L'atelier de la mort

Bava of course is the ultimate auteur whose mysterious visual style alone makes pretty much any of his movies worth watching. Here however there is a bit of a tug-of-war between his desire to materialize victims' fears in delirious murder sequences (especially in the antique store), magically colored with his amazing lighting techniques, with rather pedestrian cops-and-robbers sequences that are a bit stilted and have a 1940s aura about them. Bava is undoubtedly at his best in pure horror, when he can leave the real world behind. Still, though, his mythological spaces in this film, a fashion salon, amazingly baroque apartments, create a dream-like anything can happen atmosphere. And he's not just being scenic. Bava has a keen eye for the aura of intimacy that women create about themselves and when that space is violated and especially when the murderer strikes, and then gets rough with their dead bodies, one feels the violation viscerally. Bava works so hard to decorate the aura of women with all the curtains, statues, dresses , mannequins (somehow commenting on the proceedings) and engaging close-ups, that when his victims are shown dead with their bras on, it seems more shocking than the hundreds of nude corpses in the slasher movies in years to come (he's often credited with creating the slasher, maybe formally, but not in tone). In fact, the best setpiece in the movie features a dead women in her bra with a suit of armor fallen on top of her, a bizarre tableaux with hint of necrophilia. In spite of his stylistics, Bava doesn't wander off plot, which turns out to be carefully revealed, and with a twist. Cameron Mitchell is quite good. Obviously, all of Bava should be watched, including this one.

When the model Isabella (Francesca Ungaro) is murdered by a masked killer, the models of the fashion house managed by Contessa Cristina Como (Eva Bartok) and her lover Max Marian (Cameron Mitchell) are shaken with the crime. The model Nicole (Ariana Gorini) finds Isabella's diary and late night she borrows the car of her friend Peggy Peyton (Mary Arden) and heads to the shop of her boyfriend Frank Sacalo (Dante DiPaolo) to meet him. However, the masked killer follows Nicole and kills her expecting to find the journal. But Peggy had stolen the diary to destroy pages that compromises her and she is also murdered by the killer. Meanwhile Inspector Silvester (Thomas Reiner) has a list of suspects that includes Frank, who blackmails Marquis Richard Morell (Franco Ressel) to give the necessary alibi to him. Who might be the killer and why the diary is so important to him?

"Sei donne per l'assassino", a.k.a. "Blood and Black Lace" is a giallo film directed by Mario Bava and one of his best movies. The colors, shadows and stylish camera-work give the perfect environment to the gruesome murders. The plot is standard with a masked killer that the police believe that is a sexual maniac stalking and killing beautiful women. The conclusion gives a good explanation to the mystery and the plot is well-resolved. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

Note: On 01 March 2017 I saw this film again. Note: On 07 June 2020 I saw this film again.

Title (Brazil):"Seis Mulheres Para o Assassino" ("Six Women for a Killer")

Watching this film it's amazing how much cinema has changed in the past 30 years. This is the film that inspired the entire giallo genre, where the visual drive of film takes priority over the narrative. The script is therefore extremely perfunctory, with atrociously dubbed dialogue, minimalistic characterisation and outmoded sexual politics to say the least. If the script lacks sophistication however, visually this film is nothing short of stunning. Bava eschews rapid editing for a more langorous style of long gliding tracking shots and pans. Surprisingly ungraphic as well, considering its successors; the build up to the murder is more important than the act itself. What I find most amazing is how so much is achieved on a cinematic level on such a low budget. Every shot is planned to make the most of the sumptuous sets as possible; there is always something of visual interest onscreen, from the inspired use of foreground in the moving camera shots to pictural composition and the masterly use of colour and lighting. The second murder in the antiques shop is particularly stunning. Ultimately, as in a lot of the films of the genre (the early Argento films for example), the lack of any real narrative focus means that the film loses momentum towards the end. Still, stylistically a masterpiece.

The flick deals with a respected house of style (managed by Eva Bartok and Cameron Mitchell) where happens several bloody murders and gruesome executions . A diary seems to implicate about anybody fashion models are dying . Then the diary disappearing originates a real massacre of the remaining fashion girls . An inspector (Thomas Reiner) investigates the strange killings with numerous suspects (the usual baddies Franco Ressel and Luciano Pigozzi or Alan Colins , Massimo Righi , among others).

Bava's second great success (the first was ¨Black Sunday¨ or ¨Mask of Demon¨)is compellingly directed with startling visual content . This frightening movie is plenty of thrills, chills, high body-count and glimmer color in lurid pastel with phenomenal results . This is a classic slasher where the intrigue, tension, suspense appear threatening and lurking in every room, corridors and luxurious interior and exterior . This genuinely mysterious story is well photographed by Ubaldo Terzano and Mario Bava with magenta shades of ochre , translucently pale turquoises and deep orange-red .

The movie belongs to Italian Giallo genre , Bava (¨Planet of vampires¨, ¨House of exorcism¨) along with Riccardo Freda (¨Secret of Dr. Hitchcock¨ , ¨Il Vampiri¨) are the fundamental creators . In fact , both of whom collaborated deeply among them , as Bava finished two Fedra's films ¨Il Vampiri¨ and ¨Caltiki¨ . These Giallo movies are characterized by overblown use of color in shining red blood , usual zooms and utilization of images-shock . Later on , there appears Dario Argento (¨Deep red¨, ¨Suspiria¨,¨Inferno¨), another essential filmmaker of classic Latino terror films . Rating : Good, this is one more imaginative slasher pictures in which the camera stalks in sinister style throughout a story with magnificent visual skills.

Somewhere at the intersection of stylish and camp, you'll find Mario Bava's 'Blood and Black Lace.' There is a sophisticated color palette and a certain panache in the string of murders we see committed, but it's put alongside uneven acting and overdubbed English which doesn't do it any favors. Maybe that's all a part of the charm. I loved the look of the mysterious killer, with that trench coat, fedora, and blank face, and the little twists towards the end were a nice touch. It got a little ponderous at times though, and the connective tissue between the big events was a little weak. A fun film overall, and doesn't overstay its welcome at 88 minutes.