No other film in history starts out with a fly committing suicide, and it just lets you know that anything and everything can die in what's to come. An audacious return to horror for director Bava which still features some of the most gratuitous exploitation and violence of any film. A genuine nasty streak runs throughout this film and so does some humor. The weakness is that when it tries to explain who's killing how and why it all gets really confused, though in a way this commands multiple viewings as you'll be part way into the film and have no idea of what is going on and fascinated to find out again. Also a potential problem is that virtually all the characters are so repellent it's hard to stay interested in what's going on, and you wouldn't if what happened wasn't so unexpected or violent. Only the oddest characters generate any sympathy. A film that is hard to dismiss and hard to embrace, it's far more interesting than all the films that ripped it off and there are plenty. It's a film with the director thumbing his nose, or flipping off, the audience and what they may expect and that's to be admired and resented at times too. A must see for any horror fan. Decide for yourself, but there are certainly things here you won't expect or forget no matter how many times you see it. One thing to note, the IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT DVD is the uncut version of the film but it is only okay looking and sounding, it would be nice if someone would bring out a better DVD of it.
Review of A Bay of Blood
