Kill, Baby... Kill!

Kill, Baby… Kill! (Operazione Paura) (1966)

Runtime: 83 minutes

Directed by: Mario Bava

Starring: Giacomo Rossi Stuart, Erika Blanc, Fabienne Dali, Piero Lulli, Luciano Catenacci

From: F.U.L. Films

I'm catching up now... this is a review I posted on Letterboxd several evenings ago: 

A welcome return to the world of Mario Bava films; it’s been a long while for me-thank heavens Shudder has a decent amount—ones I’ve seen and others like this which are new to me. What entrances me the most concerning the director are his most colorful movies (literally) and as I was in a mood for something Gothic… this satisfied all my tastes.

The setting: early 20th century Germany. As plot descriptions everywhere have revealed that what’s haunting a tiny downtrodden rural village is the specter of a 7-year-old girl, I’ll do likewise. The film takes its time to let the plot unfurl and let the viewer (not to mention the skeptical Inspector and substantially skeptical doctor lead) discover why the town is so superstitious of death and an unnamed horror.

Kill-for certain not a translation of its original title, which was Operazione Paura, i.e. Operation Fear-possessed a lower budget than something like Blood and Black Lace & even had a false composer credit as the score was either production music or tunes lifted from other Italian movies. Well, I didn’t recognize any of those tunes so they were all appropriately chilling for the setting and Kill still looked lovely with its various shades of hue, emboldened by the spooky characters and a rich Gothic atmosphere, replete with foggy cemeteries and cobweb-lined homes.

For fans of the old Gothic horror pictures-chiefly from the 60’s-then Kill has a strong chance of… slaying you. Even I can admit that the surname of the little girl/her mother being GRAPS is rather absurd as no one in history may have ever had it (Gratz would have been more fitting for the German setting)—that is just a minor point and did not diminish the movie. This picture has several distinguished fans: Tarantino and Scorsese are but two examples. Fellini “borrowed” a key aspect for Toby Dammit and Lynch was inspired by another moment for the finale of Twin Peaks and Fire Walk with Me; even if I knew the specific example that wouldn’t be mentioned here. Regardless, if those directors are fans…