Bay Of Blood
1971
Nuova Linea Cinematografica : Hallmark Releasing / Hokushin Audio Visual / Image Entertainment / Arrow Video / Cult Epics / Gorgon Video
8.25 / 10
Bay of Blood is listed as a Mystery, Horror, Thriller film. Well, two out of three ain't bad... this is NOT a horror film, it doesn't really fall into the Stalker genre either because at it's core is a solid Thriller and Mystery... just with lots of gore...
The opening sequence is a masterful exercise in creating atmosphere and tension as the director, Mario Bava, shows us the death of a wheelchair-bound woman. Bava gives the audience an uneasy feeling by hinting that something isn't quite right. The elderly woman wheels herself slowly to the window and looks out, though when she doesn't notice anything amiss she starts back into the house. Something catches her attention and she turns round towards the window once again. It's at this point she spots the noose... hands push her towards the awaiting death... as the rope tightens around her neck, somebody kicks her wheelchair away... This is shot in minimal light, though Bava makes sure it's not too dark giving the scene an eerie feeling. This is one of the better opening sequences I've seen in a movie as it immediately grabs the viewer and pulls them headlong into the story... Who is this woman? Why has she been murdered? Who murdered her? These questions get answered but are replaced with more mysteries in the course of the movie.
The writers, Franco Barberi and Dardano Sacchetti, and screenwriters, Filippo Ottoni, Giuseppe Zaccariello, and Mario Bava, have scripted a tight murder mystery. As grisly death after grisly death occurs the audience is wondering what is happening as four sightseers are slaughtered. Slowly, the killer's motives are exposed and revealed to the viewers, with a couple of twists in the tale. It's a very good story and I didn't really work out whodunnit until it was disclosed. This was fantastic for me as I usually work out the murderer and their motives well before the reveal.
The special effects are extraordinary, even today... there's one scene where one of the sightseers gets a machete to the face, though the kill shot is off camera the scene where the killer pulls it out of his victims head isn't. I must admit it's more than a little disturbing due to the reality of the effects.
I'm still not too sure about the ending though. I have a dark and morbid sense of humour so the finale made me smile, though I don't think it quite fits with the film. It also has a feeling of being added to try and give the story a moralistic finish.
Should you like murder mysteries then I would advise you to give this a viewing, though you have been warned about the goriness of some of the death scenes.
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