Kill, Baby, Kill
by Mario Bava
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Erika Blanc, Fabienne Dali, Giacomo Rossi-Stuart, Luciano Catenacci, Piero LulliDirector: Mario Bava
Producer: Luciano Catenacci
Cinematographer: Antonio Rinaldi
Cinematographer: Mario Bava
Writer: Mario Bava
Editor: Romana Fortini
Producer: Nando Pisani
Writer: John Hart
Writer: Roberto Natale
Writer: Romano Migliorini
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 83 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-03-09
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Bci / Eclipse
Movie Reviews of Kill, Baby, Kill
Movie Review: Mario Bava's "Operazione Paura"
Summary: 5 Stars
Operazione Paura (literally translated as Operation Fear), is Mario Bava's 1968 gothic masterpiece. Released in America as Kill, Baby... Kill!, this supernatural chiller draws not on gore for terror, but atmosphere. Graveyards with wisps of dancing fog, gloom-shrouded alleyways, decaying architecture and the sparse, forbidding landscape are the true stars of this film. As with most of Bava's works, the storyline and acting is somewhat commonplace; it is Bava's skills as a director and the cinematography he demands for his films which sets his works apart from many of the other Italian horrors to hit the drive-ins and grindhouses from the `60's through the `80's. Seen forty years later, Bava's ability to create such atmospheric films with the budget available is still extraordinary.
A fearful young woman runs from some unseen malevolence through the ruins of a rundown Transylvanian courtyard. Up stairs and onto a platform, the woman seeks refuge from whatever stalks her; then, with a shriek, she falls from the platform onto the sharp spikes of a wrought-iron fence. The silhouette of a small child darkens the wall beside the fence, laughing. Thus Operazione Paura sets its tone, and all before the opening credits role.
Dr. Eswai (Giacomo Rossi-Stuart) is summoned to an isolated village to perform an autopsy on the impaled woman by Inspector Kruger, who is investigating the death. The young doctor soon learns the superstitious citizens of this village believe the town has been cursed, and that the spirit of a seven year old girl, Melissa Graps, haunts the town, killing with a glance and seeking revenge for her unfortunate death some twenty years earlier. As the doctor arrives at the gates to the city, the silhouetted forms of four men stealing away with the coffin for burial in an attempt to prevent the autopsy foreshadow the resistance that is to be met with from the locals. To assist with the autopsy, Inspector Kruger selected Monica (an early role for Erika Blanc, who would soon become a famous vixen of Italian horror), a local who left the village at an early age and only recently returned. The autopsy is performed as scheduled, and the fear escalates. Local residents begin killing themselves after reporting to have seen Melissa Graps. Despite the fact that it is unnatural to touch the dead for an autopsy, someone is planting silver coins into the hearts of the dead. People begin to venture to Villa Graps, former home of Melissa Graps, which is still inhabited by the reclusive Baroness Graps, Melissa's mother. In the most chilling and memorable scene, the hand Melissa slaps a grim coated window; her pale face then slowly becomes visible.
Generally, there are to two color schemes used for Kill, Baby... Kill!. The tangible and natural scenes of the film use a nearly monochromatic palette, shades of reds tinted with browns, while the supernatural occurrences tend to be filmed using complimentary colors, vivid greens and reds. This is most noticeable in Villa Graps, where entire walls are lit green and reds pour through doorways. Effective for the most part, but the number of fluorescent green spider webs hanging from ceilings only allow the viewer to suspend disbelief for a limited amount of time. The stairway of Villa Graps likewise is lit from below with orange, and the lighting from above is a cold blue. This use of color lends a sense of vertigo to the spiral staircase, and in all the complimentary color scheme scenes, adds to the implied conflict on screen. Implied conflict is central to this tale, so the complimentary scheme is a logical choice. The struggle of science and superstition, good and evil, natural and supernatural is both as basic and complex as red and green.
The unique way in which Bava directs the camera will occasionally require a bit of getting used to for the uninitiated viewer. A scene with the camera zooming forward and up, then down and back and up, over and over captures the point of view of Melissa as she swings, overlooking the local cemetery at night. This swinging point of view continues perhaps a bit too long, before the camera falls back and captures a view of the graveyard with Melissa swinging before it. Obtrusive use of the zoom feature reoccur throughout the film, and while not as zoom heavy as a Jess Franco film, for instance, just as unnecessary. The ability to capture the interplay between light and shadow, to transform a breathtakingly beautiful landscape into a surreal, gothic environment of isolation and decay, and construct such realistically detailed, atmospheric sets give any viewer cause to forgive the experimental cinematography.
This film is not to be missed by anyone interested in horror genre films or Italian cinema. Bava has been referred to by some as the Italian Hitchcock, and this film is one of the reasons why. At one point, Warner Brothers' studios attempted to convince Bava to move to Hollywood for a contract with them. He turned them down, however, preferring Italy and its cinema to that of Hollywood. If Bava did not wish to move to Hollywood, his influence did, as can be seen in films by such directors as Francis Ford Coppola, Quentin Tarantino and David Lynch.
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