs through a list of the film's alternate titles but never once mentions the UK video nasty title BLOOD BATH. Still, his description of the film as "a Tom & Jerry slasher" rings true. It might've been an idea to also provide an option to watch the trailers without Wright's narration.

Two archive radio spots complete this impressive package, and are both most enjoyable.

A BAY OF BLOOD has never looked better, despite the minor quibbles above. And they are minor. The grain is retained, the colour and detail is heightened - this is a solid HD presentation. But that occasional wobble is there.

The extras are great, surely the best this film will ever muster under a single release. The packaging, although not available to review, also promises to be brilliant along the usual Arrow blu-ray lines.

Review by Stuart Willis


 
Released by Arrow Video
Region All Blu Ray
Rated 18
Extras :
see main review
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