Mario Bava's 'Kill Baby Kill!' (aka 'Operazione Paura') is a welcome release which recieved mixed opinions from the horror fan circuit.
Not widely known outside of Bava fanatic circles 'Kill Baby Kill' is an interesting slice of Bava cinema which involves the story of a coroner who is called to an isolated Transylvanian village to investigate a series of strange deaths in which the corpses have been found to have gold coins embedded in their hearts.
The mystery deepens as the coroner finds the locals are terrified witless convinced that the deaths are heavily linked to local superstitions about a young girl that died violently whose ghost is seeking revenge.
The scene is set for what is a very atmospheric creepy gothic classic which for me had the feel of the vintage Universal horrors of old. The main thing that sets it apart is the fluid style in which Bava directs the film adding to the creepy atmosphere no end.
A good solid old school gothic horror yarn with the small cast putting on a decent performance but Bava's dorection is the true star of the show here.
And sadly it the print itself that lets the side down a but here also. The print while not pristine is solid and colourful enough to please but regretably its not in its original widescreen format and because of this loses a lot of the Bava experience because of this. A shame too as in several scenes you get a taste of what Bava's image should be like, and I'm sure the film would be lovely if the true image was on show.
That said, the film is still great stuff - very creepy and the last half is truly brilliant stuff with some excellent interior set pieces that blew me away in admiration of Bava's style and don't be fooled by the PG rating that the film carrys, there's still some nice violent terror on show that would bump up its rating here in the UK anyway !
The disc is pretty bare bones with just a Bava biography and a couple of trailers (including a tasty one for Argento's 'Bird with the Crystal Plumage' which is an essential DVD purchase if you don't own it already).
As part of VCI's 'Bava Box Set' this is indeed a welcome addition and great value also, but on its own maybe just for the Bava completists and the curious too. If you enjoy your old gothic horrors go pick it up now !
Directed by Mario Bava |
Released by VCI Home Video |
Region 0 - NTSC |
Ratio - fullscreen |
Audio - English stereo |
Extras : |
Theatrical Trailers |
Bava Biography |