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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Though the original Italian title translates to "Six Women for an Assassin," the American title, Blood and Black Lace, is far more evocative of the psychosexual nature of this elegant slasher picture. The thin plot concerns a respected Italian fashion house, a murdered model, cocaine, and a tell-all diary that seems to implicate just about everyone connected with the house of style. The disappearance of the diary initiates a wholesale slaughter of the remaining models. Mario Bava's stylish exercise in mayhem lovingly delivers every elaborate killing with dreamy assurance. As the stalker, a faceless figure wrapped up in a trench coat, makes a move for his next gorgeous victim, Bava's prowling camera snakes through sets, rushes down hallways, and generally takes off like a low-budget Hitchcock flick on speed. By contrast, Bava runs through the police investigations with a perfunctory air--the lifeless scenes, which aren't helped by the flat English dubbing, feel like he's marking time between the murders--and when the identity of the black-clad killer is revealed it almost seems beside the point. As the narrative melts into a near abstract display of choreography and color (with an often troubling misogynist edge), exposition and psychological explanations seem oddly out of place in this elaborate dance of death. As a traditional thriller it lacks any genuine thrill, but as a piece of cinematic spectacle it has moments of dreamy, disconnected beauty. --Sean Axmaker
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
45 of 46 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
1 star is for the DVD, 5 stars for the movie. I don't need to say anything about the film; those familiar with Bava's work know this is among his masterpieces. I'm writing this review to clear up some things about this new "Unslashed" edition. On the positive side, this version is Anamorphic widescreen and it does present noticeably more picture information on the right and left sides of the frame (the old VCI version was leterboxed a 1.66:1, where as this one is 16 x 9). Now the bad news. The color and contrast have been boosted/altered to the point that the image appears blurrier, grainier and more damaged than the previous version. Also, the interior sets (especially in the fashion house) have a putrid yellow/green hue to them not present in the old version. The soundtrack is horribly remixed, making the dialogue sound like it was recorded in a tin can and it pops quite a bit through the opening of the film. The French and Italian audio channels are reversed. None of these audio problems are present on the old version by the way. To top it off, the dvd menus are gaudy and offputting, trying to make this seem like a bloody slasher pic. In summution, the extra picture information just doesn't outweigh all of the drawbacks of this edition. My advice is to hold on to your old release until something better comes along. Thanks for reading. -JWH-
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Many have said this movie is misogynistic. I won't get into that. To be fair, I would have to say that it is disturbing to a degree, but also a stylish shocker done by a master film maker that is highly watchable if you're not squeamish. The world of haute couture is a perfect place to present a murder thriller in that it affords the limitless opportunities of playing with color, showcasing beautiful women and providing a host of possible villains...and victims. Bava does all of this in classic continental style. The victims are beautiful fashion models, the murders are violent and ,in some cases, gory. The settings of the salon and showrooms are garish with lots of red and black. The murder set pieces are scary, bizarre and done to the hilt. The storyline has some cohesence with enough sordid details to make it juicy. VCI has done the film marvelous justice on DVD and it looks beautiful. All in all, an engrossing horror film that continues to satisfy Bava and giallo fans and a collector's treat as well. Enjoy this one.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Just to back up the very critical review of this dvd below, this is a major disappointment: the one star is for the quality of the dvd release, not the film, which is one of Bava's best pictures. The image here is really substandard, way below what should be expected from any serious dvd release in this day and age. Although it is anamorphic, it would be hard to call this in any way improved over the first VCI release; if anything, in sharpness and color, it might actually be worse. That a dvd release this mediocre is a rerelease is a travesty; if they want to get people to upgrade and buy again, it should be for a better product. Stay away from this one and hope for another version to come. I had heard bad things but ordered anyway since it was relatively inexpensive, hoping that Tim Lucas's involvement would mean that this was a quality dvd; unfortunately, not the case.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Murder by Design
Someone is killing the models at a haute couture fashion house.
Is it an ambitious model, the junkie boyfriend, the ugly designer, the polite but nasty-looking housemaid, or... Read more
Is it an ambitious model, the junkie boyfriend, the ugly designer, the polite but nasty-looking housemaid, or... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Shockadelic
The 1960s Never Looked So Good
Are you tired of films featuring floppy-haired, militant and/or annoying women with squeaky voices? Tired of political correctness and namby-pamby boy meets girl storylines? Read more
Published 4 months ago by 1960Fury
Wildly stylish, fun, and engaging, if not perfect
A great looking murder mystery that clearly laid the groundwork for later directors
(DePalma in particular), and has a fun macabre sense of humor to go with some
very... Read more
(DePalma in particular), and has a fun macabre sense of humor to go with some
very... Read more
Published 5 months ago by K. Gordon
Mixed thoughts. Not sure what I think. Worth a watch definitely
I'd say the film lives up to the recommendations I received to watch it but not sure how I feel overall. Read more
Published 6 months ago by mrbillny
Super-Duper-Models...
BLOOD AND BLACK LACE is Mario Bava's fashionable giallo, complete w/ a gaggle of super-models, stylish murders, a "faceless" killer, and an outrageous, barely believable plot. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Bindy Sue Frřnkünschtein
Giallo masterpiece!.
Mario Bava's seminal body count giallo was really the first film to merge the fashion world with ritualistic murders, and none of it's imitators have managed to capture the same... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Puzzle box
great film poor quality DVD
Mario Bava is the godfather of giallo and Italian horror with "Blood and Black Lace" being one of his masterpieces. Unfortunately, this DVD does not do this great film justice. Read more
Published 24 months ago by Doug
Great Movie - Bad Video Transfer
If you really want to know why Mario Bava was a genius, you need to view this film. No other director in 1963 could have made this movie. Read more
Published on May 14, 2009 by Jay Stone
Shocking dark psychodrama
This is a very stylish and dark movie with a lot of striking imagery and some very vicious crimes. It's very intense and the plot is quite a twister. Read more
Published on August 24, 2008 by CJ
A more mature view, 43 years later
The first time I saw "Blood and Black Lace," I was a 20-year-old GI getting ready to be shipped out to the Vietnam War. Read more
Published on July 16, 2008 by Wayne Engle
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