Customer Reviews

Kill, Baby, Kill

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Kill Baby Kill is a surprisingly good, beautifully presented, deliciously atmospheric horror film from noted Italian director Mario Bava. This is actually a fairly creepy ghost story, but there is a pretty significant death count nonetheless. The very first scene shows us a distraught young lady throwing herself, quite reluctantly, onto a spiked rail fence. Finding himself stymied in his investigation of the victim's death by a superstitious town population, Inspector Kruger calls in a coroner to perform an autopsy on the victim. Dr. Eswe finds himself having to walk a short distance into the small village because his driver refuses to enter it. He arrives to find a pretty desolate place with deserted streets, highly suspicious townspeople, and a mysterious but undeniable sense of gloom and doom. A young lady named Monica (Erica Blanc) soon arrives to witness the coroner's autopsy, one in which a coin is found nailed into the heart of the victim. Monica is one of the few people to have ever left the village, being taken away at just two years of age, but her connection with the townsfolk is predictably much deeper than even she knows. The townspeople won't talk about the suicide because "the child" will kill them if they do; based on later evidence, this is sound thinking on their part. The evil force seemingly responsible for what becomes a string of deaths is the ghost of a little seven-year old girl who died twenty years earlier while the townspeople failed to notice or just refused to respond to her cries for help. Little Melissa does much to make this movie compelling, as the child actress is genuinely frightening with her large eyes, forceful glances, and innocent yet malevolent laughter. The doctor doesn't believe in the superstitious story of the ghost, but as he becomes more and more involved in the investigation, his ideas are forced to evolve somewhat.

The village setting is magnificently done, with ancient, moldering buildings, a seemingly perpetual darkness, vintage costumes, and an overall sense of grim tidings. At times, the movie seems to take on the appearance of a surreal work of art. Some innovative camera work lends great depth to the presentation, although the director does seem to get slightly carried away once or twice. Erica Blanc's presence helps make up for some minor weaknesses in the performance of Giacomo Rossi-Stuart as Dr. Eswe, although I think my problem with his performance, at least early on, was the fact that his fancy ways and looks just seemed incredibly out of place in a horror movie such as this. It took me a little while to fully get into the story, but by the mid-point of the film I was definitely hooked. It is not wholly original, and one of the major plot points can be easily foreseen very early on, yet I enjoyed this movie tremendously. You won't find a lot of gore here, nor even an excessive amount of suspense, but the atmosphere just overwhelms you as you progress, giving Kill Baby Kill an ambiance and character that most horror films can never hope to achieve. Music, direction, and standout individual performances combine to make this an engaging, creepy psychological masterpiece. The title makes this movie sound like some kind of B-movie, but in reality it is an impressive, polished, consummately professional work of horrific art.

Okay, it's a stupid title for a movie, and it sounds like it belongs to a cheap slasher flick.

But fortunately Mario Bava's "Kill Baby Kill" is much better than its hokey title suggests, as one would expect from a giallo master. Instead of a slasher movie, it's a gothic horror movie with impalements, ghosts and magic. It has all the beauty -- and terror -- of a decayed fairy tale.

When a young woman leaps onto an iron fence, young Dr. Eswai (Giacomo Rossi-Stuart) is called in to do an autopsy, with the help of beautiful Monica (Erica Blanc). He finds a coin in the girl's heart, and none of the townspeople will tell him -- because if they do, they will suffer a similar fate. Eswai doesn't buy all this superstition.

He's even more annoyed when local sorceress Ruth (Fabienne Dali) begins using her powers to protect a young girl from a childlike specter -- little dead aristocrat Melissa Graps. But as the bodies pile up, and Monica is plagued by bizarre nightmares, Eswai must accept Ruth's help to save Monica from the ghost, and an evil baroness.

"Kill Baby Kill" is more gothic horror rather than straightforward "giallo." But it has the cinematic touches that Bava was known for. Bava fills the run-down village sets with broken doors, wrought-iron fences, coffins, and long fluttering canopies. It's gothically delicious.

Bava also adds dreamlike touches to his typical style-- the village is full of mist, tombstones, and green, blue and red lighting that flicks on and off. He packs this movie so full of visual opulance, it's like being locked inside a beautiful nightmare -- and it adds to the feeling of a fairy tale gone horribly wrong.

And he has a knack for the really spooky stuff too. A bouncing ball, childish giggling, and a little girl on a swing become really horrifying, not to mention all those impalements on everything from fences to, uh, candlesticks. Two particularly eerie scenes have Eswai chasing himself through endless rooms, and Monica running down an endless spiral stair.

The ghost story itself is quite simple, and the secret identities of two characters are quite obvious. But fortunately, this doesn't detract from the atmosphere. How could it? "Kill Baby Kill" is steeped in atmosphere from the first creepy scene, and rather than building in suspense, it runs steadily all the way to the end.

And the cast helps. Despite the emotionless dubbing, Rossi-Stuart and Blanc both do outstanding jobs, but the best performance of the movie belongs to Fabienne Dali, as a tragic sorceress who is trying to save the village from Melissa's revenge. The scene where she mourns her dead lover is exquisite.

"Kill Baby Kill" is a gorgeous, creepy ghost story, with good acting and stellar direction. Definitely a must-see for fans of atmospheric cult horror.

Director Mario Bava ("Black Sunday," "Black Sabbath") creates an atmosphere gothic horror film in "Kill, Baby, Kill" ("Operazione Paura"). At first glance this is an old fashioned ghost story with all of the required horror movie elements, from the ignorant and superstitious villages, an old crone uttering curses, swirling mists, rooms strewn with cobwebs, and even a black cat. Of course there is also the one person who understands what is really going on and is ignored until it is way too late.

When Dr. Paul Eswai (Giacomo Rossi-Stuart) shows up to perform an autopsy on a young woman who died a violent death, he finds a fear stricken town in the best gothic tradition. When he finds the victim has a coin embedded in her heart, the town's shameful secret is told: twenty years earlier a young child, Melissa Graps, was run over and left to die during a festival. The townspeople are convinced Melissa's ghost is driving the guilty to suicide by appearing to them, and the good doctor's plea for rationality is ignored as the townsfolk are whipped into a frenzy of fear by the local sorceress, Ruth (Fabienne Dali). When Dr. Eswai and the lovely Monica (Erika Blanc) go to the local castle, Villa Graps, they find the Baroness also dead, another apparent suicide. There is only one thing left to do; explore the castle and find its deadly secret.

Title notes: "Kill, Baby, Kill!" was the film's 1968 release title, although it was first seen in the United States two years earlier as "Operation Fear." Other reissue titles were "Don't Walk in the Park" and "Curse of the Living Dead" (not to be confused with "Curse of the Dead," the release title in the United Kingdom). Whatever the title, this film is one of Bava's better efforts at creating an atmospheric horror film. Monica has a nightmare that is a very effective montage sequences. The film is also rather unique, especially for an Italian production, in that all of the really interesting characters are females, especially Ruth, who lends the movie some of its more effective twists. The more you can forget that this sort of story has been done to death in the United States in the years since 1966, the more you can enjoy this film. Certainly a lot more going on creatively both in front and behind the camera than you would find in the best Hammer films of the same time period.

Another little gem from italian director Mario Bava has just entered the DVD market : the 1966 OPERAZIONE PAURA aka KILL, BABY...KILL ! After the releases of RABID DOGS (great), BAY OF BLOOD and BARON BLOOD, the Bava fan was already smiling, now he is literally hysterical. And more releases are announced for the next weeks to come. Miam ! Miam !

KILL, BABY...KILL ! plays in the same category than THE MASK OF SATAN or BARON BLOOD : the Gothic, yes, but in the Bava manner. So we witness a few gothic murders shot in a blue-green-yellow fog in the middle of a lost austrian village. Nothing very special after all BUT then comes the detail that kills : someone has put a penny in the heart of the murdered people (Bava, you're the greatest !).

There is also a scene which deserves to stay in Movie History (yes, Sir !) : the hero, played by Giacomo Rossi-Stuart, is trying to find Erika Blanc (the heroin, the blonde with the white transparent pyjama and almost nothing (gargl..) under it) through the numerous rooms of the Villa Graps, he runs and runs and finally catches his own double. Simple but magistral idea.

Three trailers as bonus features : Bava's SIX WIVES FOR THE ASSASSIN, Dario Argento's THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE and Laslo Benedek's THE NIGHT VISITOR.

A DVD for Erika Blanc.

Okay, it's a stupid title for a movie, and it sounds like it belongs to a cheap slasher flick.

But fortunately Mario Bava's "Kill Baby Kill" is much better than its hokey title suggests, as one would expect from a giallo master. Instead of a slasher movie, it's a gothic horror movie with impalements, ghosts and magic. It has all the beauty -- and terror -- of a decayed fairy tale.

When a young woman leaps onto an iron fence, young Dr. Eswai (Giacomo Rossi-Stuart) is called in to do an autopsy, with the help of beautiful Monica (Erica Blanc). He finds a coin in the girl's heart, and none of the townspeople will tell him -- because if they do, they will suffer a similar fate. Eswai doesn't buy all this superstition.

He's even more annoyed when local sorceress Ruth (Fabienne Dali) begins using her powers to protect a young girl from a childlike specter -- little dead aristocrat Melissa Graps. But as the bodies pile up, and Monica is plagued by bizarre nightmares, Eswai must accept Ruth's help to save Monica from the ghost, and an evil baroness.

This is more gothic horror rather than straightforward "giallo," but it has the cinematic touches that Bava was known for. Bava fills the run-down village sets with broken doors, coffins, and long fluttering canopies. It's gothically delicious. But he also adds dreamlike touches -- the village is full of mist, tombstones, and green, blue and red lighting. He packs this movie so full of visual opulance, it's like being locked inside a beautiful nightmare.

And he has a knack for the really spooky stuff too. A bouncing ball, childish giggling, and a little girl on a swing become really horrifying, not to mention all those impalements on everything from fences to, uh, candlesticks. Two particularly eerie scenes have Eswai chasing himself through endless rooms, and Monica running down an endless spiral stair.

The ghost story itself is quite simple, and the secret identities of two characters are quite obvious. But fortunately, this doesn't detract from the atmosphere. How could it? "Kill Baby Kill" is steeped in atmosphere from the first creepy scene, and rather than building in suspense, it runs steadily all the way to the end.

And the cast helps. Despite the emotionless dubbing, Rossi-Stuart and Blanc both do outstanding jobs, but the best performance of the movie belongs to Fabienne Dali, as a tragic sorceress who is trying to save the village from Melissa's revenge. The scene where she mourns her dead lover is exquisite.

"Kill Baby Kill" is a gorgeous, creepy ghost story, with good acting and stellar direction. Definitely a must-see for fans of atmospheric cult horror.

VCI's early DVD release of Bava's "Kill Baby Kill" is nowhere near as clean a presentation as their other Bava releases, but it is not as bad as the rumors have made it out to be. Yes, there is some slight artifacting, the colors are somewhat washed out and it's in full-frame instead of widescreen, but overall, it's still very watchable and superior than any of the VHS releases of the title. Apparently, there are no better master sources for the film that still exist so the rumored upcoming release by Image would probably be of the same quality (I would love to be proved wrong, tho). The lack of widescreen is a bit unnerving and noticeable in a few shots where characters are off to the side and not visible on screen when they should be, but it's not a scope film so it's not too bad. Anyway, the film is presented decently and, even with the DVD's flaws, it's better than VHS and Bava fans shouldn't avoid snatching this film up. And if you buy the Mario Bava box-set, you basically would get this one "free" because of the discounted price - so what are you waiting for?

As usual, Diamond delivers an interesting film on a budget disc.

One of Bava's better films about victims in a small Transylvanian village, who are found dead with gold pennies coins planted in their hearts.

Moody and stylish, with quite a few interesting sequences.

Uncut and in LBX but pic quality is on par with $6.99, which means not great. As usual for Diamond releases, there are only 4 chapters. Decent value for money thpugh.

Quality Italian gothic horror. This kind of vibe cannot be achieved these days. Classic thriller short of epic proportions but definately cult material.

A film historian recommended this title to me and I finally got it in the mail yesterday. I have to say that I was so impressed by this supernatural film that I intend to check out all of Mario Bava's horror films (in fact, there's a four-pack set here on Amazon that I intend to get, which includes Black Sunday and Black Sabbath). Watching this reminded me of Roger Corman's adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe's stories, and some of the Hammer films - rich in atmosphere, and suffused with imagery.I had actually seen this title pop-up on Amazon's recommendations for me many times, but the title always put me off. "Kill,Baby...Kill!" seems like a title that implies lots of blood and gore, but this movie is not a gore-fest. On the contrary, it is a highly atmospheric, well-plotted and credibly acted ghost story, one of my favorites in the horror genre.

Set in a small village in a European country sometime in the late 19th century (?), the movie opens with a woman falling to her death (against her will), and the creepy laughter of a child following this tragedy...we then see a young girl dressed all in white skipping down the stairs. Sometime later, a pathologist arrives in the village, Dr. Paul Eswai ( Giacomo Rossi-Stuart) to perform an autopsy on the corpse and determine the cause of death. Inspector Kruger (Piero Lulli) is the one who summoned Dr. Eswai, and both men find the village veiled in secrecy and fear. Eswai is assigned a nurse, Monica, as his assistant (played by Erica Blanc), and whilst performing the autopsy, the pair discover a coin buried in the corpse's heart, which Monica says is based on a superstition where the coin provides peace to the soul. Eswai later has an altercation with some village folk and is 'rescued' by a strange lady in black, who turns out to be Ruth, the local witch (Fabienne Dali). Eswai and Monica slowly unveil the village's dark secret that goes back to the past, in which a young girl, Melissa Graps died tragically in the middle of the village without receiving any aid from the locals, and has been a malevolent presence in the village ever since, bringing death and destruction to the locals. When Monica appears to be the next victim, Eswai races against time, calling upon Ruth to help him save Monica's body and soul from the malevolent spirit.

There is even a plot twist in the movie to keep things interesting, and the credible acting by the leads makes this an engaging watch.
Fans of classic, period, Gothic, and atmospheric horror will find much to appreciate in this gem of a horror film.

Ok so there's no nudity or gore, but this film has quite a few scenes that will send some chills up your spine. The little girl that plays the ghost of Mellisa is evil, scary, and a diabolical little killer. Check her out in the scene where she wills the innkeeper's daughter to stab herself through the throat. I mean really look at her! That smile is pure evil and the way she keeps darting her eyes is sinister. When she pops out of closets or in hallways she always has that evil twisted little look and she raised the level of how the film turned out. Kudos to the director for getting that girl to do that.

Of course there are some hot chicks in this movie as well. The innkeeper's daughter is a real cutie. Monica plays Melissa's older sister and she is stunning. Check out the scene when she wakes up from her nightmare. She gives us a heartbreaking view of her thighs. That demented doll sitting on the edge of the bed was another fright thrown in for good measure. ANd how can we forget the lovely raven haired sorceress? She's a hottie.

Our hero is the good doctor who came to the village to investigate an apparant suicide, but the townsfolk know it's really the curse of Melissa. Check out this dudes hair. In the entire movie never a hair is out of place. It's like his whole head was dipped in clear plastic. I mean sure he never changes his clothes either, but my God that hair. How could he investigate a murder with all the time he would need to spend in front of the mirror? I guess that's why the Burgermeister was bald, we had enough hair to deal with.

Anyway, this movie is great. Sure they go a little heavy on the fog machine, and all the corpses are breathing and have eyes moving under the lids, but aside from that this is a fine picture. Even the old hag who played Mellisa's mother played a fine role.

So when you see a girl being trampled, you better help. Or else this could happen to you.