There’s no getting around it — Mario Bava’s one space opera is now confirmed as a classic. Barry Sullivan and Norma Bengell must oppose invisible aliens that possess the corpses of their fellow space men. Bava’s ‘gothic’ Haunted Planet recipe just adds more weird colored lights and swirling fog to his supernatural Gothic formula. The designs are excellent and the results unique, from the odd spacecraft to the kinky costumes. The show is also genuinely influential, as should be well known to every fan of more modern sci-fi / horror films. The new HD remaster is an improvement, too!
Planet of the Vampires
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1965 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 88 min. / Terrore nello spazio, Planet of Blood, The Demon Planet / Street Date July 26, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Barry Sullivan, Norma Bengell, Ángel Aranda, Evi Marandi, Stelio Candelli, Franco Andrei, Fernando Villena, Mario Morales, Ivan Rassimov.
Cinematography: Antonio Rinaldi,...
Planet of the Vampires
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1965 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 88 min. / Terrore nello spazio, Planet of Blood, The Demon Planet / Street Date July 26, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Barry Sullivan, Norma Bengell, Ángel Aranda, Evi Marandi, Stelio Candelli, Franco Andrei, Fernando Villena, Mario Morales, Ivan Rassimov.
Cinematography: Antonio Rinaldi,...
- 8/2/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Double your Diabolik and double your pleasure! … this Australian import chases a domestic disc onto the market after only a few months, but of course comes with irresistible new extras to tempt collectors and completists. Mario Bava’s funny, dynamic action thriller was the first feature to really capture the graphic art ‘feeling’ of comic panels — we wish he’d directed a whole series of Diabolik adventures. The evaluation section notes the small differences between this disc and the U.S. release from last April.
Danger Diabolik
Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint]
1968 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 99 min. / Street Date October, 2020
Starring: John Phillip Law, Marisa Mell, Michel Piccoli, Adolfo Celi, Terry-Thomas, Mario Donen.
Cinematography: Antonio Rinaldi
Film Editor: Romana Fortini
Art Director: Flavio Mogherini
Original Music: Ennio Morricone
Written by Adriano Baracco, Mario Bava, Brian Degas, Tudor Gates,
Dino Maiuri story by Angela & Luciana Giussani
Produced by Dino De Laurentiis
Directed by Mario Bava...
Danger Diabolik
Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint]
1968 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 99 min. / Street Date October, 2020
Starring: John Phillip Law, Marisa Mell, Michel Piccoli, Adolfo Celi, Terry-Thomas, Mario Donen.
Cinematography: Antonio Rinaldi
Film Editor: Romana Fortini
Art Director: Flavio Mogherini
Original Music: Ennio Morricone
Written by Adriano Baracco, Mario Bava, Brian Degas, Tudor Gates,
Dino Maiuri story by Angela & Luciana Giussani
Produced by Dino De Laurentiis
Directed by Mario Bava...
- 12/8/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Oh Joy, Oh Rapture! Mario Bava’s comic book thriller makes the jump to Blu-ray in fine shape, with knockout visuals and eye-popping color. John Philip Law, Marisa Mell, Terry-Thomas and the late Michel Piccoli are all irreplaceable in this one-of-a-kind show. Bava’s film translates action comic fantasy into cinematic terms, pictorial appeal and dynamism intact. The disc comes with a pair of excellent commentaries, featuring Nathaniel Thompson, Troy Howarth, Tim Lucas and John Philip Law himself.
Danger: Diabolik
Blu-ray
Shout! Factory
1968 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 99 min. / Street Date May 19, 2020 / Available from Shout! Factory
Starring: John Phillip Law, Marisa Mell, Michel Piccoli,
Adolfo Celi, Terry-Thomas, Mario Donen.
Cinematography: Antonio Rinaldi
Film Editor: Romana Fortini
Art Director: Flavio Mogherini
Original Music: Ennio Morricone
Written by Adriano Baracco, Mario Bava, Brian Degas, Tudor Gates,
Dino Maiuri story by Angela & Luciana Giussani
Produced by Dino De Laurentiis
Directed by Mario Bava
We...
Danger: Diabolik
Blu-ray
Shout! Factory
1968 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 99 min. / Street Date May 19, 2020 / Available from Shout! Factory
Starring: John Phillip Law, Marisa Mell, Michel Piccoli,
Adolfo Celi, Terry-Thomas, Mario Donen.
Cinematography: Antonio Rinaldi
Film Editor: Romana Fortini
Art Director: Flavio Mogherini
Original Music: Ennio Morricone
Written by Adriano Baracco, Mario Bava, Brian Degas, Tudor Gates,
Dino Maiuri story by Angela & Luciana Giussani
Produced by Dino De Laurentiis
Directed by Mario Bava
We...
- 5/23/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
When a filmmaker creates a number of movies that qualify for masterpiece status, it becomes nearly impossible to quantifiably conclude which one stands above the rest as his or her single greatest achievement. We have our favorites, of course, but can any of us really name which of Hitchcock’s films is his definitive best? Or Kurosawa’s? Or Spielberg’s? The same is true of Mario Bava, the great Italian director who made films across a number of genres but who is best known for his work in horror. How does one name a single “best” movie from the man responsible for Black Sunday and Blood and Black Lace and The Whip and the Body and Black Sabbath? It’s like naming a favorite child.
While his 1966 movie Kill, Baby... Kill! isn’t always named as being one of Bava’s best, it absolutely deserves to be part of the conversation and is,...
While his 1966 movie Kill, Baby... Kill! isn’t always named as being one of Bava’s best, it absolutely deserves to be part of the conversation and is,...
- 7/21/2017
- by Patrick Bromley
- DailyDead
A "lesser" Mario Bava is still a fountain of great filmmaking; and this annihilating melodrama sees a score of greedy folk wiped out at an island retreat, for fun and profit. Shot (and stabbed) through with Bava's visual imagination, it's a sexy, memorable murder thriller. With an authoritative Tim Lucas commentary. 5 Dolls for an August Moon Region B Blu-ray + Pal DVD Arrow Video (UK) 1970 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 81 min. / Street Date February 1, 2016 / 5 bambole per la luna d'agosto / Available from Amazon UK £14.99 Starring William Berger, Ira von Fürstenberg, Edwige Fenech, Howard Ross, Helena Ronee, Teodoro Corrà, Ely Galleani, Edith Meloni, Mauro Bosco, Maurice Poli Cinematography Antonio Rinaldi Production Designer Giuseppe Aldrovandi, Giulia Mafai Film Editor Mario Bava Original Music Piero Umiliani Writing credits Mario di Nardo Produced by Luigi Alessi Directed by Mario Bava
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
The experts say that Mario Bava kicked off the giallo parade with his 1964 Blood and Black Lace...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
The experts say that Mario Bava kicked off the giallo parade with his 1964 Blood and Black Lace...
- 2/23/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The absolute nucleus, the atomic chain of Italian horror begins with Mario Bava. Filmmakers from Scorcese to Tarantino have praised the lurid, awe-inspiring artistry (and artwork) of such classics as Black Sabbath (1963) and Twitch of the Death Nerve (1971). However, Kill, Baby, Kill(1966) may be his crowning achievement, a fever dream of shadows and fog, illusion and menace.
Released in July in his native Italy (but not until 1968 in North America), Kill was a financial success back home. Bava was very prolific, with Kill being his ninth film in six years. This is all the more shocking, because his films don’t scream ‘rush job’, but rather seem meticulously planned and executed.
Kill falls right in line with the horror of the day, gothic du jour, served steamy and sensuous. Beautiful women (usually in low clingy bodices) swooning and/or screaming, usually pursued through a dark and gloomy castle by some evil doctor,...
Released in July in his native Italy (but not until 1968 in North America), Kill was a financial success back home. Bava was very prolific, with Kill being his ninth film in six years. This is all the more shocking, because his films don’t scream ‘rush job’, but rather seem meticulously planned and executed.
Kill falls right in line with the horror of the day, gothic du jour, served steamy and sensuous. Beautiful women (usually in low clingy bodices) swooning and/or screaming, usually pursued through a dark and gloomy castle by some evil doctor,...
- 6/27/2015
- by Scott Drebit
- DailyDead
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