Kill, Baby, Kill (1966): Deep Cuts #25

I have always been a fan of Lamberto Bava, so much, that I had decided to dabble in his father’s works. Kino Lorber had a sale on Blu-rays, and I picked up a few of the Mario Bava Collection to class up my shelves.  

Operazione paura, aka Operation Fear is a gothic horror film directed by Mario Bava. Shot on a budget of around $50,000, it was made as a small-scale film compared to Bava’s other works. While there was indeed a script, Bava claimed much of it was improvised. Despite all these obstacles, it would go on to be his highest grossing film at the time, outperforming Black Sunday and Black Sabbath. It’s been listed several times on horror films ‘best of’ lists, with many claiming it to be among his finest works. It has inspired scenes and styles from movies such as Suspiria, Fellini’s Spirits of the Dead, Don’t Look Now, The Last Temptation of Christ, and even Feardotcom 

Synopsis:

A Carpathian village is haunted by the ghost of a murderous little girl, prompting a coroner and a medical student to uncover her secrets while a witch attempts to protect the villagers.  

IMDb: 6.9 

Rotten Tomatoes: 50% (Audience Score) 

Tagline: The night brings terror! Blood chilling fear! 

The music is very 60’s, as it’s seemingly original orchestral music, but it’s the type you would expect to hear in older black and white films, despite this film being in color. Very dated and gothic, as opposed to the synth soundtracks or prog rock associated with the Italians. It fits, though, as it’s both mysterious and mystical and haunting, fitting the mood perfectly. 

The camera moves very skillfully, as we see zooms and great movement in the cemetery as Dr. Paul performs his autopsy. The skill in which Bava creates atmosphere, and the setting and production values are through the roof. The term gothic gets thrown around regularly with his work, but to see these films, you really can’t help but agree. It’s truly a niche that he fills so perfectly with each of his films.  

With the music swelling, one can feel a romance is brewing between old Dr. Paul and Monica, which is stereotypically Italian, since at the time of filming, Giacomo was 41 and Erika was 24. To see what a 41-year-old man looked like in 1966 makes me, at 45, look like a male model. Sweet Lord, these people aged quickly and dramtically back then. 

There are twists and turns that shake up who everyone is and their relations to each other. Along the way, we are treated to many creepy setups and scenes, which I am sure made the skin crawl of audiences over 60 years ago.  

One of my few complaints is that the colors seem off, so I am not sure if this was filmed in color or black and white and later colorized, because the oranges and greens feel very touched up. The shots he selects, like the one over the winding staircase, or how he moves the camera frenetically with zooms when he is emphasizing something, and just his overall taste in setting and the feel of his movie, are all amazingly top notch.  It truly is a work of art, and I am further enriched with my 60’s cinema appreciation by watching this. 

The film itself is slow and deliberate, moving along at a snail’s pace, but this was the case with many older horror films I have watched. Especially, the haunted house/ghost films. Pacing has changed in cinema over the years, and it may be my ADHD, or my short attention span, but it really takes a special movie to make me stick with a slow-paced horror film. I like kills, a story that brings you in, and plenty of scares. This one, with all its ambience and goth-icity (I’m making words up here) just can’t keep a decent pace, despite its trim 83-minute runtime. 

I doubt I will watch this again, but I am better off for experiencing it, and I am glad I purchased it. If nothing else, my shelves will look better with this Blu-ray on it, as I will look more dignified, and possibly gain some street cred among intelligent horror fans, should any ever show up in my house and peruse my collection tucked away in the dark recesses of my basement. 

7.0 /10 Stab Wounds  

About RetRo(n) 84 Articles
I like the 80s, slasher films, Italian directors, Evil Ed, Trash and Nancy, Ripley and Private First Class Hudson, retro crap but not SyFy crap, old school skin, Freddy and Savini, Spinell and Coscarelli, Andre Toulon, and last, but not least, Linda Blair.