Although the colorful title suggests a giallo, this enjoyable Mario Bava offering doesn’t fit the genre mold. For starters, the devious soul behind the deaths isn’t some black glove wearing psychopath with deep-seated emotional issues. He or she (we’re offered a trio of possible suspects) is merely interested in obtaining sole ownership of an ill-defined, but lucrative, scientific process. The killings are brutal, and Bava appreciatively lingers over the lurid details, but the reasons why they are committed are practical, not sadistic.
That said, the film does employ the necessary ingredients for a satisfying murder-mystery, isolating a bevy of attractive people (sporting outlandish ’70s attire) on an island, introducing an object of desire among them, and allowing the darker human impulses to take control. Bava’s strong sense of color and composition are in evidence, as usual, but this unexpected narrative directness (when compared to some of his more meandering creations, such as Kill, Baby…Kill! or Lisa and the Devil) makes for a film that is both visually and structurally entertaining, proving that the maestro of the macabre is capable of more than just atmosphere and gore.
by Thomas Scalzo | Source: Anchor Bay DVD
27 Jun 2008 11:29 AM | Submit Comment