It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

While the title might suggest this is another fiendish giallo in the line of BLOOD AND BLACK LACE, KILL, BABY...KILL! is more in line with Bava's BLACK Sunday than it is with that early slasher classic. The setting is a frightened village, where superstition runs rife and the local churchyards are full of mist and broken headstones, grave diggers are always at work, and a ghostly bell rings although nobody is pulling the rope.Yep, we're back in familiar Hammer territory, but when the atmosphere is as chilling as it is here then that's no reason to complain. The frightened villagers are familiar to any fan of the Gothic genre, and the fear portrayed here is extremely pervasive, and effectively transforms the viewer, too, into a scared witness of the events that unfold. Bava's famed photography is once again in evidence here, only marred slightly by the graininess of the print, but when a low budget film is over thirty years old, this is what you come to expect.Bava manages to inject a few unique, disturbing images into his film. The first one is a bouncing ball which just by its bounce manages to be both mysterious and frightening, especially when it doesn't really exist. The second image - and the best - is of a man repeatedly running through a room, yet entering the same room over and over again. Sounds familiar, then just wait until he catches up with himself, a sheer moment of genius. The ghost in this case is of a young, angelic-looking girl who brings death to everyone she sees by willing them to murder themselves in a bloody way. The fact that she looks so innocent makes the fact that she's evil all the more horrific, especially the childish giggling noise she makes which here, instead of conveying happiness, conveys terror. It stands as a mark of Bava's skill that he can make something so innocent so scary, just by making the giggle echo a bit.The acting may not be brilliant, and the characters are not very well drawn, apart from the three principal people involved (the old mad woman, the nurse, the doctor). While this could have potentially destroyed the film, it doesn't really matter in this case as the emphasis is on the bleak, cobwebby surroundings, not the people in them. There are plenty of neat touches plot-wise, such as the murder victims all having a coin embedded in their hearts, as protection against evil which stops them themselves coming back to life as ghosts. There are also other neat touches of the villagers' superstition, wreathes lining doors, potential victims getting "leech vines" wrapped around them (disgusting), and frightened people hiding inside locked houses. These elements create an overpowering oppressive atmosphere. While you feel that the script is nothing special (I'm sure it could have been filmed in such a way as to have been terrible), the camera-work and photography are so good that they account for any shortcomings and help to make this film highly effective. It's very rare to find but well worth seeking out, especially to those who like Hammer films (such as THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES), and in many ways it's better than the British and American contemporaries due to a heightened realism.

The people of a late 19th century European village are beginning to perish in incidents that could be accidents, suicides...or murders. A dedicated police inspector, Kruger (Piero Lulli), investigates the case, while calling in a doctor from out of town. Dr. Paul Eswai (Giacomo Rossi Stuart) arrives to find a community full of frightened and deeply superstitious citizens, which frustrates the practical man of medicine. Dr. Paul even goes so far as to perform an autopsy on a young woman, a practice that these locals find to be abhorrent. In an odd touch, victims are found with gold coins placed inside their hearts.The relatively simple story actually isn't hard to follow at all, and in fact much crucial plot information is conveyed through pure exposition. Still, when this exposition is so vividly delivered by such an eclectic cast, it's hard to complain too much. Master of the macabre Mario Bava does go overboard with his frequent zooming in on people and then zooming back out. Other than that, this is an engaging example of the whole Gothic horror genre, with Bava working at the peak of his abilities. As he demonstrated so stylishly in previous efforts such as "Black Sunday" and "Black Sabbath", Bava was expert at creating an otherworldly atmosphere. He's capably assisted by his set decorator, Alessandro Dell'Orco, and cinematographer, Antonio Rinaldi. Bava also helped with the lighting, uncredited. Carlo Rustichellis' music is excellent, and the sound design is another plus, with that infernal giggling helping to put us on edge.The handsome Rossi Stuart is a jut jawed, stoic hero. Erika Blanc is beautiful and appealing as Monica Schuftan, who assists him with the autopsy. Gorgeous raven haired Fabienne Dali is intoxicating as Ruth, the local sorceress. Lulli, Luciano Catenacci, and Giovanna Galletti round out our interesting primary cast. One key casting decision is crucial in keeping the film somewhat off kilter.The finale is over awfully quickly, but there's still a fair bit to recommend here. The sequence that takes place about a quarter hour from the end is the most striking of all.Seven out of 10.

Despite a very poor print from Netflix streaming, despite the film being dubbed instead of subtitled and despite some occasional bad acting, "Kill Baby, Kill" is a dandy Gothic horror piece. This is because director Mario Bava successfully has created a moody film that will keep you on edge.The film is set around 1900 and begins with a doctor and a police investigator coming to a remote village to investigate a very suspicious death. However, this is all complicated by the townsfolk--who do NOTHING to help with their efforts. Eventually, however, the story SLOWLY unfolds and you learn that the fear of the town is because MANY healthy young people in town have died suspiciously and some crazy Baroness and her dead child are somehow responsible.This is clearly a film you need to see and force yourself to keep watching. That's because the film is talky and slow and it takes a while for the film to unfold. But it IS worth it. So, look past all the moaning women, silly cobwebs and slow plot--it IS scary, moody and worth it.

This colour-drenched Gothic horror film from Italian master Mario Bava is full to the brim with atmosphere and style. A doctor travels to a remote village to perform an autopsy on a woman who has died in mysterious circumstances. He immediately finds himself in the midst of a series of similar unexplained deaths. Everything seems to be connected to an ominous nearby house, the Villa Graps. While the malevolent ghost of little girl terrorises the vicinity…Kill, Baby…Kill! may sport a title that makes it sound like it should be a Russ Meyer sexploitation flick but to all intents and purposes this is pure Bava. It contains most of the elements that are associated with the great man's work: terrific fluid cinematography, beautiful use of colour and light, and strong atmospherics. It benefits too from a pretty good cast. Giacomo Rossi-Stuart is solid as the doctor while there is strong support from the beautiful and very Gothic Fabienne Dali as the local sorceress. Carlo Rustichelli pipes in too with a good score that sounds very like his soundtrack to Blood and Black Lace. But it also has an eerie section that accompanies the ghostly girl. This latter presence is well used throughout the picture. She appears in the night looking through windows, while her bouncing ball follows her around and adds splendid macabre detail - the ball led to the girl's death in the first place.Like all Bava films, this one is an exercise in cinematic style. Mostly, visual style. Many of the compositions are beautifully conceived and lit. Bava's camera gracefully captures it all and the sets are awash with striking colour and lit to perfection. In a couple of standout scenes the director puts together sequences of surreal splendour. One features a spiral staircase and the other has a man chase a figure through a maze of identical rooms until he finally catches him only to discover it is himself he has been chasing.Like many of Bava's films the story isn't really very great. Its serviceable and no more. But this is ultimately only a minor point as it's the style in which the story is told that is the main draw. And this is a great film from a master of visual cinematic style.