Each year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences gives an honorary award to a recipient for their past & present contributions to film. In the early years, this award was given for an achievement that didn’t quite fit any of the categories voted on, but in recent years, its been reserved to celebrate …
Sometimes, a job’s just a job. Such is the case with 1970’s ‘Five Dolls For an August Moon.’ (Also known as ‘Island of Terror.’) Bava described the job as such: ‘They paid me on Saturday and we started shooting on Monday.’ That said, the movie is not completely devoid of enjoyments. George Stark is a …
‘Black Sabbath,’ is a triptych of a film, putting together three short films to make up one feature-length film. The movie is hosted by Boris Karloff, who also appears in the second film. The first story is, ‘The Telephone,’ about Rosy, a woman who receives a threatening phone call. She’s alone and it’s night and …
‘Knives of the Avenger’ was the third of four movies Mario Bava made in 1966. As impressive as the output is, the style in direction of each of the four is equally solid and never lacking. However, sometimes the story lines of some of these films make it difficult for one to pay attention. ‘Knives,’ …
Created at the end of the swinging sixities, ‘Four Times That Night,’ is a comedic take on Akira Kurosawa’s ‘Rashomon,’ with the same story being told from multiple angels. Bava adds a new twist to the concept, turning the story into a sex comedy. The movie opens with John driving in his sports car. While …
This was the fourth and final movie Mario Bava made during the busy year of 1968. The movie opens with as stunning and exciting sequence as a villager commits suicide by falling onto the spikes of a fence. She seems to be driven to do this under the watch of a creepy-looking seven year old …
In 1968, Mario Bava collaborated with producer Dino De Laurentis (‘Serpico,’ ‘Red Dragon,’ 1976’s ‘King Kong,’) to bring to the screen one of the most popular Italian comic book heroes. Diabolik is not like many heroes of popular lore. Diabolik is a thief. He does not rob to the rich and give to the poor, …
In 1962 Mario Bava made the fourth film on which he would be credited as director. In ‘The Girl Who Knew Too Much,’ Bava played with humor, suspense and outright terror in a way that some critics cite as the first true Giallo movie. Nora is an American girl, traveling to Rome to stay with …
This past summer, at a preview screening of Superbad, an actress caught my eye. She first appears when Jules (the apple of Seth’s eye in the film) is asking Seth what sorts of alcohol to buy for her party. There’s a girl to the right of Jules, who for part of the conversation is playing …
Tomorrow, all will be explained and the wait will be worthwhile. At least, that’s what fans of JJ Abrams and his latest movie, ‘Cloverfield,’ are hoping. (All indicators and early reviews seem to point to the fact that they’ll get what they want.)