Mario Bava's Bay of Blood begins with the murder of an elderly heiress, a woman who owns a beautiful plot of land directly on the bay. What ensues from there is Mario Bava's most unapologetically violent feature, a gore-fest type of film that takes glee in murdering off a host of characters, making the film very much a predecessor and most likely major influence on what we now define as a slasher film. The film's plot is too complex for its own good, becoming a convoluted mess at times, but all that really matters in enjoying Bay of the Blood is recognizing that this is essentially the story of a family's murderous battle over property, which could be worth a lot of money if developed. A host of characters with thinly veiled motivations make Bay of Blood an ordeal at times to comprehend, but it hardly matters thanks to Bava's visual aesthetic. Typical of Bava, the film's visual style is assured and striking, as the filmmaker uses a plethora of cinematic techniques to create his twisted tale of murder and mayhem. From giving the audience POV of the killer, to Bava's juxtaposition of extreme violence with the beautiful serenity of the bayfront, the filmmaker once again has created a transfixing stylistic experience, but the film's most interesting aspect lies in the framework it creates for the modern slasher film. From the young, promiscuous teenagers that find themselves caught in the middle of this murderous power-struggle, to the creepy, off-kilter neighbors who just scream "suspect", Bay of Blood feels very much like a precursor of the slasher genre. Like the slasher genre, Bay of Blood's violence is more pornographic in nature than any of Bava's other film, with a larger body count and creative murders - two of which are nearly identical to murders seen in later popular slasher films, most notably the Friday of the 13th series. While Bay of Blood may not be as thematically impressive as some of his earlier films, it's another enjoyable gore-fest from the filmmaker that is more than likely responsible for what we now know as the modern slasher genre.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
|