Blood and Black Lace

source: Blood and Black Lace

"Blood and Black Lace" is a stylish Mario Bava's giallo.It combines wonderful colour visuals and violent murder set pieces with the iconography of the genre such as the trenchcoated,masked and black gloved killer.The film is extremely atmospheric and the killings are fairly brutal and intense.Bava's incredible use of colours and the beautiful sets and costumes are also visible here.The acting is very good and the music perfectly captures the mood of this film."Blood and Black Lace" is surely one of the most important giallos ever made.A must-see for fans of Italian horror.10 out of 10.

Oh holy goodness. OK, saw this one at Glasgow Frightfest 2015. I was expecting something at least in the vague area of horror. Let me just cut right to the chase here, it is one of the most boring, uninteresting movies I have seen. And I've seen some boring drivel before. Yes, it is said to be this huge classic, and it inspired a billion movies after it, apparently, and blah blah blah, but you know what? It is still incredibly boring. There is nothing of interest here. It is not funny because of campiness or anything like that, it is not gory, it is not suspenseful. Action choreography (if you can call it that) is poor, it has typical old-movie-overacting. It is just plain and simple boredom. Boredom caught on tape. There is just nothing good about it. I know all the movie snobs are going to see red (ooh, like the symbolism in the movie itself!) when I say it's boring, but let em. You could watch almost anything else instead of this, and it will be better.

It's often said that Mario Bava spawned the Giallo sub-genre in 1963 with his brilliant thriller 'The Girl Who Knew Too Much', but he didn't finish creating it until a year later when he made this film! Carrying on from the Black Sabbath segment 'The Telephone', Blood and Black Lace sees the introduction of colour to the Giallo, along with a lot of the other trademarks that help to make this sort of film what it is. This may be the frontrunner to the genre, but it stands up nicely with the best of the later efforts. Dario Argento pretty much owes his career to the release of this film, and that is yet more credit for the enigmatic, yet extremely influential Mario Bava! The plot revolves around a fashion house, and follows the events after the murder of a young model. Isabella is killed by an unknown assailant in a heavy coat, black gloves and a white mask. The police suspect that her boyfriend is the killer, but upon the discovery of Isabella's diary, which supposedly contains incriminating evidence relating to the crime, the murder spree continues - leading the police to suspect every male member of the fashion house. The plot line in Blood and Black Lace is somewhat routine, but that doesn't matter as the most important thing about this film is undoubtedly the atmosphere. Bava's use of colour here is even better than it was in the earlier Black Sabbath. It's been said of a lot of films; but it was never truer than here - every shot in this film could be framed and hung on your wall! Given that the film was released in the early sixties, it is surprisingly brutal as the bloodthirsty killer delights in butchering his victims in a series of ever increasingly brutal ways. This is something that would go on to define the entire Giallo style, along with the unknown murderer, black gloves and beautiful women. As the film is set in a fashion house, you've got to expect that the models will be easy on the eye - and Bava certainly doesn't disappoint there! Blood and Black Lace is a visceral, and extremely beautiful movie experience - it's hard to imagine that brutal savagery could be so nice to look at, but Bava has managed to make that so! Overall, Blood and Black Lace is truly one of the greatest films ever made. Anyone with an interest in the Giallo genre absolutely must see this masterpiece!

This is another thoroughly underwhelming horror entry from Mario Bava, injudiciously praised because of it coming so early in the giallo canon. If it had been released ten years later, you never would have heard of it. The movie is set in (and indeed, never leaves) a fashion house where, of course, the models are the victims of a masked killer. There is no reason for the killer to wear a mask; if anything this would make the job more difficult. They would be spotted so much more easily by anyone who happened on the scene. The mask is, of course, only worn to surprise the audience when we find out who the killer really is. Not that it really works as a surprise. The movie has no characters who make any kind of impression, and certainly no one we care about. Its many shots of mannequins invite unfavourable comparisons between these dummies and the women that sometimes stand in front of the camera. The mid sixties release date means that the movie isn't particularly violent and there is no nudity or sex. There is a mention of - shock, horror - drug abuse that is accompanied by some raucous strains on the soundtrack as if the mere word "cocaine" should be enough to send us into palpitations. Nothing else in the movie will have that effect on you. There's no tension, or surprise, or shocks whatsoever. When the killer is revealed, it's not even much of a surprise.

"Blood and Black Lace" may have been innovative, stylish and original in its day, but that day has long since come and gone. With its shock value diminished by increasingly violent films since then, the obvious flaws become even more pronounced: poor script, bad acting, no suspense. What should be a lot of fun - high fashion models murdered off one by one - falls flat in no time once you see how dated the whole thing looks and how stilted everyone behaves. The film doesn't even rise to a level of camp humor, so it's rather hard to find redeeming value here. Comparing it with other films from 1964, BABL doesn't stand up well. Hitchcock's "Marnie" has in fact grown in stature. "Lady in a Cage" mirrors a violent society not unlike our own today. "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte" at least benefits from a campy performance by Bette Davis. Bava, unfortunately, remains just a curiosity in film history.

When the model Isabella (Francesca Ungaro) is murdered by a masked killer, the models of the fashion house managed by Contessa Cristina Como (Eva Bartok) and her lover Max Marian (Cameron Mitchell) are shaken with the crime. The model Nicole (Ariana Gorini) finds Isabella's diary and late night she borrows the car of her friend Peggy Peyton (Mary Arden) and heads to the shop of her boyfriend Frank Sacalo (Dante DiPaolo) to meet him. However, the masked killer follows Nicole and kills her expecting to find the journal. But Peggy had stolen the diary to destroy pages that compromises her and she is also murdered by the killer. Meanwhile Inspector Silvester (Thomas Reiner) has a list of suspects that includes Frank, who blackmails Marquis Richard Morell (Franco Ressel) to give the necessary alibi to him. Who might be the killer and why the diary is so important to him? "Sei donne per l'assassino", a.k.a. "Blood and Black Lace" is a giallo film directed by Mario Bava and one of his best movies. The colors, shadows and stylish camera-work give the perfect environment to the gruesome murders. The plot is standard with a masked killer that the police believe that is a sexual maniac stalking and killing beautiful women. The conclusion gives a good explanation to the mystery and the plot is well-resolved. My vote is seven. Title (Brazil): Not Available Note: On 01 March 2017 I saw this film again. Note: On 07 June 2020 I saw this film again. Title (Brazil):"Seis Mulheres Para o Assassino" ("Six Women for a Killer")

This was undeniably a major influence on the Gaillo style of film and probably also on the later "body count" serial killer films. In this film, a serial killer wearing a hose mask kills women brutally and viciously. The film sets up many likely candidates and well keeps one guessing and guessing. Great stuff! Bava's color visuals also stand out and apart as usual. This is simply gorgeous to view.

Influential killer thriller from Italian horror master Mario Bava is a stylish genre landmark. A faceless murderer is killing models associated with a fashion house. Who is the killer and what is their deadly vendetta? Blood and Black Lace is one of the solid forerunners of the Italian giallo genre. It has all the classic elements of a classic giallo - a gloved killer, beautiful victims, a mystery plot, scandals etc. All of which is wrapped around Bava's lovely, colorful direction. The plot itself turns on a well written mystery that builds some good suspense and is dashed with an array of intense murder scenes. The jazzy, atmospheric music score is also a nice touch and the performances of the cast aren't bad. Over all, an entertaining early giallo and one of Bava's best contributions to Italian horror. A must see for giallo fans. *** out of ****

Beautiful looking to be sure, but mechanical script and plot seriously limit this films appeal. Bava's most overrated movie. Image Quality: Excellent, only the lack of an anamorphic transfer keeps it from perfection. Colors look very good, always important in a Bava movie. Sound: decent mono Extras: This disc, from VCI, is pretty packed. Tim Lucas's commentary track is loaded with information but focuses a little too much on cast bios. Several trailers are included and the alternate credit sequence is interesting. Two short interviews with stars Cameron Mitchell and Mary Arden offer little.