Hatchet for the Honeymoon - 1969
by Mario Bava
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Dagmar Lassander, Femi Benussi, Jes?s Puente, Laura Betti, Stephen ForsythDirector: Mario Bava
Brand: Image Entertainment
Cinematographer: Mario Bava
Writer: Mario Bava
Editor: Soledad L?pez
Producer: Manuel Ca?o
Writer: Santiago Moncada
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 105 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-06-06
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Image Entertainment
Movie Reviews of Hatchet for the Honeymoon - 1969
Movie Review: Even Death Could Not Separate Them
Summary: 3 Stars
In real life, director Mario Bava had a troubled marriage. It was reflected in his "Hatchet for the Honeymoon," a kaleidoscopic, modern gothic horror.
John Harrington's entire life revolves around the stabbing death of his mom on her wedding night. As a little boy, he witnessed the murder but can't remember who committed it. Now he is an adult who manages his mom's fashion salon where beautiful women model wedding apparel. John is tormented by his nagging wife; he obviously married her to financially support his salon. His quest to remember what happened the night of his mom's murder has driven him insane.
John murders young women on their wedding nights. With each murder, he is brought one step closer to remembering who killed his mom. Eventually, he kills his wife who returns from the grave to ensure that he never marries anyone else. He can never be free of her.
As with all of Mario Bava's movies, "Hatchet for the Honeymoon" is beautifully filmed with his trademark use of bright reds and blues. It has a dreamlike, hallucinatory effect on the viewer. This film is not a giallo, as some claim, but a gothic ghost story that is set in the swinging, "groovy" sixties. It is entertaining, but is not one of my favorite Bava movies. It is not as suspenseful as Bava's other gothic horror films such as "Kill, Baby . . .Kill," "Black Sunday," or "Baron Blood."
Within the Image DVD case, there is a booklet of interesting liner notes provided by Tim Lucas, a Mario Bava biographer. The DVD itself has extras including a poster gallery and a Mario Bava filmography and biography.
"Hatchet for the Honeymoon" is recommended for Bava enthusiasts as well as fans of gothic horror. It is not for fans of Italian gialli. You may want to rent this film before purchasing.
Summary of Hatchet for the Honeymoon - 1969
Italian horror master Mario Bava's most personal film. John Harrington and his wife Mildred run an exclusive Paris fashion salon devoted to wedding apparel for women. Unknown to all but himself, John has embarked on a spree of homicides, killing young brides on their wedding nights because, with each murder, his memory comes closer to revealing the traumatic event that branded him a dangerous psychotic. Fed up with his wife (who's no newlywed), John gets rid of her the only way he can--by presiding over her murder while wearing a wedding veil himself! But Mildred's ghost has no intention of letting him forget his vow: Till Death Do Us Part!Production Info by Tim Lucas - Production Stills - Mario Bava Biographies - Director Filmography
1.66:1 - Color - English - Mono
John Harrington (Stephen Forsyth) is a successful, handsome, somewhat vain young man who runs a fashion studio. He's also, unfortunately, quite insane. Driven by an overpowering Oedipus complex and the recurring image of his dead wife, Harrington has a compulsion to kill women after dressing them in bridal gowns. With each murder, the root cause of his psychosis is a little closer to being fully revealed, until a long-repressed memory finally comes clear. As with many movies of the giallo genre, Bava's film is somewhat short on plot and long on style. The director's questions about a shifting surface of reality come up again and again; Harrington's obsession with fashion and his own primping can be taken as metaphors for that issue. The narrative is reeled off in a somewhat offhand manner, though, and Harrington, though tragic, is not a character with whom the audience can sympathize. The film's long suit, however, is style, and Bava's trademarks are present throughout: red- and blue-lit sets, zoom shots, gauzy flashbacks, inventive camera work and compositions. Bear with the movie's story pretensions and sluggish pace, and you'll find a giallo that, while it doesn't rank with the best of Mario Bava, still has interesting points to recommend it. --Jerry Renshaw
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