BLOOD AND BLACK LACE was Mario Bava’s follow up to his 1962 murder mystery, LA RAGAZZA CHE SAPEVA TROPPO. Originally released in Europe as SEI DONNE PER L’ASSASSINO, BLOOD AND BLACK LACE proved to be the foundation for the Giallo, a genre that didn’t really take off until 5 years later with Dario Argento’s BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE. Argento’s early films influenced the entire Giallo genre, which current Hollywood hacks pick the bones of, when they stage their murder sequences. All of this genre activity can be traced straight back to Mario Bava’s BLOOD AND BLACK LACE, perhaps the most influential genre film of all time. Though most of Bava’s best films have been available on DVD for a while now, BLOOD AND BLACK LACE, which has always been a fixture on VHS and LaserDisc (in various edited forms) has been sorely missing from the DVD scene. Leave it to independent video veterans VCI Home Video to go the distance and treat this hallmark film for the masterpiece that it is. BLOOD AND BLACK LACE is presented completely uncut in English for the first time. And VCI spared no expense in jam-packing the DVD with significant extras.

BLOOD AND BLACK LACE boasts a large cast of international performers, many of whom worked with Mario Bava numerous times. Cameron Mitchell toplines as millionaire fashion kingpin, Max Marian. Eva (OPERATION AMSTERDAM) Bartok stars as Contessa Cristina, the woman who runs Mitchell’s fashion studio. Thomas (THE FANTASTIC SUPERMEN) Reiner is police Inspector Sylvester. Dante (THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH) DiPaolo is Frank Sacalo. Mary (REVENGE OF THE GLADIATORS) Arden is central to the narrative as the model, Peggy. Lea (RABID DOGS) Landau portrays the scheming Isabella. Guiliano (WILD, WILD PLANET) Rafelli plays Zanchin. Franco (ERIK THE CONQUEROR) Ressel plays Marquis Richard Morell. The cast is mostly victims for the kill scenes, but they all turn in fine performances, nonetheless.

The story opens with fashion model Isabella getting into a heated argument with her substance-abusing co-worker on the grounds of a large fashion studio, owned by Max Marian (Mitchell). After the exchange, she heads back into her employer’s building, but her path is cut off by a masked killer, who mutilates her glamorous face before silencing her. This horrid act of brutality triggers a series of events revolving around the secret diary she left behind. All her coworkers and friends in the fashion business all have dirty secrets of their own that they don’t want known (including sex, drugs, and murder). They are all suspicious of what Isabella may have written about them in her diary. As a result, the diary falls into the hands of nearly everyone who worked with her. And whomever reads from that diary is paid a visit by the masked psychopath. The owner of the fashion studio, Max Marian, and the woman who runs it, Contessa Cristina (Bartok), cooperates with the local police investigation led by Inspector Sylvester (Reiner). Meanwhile, the killer desperately tries to eradicate those who would implicate him (or her), in the sordid happenings that occur behind the doors of Max Marian’s fashion empire…

Mario Bava employs several techniques to make the audience identify with the killer. Bava invented the POV shot in horror films, to allow the audience to participate in the killings. Another tactic he uses is his depiction of the killer’s victims. Seldom are these characters innocent of any wrongdoing. As is the case with BLOOD AND BLACK LACE, the potential victims have major faults, such as drug users, criminals, and women of low morale fiber. This allows the audience to overlook the potential offensiveness of a particular murder scene, and just accept it (without remorse). The characters in a Mario Bava film are mostly cliched and one-dimensional. There no are heroes here, and Bava does not allow the viewer to identify with a protagonist. Even the police are portrayed as castrated and ineffectual. They never catch the killer, it is only the fate of the killers themselves that eventually prove their undoing.

To keep the audience identification with the killer, Bava purposely keeps the characterizations as flat and stereotypical as possible. The script is indifferent, the dialog is kept simple (and the dubbing removes most of the emotion) and societal and political aspects are downplayed. But if the script lacks sophistication, BLOOD AND BLACK LACE makes up for it’s shortcomings with stunning neon visuals and bleak atmosphere. The amount pure cinematic decadence that Bava conjures on such low budgets is nothing short of amazing. Every shot is measured and maximized in such a way that it could not possibly be better. The sets are always grand and exotic, and Bava highlights them with red, green, and blue back lighting. Every detail you see onscreen is not by happenstance; it has been carefully conceived and executed by the master.

Mario Bava seems obsessed with death. His death scenes and murders are always morbid and brutally painful, yet he rarely shows any explicit gore or bloodshed (except for TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVE, that is). Bava focuses his lens on the death throes and facial expressions of his flailing victims. Frankly, this technique is far more disturbing than gross-out gore footage. Yet Bava takes his time with each killing, building the suspense by playing cat and mouse games, so that when the murder comes, it’s almost a relief.

Unlike standard mystery movies, in a Maria Bava film the killer is not always revealed in the conclusion. Bava has a tendency to reveal the killer(s) identities early in his films. That’s not to say that he never has a shocking ending—Bava manages to divulge identities and motivations, and still deliver a satisfying conclusion to tie up the loose ends in an unexpected way. You can count on Mario Bava to push the envelope in the many genres that he helped define. For instance, his use of red herrings in BLOOD AND BLACK LACE is unforeseen in the history of mystery cinema.

VCI packs this DVD with some extras you can really sink your teeth into. There are talent bios for Mario Bava and cast members Cameron Mitchell, Eva Bartok, Mary Arden, and Luciano Pagozzi. You can also access the Photo Gallery, which showcases behind-the-scenes stills and publicity artwork. From the Special Features menu, you can view the French Version Main Title sequence (1.85.1, Mono, 2:14). Or you can view Filmation’s superior U.S. Release Title Sequence (1.85.1, Mono, 1:54). Included is an interview with Cameron Mitchell conducted by David Del Valle (FF, Mono, 7.27). Mitchell praises Mario Bava as a genius, and goes on to discuss many points about Bava and his films. Mitchell makes several mistakes reporting the facts, but he’s never been one to remember information clearly (previous interviews with Mitchell reveals that he has even forgotten many of the films he starred in!). There is also a new interview with model victim actress, Mary Arden (FF, Mono, 12:08). This is a great interview since unlike Mitchell, Arden remembers all sorts of obscure facts about the production. Arden reveals that she had a hand in rewriting the script for internationalization purposes. Her insider’s perspective should have been included on the audio commentary track. Speaking of which, the video watchdog himself, Tim Lucas provides more information than Bava fans could ever ask for. Lucas is publishing a book on the career of Mario Bava, so you can imagine that he is a true authority on the subject, and one of few people truly qualified for providing commentary (although it would have been cool if he had an actor or actress from the film to round out the commentary). VCI even included a menu option that allows you to listen to Carlo Rustichelli’s four music tracks in their entirety. You can pick each track or play them all (in Dolby Digital 2.0). Fear not trailer fans, there are several Bava trailers on the DVD:

• BLOOD AND BLACK LACE English Trailer (1.85.1, Mono, 1:01)
• BLOOD AND BLACK LACE French Trailer (1.85.1, Mono, 3:13)
• BLOOD AND BLACK LACE Italian Trailer (1.85.1, Mono, 3:23)
• THE WHIP AND THE BODY French Trailer (2.35.1, Mono, 3:50)
• ERIK THE CONQUEROR (2.35.1, Mono, 2:20)

-  Darren Collette