Runtime:
81 minutes
Directed
by: Mario Bava
Starring:
William Berger, Ira Von Furstenburg, Maurice Poli, Edwige Fenech,
Teodoro Corra
From:
P.A.C.
Here
is another Instant watch and another film from Bava. I'll be honest
here, I picked it because it featured the quite hot Fenech, a lovely
brunette dame who appeared in quite a few European films in the 70's.
I understand she was in Hostel 2 just a few years ago and even at
almost 60 when she was in that, I know from photos that she looked
great for her age. Anyhow, I figured it was time to see one of her
movies.
The
plot: A rich industralist named George Sagan (the American version
has him named George Stark; it should be pretty easy to figure out
what they were referencing; how appropriate for this weekend) has
various people on his private island, including a professor scientist
who created the formula to something, and it's worth a lot. The guys
on the island all want to buy the rights to the formula in order to
make a crapload of cash but he refuses. Suddenly, killings start
happen and you don't know who it is; yes, it's a version of Agatha
Christie's Ten Little Indians, otherwise known as And Then There Were
None or the original book title of Ten Little Ni... yes, the N word;
it was based on an old British nursery rhyme, way back before that
word was deemed to be offensive. Unfortunately, the factoid I just
delivered was more interesting than too much of this film.
I'll
say that this was average overall. The story had too many dull
moments and it seemed like it took too long for it to get going. It
seemed longer than 81 minutes, for sure. The story became convoluted,
which was fine as it became amusing. By the end, though, it became a
mess and it seemed to not make a lot of sense. From what I hear, Bava
was contracturally obligated to make this-usually not a good sign-and
he had little time to prepare this movie. It does explain a lot.
Still,
there definitely are moments. The house that much of the film takes
place at is a futuristic and mod house, totally dating it to the late
60's and early 70's. That makes it hilarious in 2013. There's a
groovy jazz score. Despite the constraints it at least was shot well
by Bava. I coudn't explain the title of this film, though; then
again, I know that some giallo flicks have rather lengthy and
apparently nonsensical titles.
And
there are some quality lines/moments. For example, a character
washing his hands with J&B whiskey, or the victims getting hung
in the giant meat locker in plastic bags! Most importantly to me,
there were a bevy of beauties in the cast. It wasn't just Fenech who
was easy on the eyes, but Edwige was shown to nice effect, whether
she was dancing while not wearing a lot, in a bikini, in red
underwear, or while she's showing off her bare breasts.
If
you want to read a full review which gives away the entire story, you
can read something I found at random, which is Mad Mad Mad Mad
Movies, read it here. What an odd movie this is. I certainly need to
see more Bava movies from this time period, and ones that are rated
higher than this one by hardcore fans. I'll be back Monday afternoon.
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