You won't be disappointed!

Stylish but barely mediocre overall

Boring, long, and too preachy.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Bava's first film as solo director Black Sunday (1960), and the follow up Black Sabbath (1963) were worldwide commercial successes, and as a result he was rewarded with a level of creative freedom he had rarely experienced (albeit on a tight budget). The producers were expecting a routine 'Krimi' type Edgar Wallace type Psycho type murder thriller. However, Bava found the whodunit concept tedious, instead turning the murder sequences into wild set-pieces, playing up the violence and sex in ways that had only been hinted at before. The mixture of eroticism and murder would prove a potent template for 'Giallo.''Blood and Black Lace' is considered the seminal 'Giallo.' Stylistically it introduced the ubiquitous masked murderer, shiny weapon and black leather gloved hand. American slasher / body count films borrowed the concept of concealing the murderer's face, but in the case of the 'Giallo' this hearkened back to the "commedia dell'arte," which used fixed character types and masks to bring theatricality to the performance. Bava uses a prowling camera and throws deep shadows over baroque sets that are illuminated only by brilliantly lurid primary colour's, creating an otherworldly atmosphere. Tracking shots whisk around mannequins and whip us through doors, all boosted along by wonderful bongo music reminiscent of Orson Welles' Touch Of Evil (1958)… it's all wonderfully artificial. However, in Italy the film made back only half of the production cost. Surprising, for such an ultimately influential film… but not terribly unusual; think Night Of The Hunter (1955), Peeping Tom (1960) or Blade Runner (1982).

Originally titled 'Six Women for the Killer', this Mario Bava film is often cited as the movie that pioneered the giallo horror subgenre with a plot that places more emphasis on gruesome murders than catching a killer. Full of creepy tracking shots and with eerie sound effects frequently favoured over background music, the film certainly succeeds in depicting a handful of memorable murders and stalking sequences. There is a particularly effective part where one victim to-be is chased around an antique dealer's place where every nook and cranny is lit up in varying neon shades of blue, pink and purple. The opening murder is effective too. The plot, characters and acting here leaves a lot to be desired though with the story coming to a near stand-still in between the murders. Thomas Reiner makes for one of the dullest police detectives of all time, though to be fair, the cast are hardly saddled with the sort of dialogue that could have made their characters come alive. Of course, many will be quick to point out that narratives are always a secondary consideration in gialli, but when one considers what Dario Argento was able of achieve in years to come with films like 'Suspiria' and 'Tenebrae' that managed to wrestle good performances and a decent plot into the giallo formula, it is hard not to mentally compare and contrast. Certainly, if viewed with minimal expectations, there is a lot to like about 'Blood and Black Lace'; it is simply hard not to expect something more revolutionary from a film that kick-started an iconic movie trend.

I am well aware that this is the sort of review that is going to get me NOT HELPFUL reviews because I am going to dare to denigrate a film that many cinephiles and horror fanatics will consider to be an untouchable classic of the genre. I feel, though, that a review should be honest and personal. I'm not the kind of person who's going to write a pretentious review telling you to watch this just because we're supposed to revere it. That said, please note my rating of "8", which is still higher than the average on this site, so obviously I do appreciate the movie.Let's get down to the review, then, shall we. It's almost a prerequisite to discuss the movie's importance before we discuss the movie itself. After all, every critical review or horror anthology that I've ever read/ seen mention this movie rarely ever discusses whether or not it's actually an enjoyable movie, they go right for the historic importance. After the monumental success of both BLACK Sunday and BLACK SABBATH, Mario Bava was given complete creative control to craft whatever movie he wanted from his studio. The result is a movie that has gone on to have a major impact on the horror genre and became the blueprint for much of what would follow in Italian horror for the next few decades.There are so many ingredients here that the modern horror fan almost takes for granted, but when looked at in a historical lens, it becomes obvious that this is the origination of those elements. Most importantly, this is the beginning of the Giallo movement. Bava took the basic element of a suspense thriller revolving around a police procedural. He, then, added a number of shocking, violent deaths, enough flesh to titillate his audience and, most vital, a black- gloved mysterious killer. This basic blueprint was emulated so many times by a legion of admirers that include Argento, Fulci and Franco, becoming so imitated that it became its' own genre. Almost more important than the subject matter, though, is the look of the film. Bava's creation is an explosion of color, but with singular focus. This is not a technicolor movie like WIZARD OF OZ. Instead, scenes often radiate with one color. Each scene tends to draw the viewer's eyes towards a particular color. At times, it's a costume or piece of scenery, sometimes it's a brilliantly colored prop. Most often it's in the use of lighting and filters. The result is a scene that just "feels" red or blue, etc. This, more than any element, is what inspired Bava's imitators enough that it became the signature element in what most horror fans would consider the look of Italian horror.Looking beyond the nation of Italy, though, this movie had a much more broad impact by becoming perhaps the earliest example of a slasher film. Yes, there were movies like PSYCHO and PEEPING TOM before it that had popularized the idea of a psychotic killer, murdering his victims. This movie, though, was one of the first to use the idea of a mass murderer that works its' way through a series of young, beautiful victims, killing them in unique, differing ways. We horror fans just think of this as such an embedded part of horror that we assume it's always been there, but like everything the slasher started somewhere and most would point to this film.Now, let's actually talk about the plot and story, though. I sometimes think of movie's like this in terms of a Picasso painting. It's one thing to listen to your art history professor explain to you the historical relevance, but do you actually like the painting? I watch this movie and appreciate its' significance. I love the lighting and the look, but do I actually enjoy the movie? That's where it tends to lose a few points with me. The murder scenes are fantastic and become worth the price of admission. There are a few scenes, particularly, such as the hot stove or the bathtub that just ooze with style so much they stick out in memory. What's in between, though, can leave a lot to be desired. At times, this movie feels like an episode of Columbo. Unfortunately, this also has become such an integral part of the Giallo that it's often what keeps me from enjoying many of them. Bad acting by people playing cardboard cutout police characters going through the motions of an investigation that serves no real purpose other than to move the plot along tend to bog down the movie often. Another thing that holds it back is the dubbing. I've seen this movie twice now and, unfortunately, both times was a dubbed version. I'd prefer subtitles but have yet to find a version that had them, so we're stuck with horrible dubbing, with voice acting that is comical, at times. The guy having a seizure in the police station stand out, noticeably, as just one moment where the dubbing is so bad it makes the movie laughable, rather than keeping us in an intense mood.If you a fan of the Giallo movement or Italian horror, I highly recommend seeing this to explore the roots of the genre. Just know that it's not the most exciting movie for the entire 90 minutes and that's not just the result of age because there are plenty of movies just as old, if not older, that still hold up better in my opinion. There are great ideas here, great scenes and great shots, but it all tends to get a little bit lost in boring plotting.

Blood and Black Lace (1964) **** (out of 4) Mario Bava's ground-breaking murder-mystery takes place around a model agency where one by one women begin to be murdered by a person dressed in black and a haunting white mask. A police inspector appears to have a list of suspects narrowed down but soon he realizes that there are many twists ahead of him.BLOOD AND BLACK LACE might not have been the first giallo ever made but there's no question that it had the biggest impact on the genre and it influenced everything that was to follow. It's easy to watch this film and see how it would influence the likes of all Italian mysteries going forward and especially those of Dario Argento. It's been said that Bava was a genius with the camera and that's obviously true by watching this Technicolor gem that jumps off the screen from the opening shot to the very last.To me the real star here is the actual look of the film. From the opening shot to the very last you're greeted with some of the greatest and more lured images that you're ever going to see. Several directors were able to work wonders with Technicolor but I really can't think of too many who used the colors so well. Just take a look at the great detail in the various red colors throughout the picture. Whether it's a diary, a phone or blood flowing through a tub, the color just jumps out. The solid black look of the killer is something else that really stands out in the picture and just take a look at the sequence where a light flickers on and off to highlight the killer.The film offers up some very good performances from the cast. Even though Cameron Mitchell is the only "name" here, everyone does a very good job in their roles. The death scenes are quite poetic in their own right and there's no doubt that the mystery keeps you guessing right up to the end. Another thing I've always loved about this picture is Bava's style. It really just seems as if the camera is floating from one scene to the next in a poetic way that captures the beauty of everything we're seeing on the screen but also ties everything together.BLOOD AND BLACK LACE is one of those landmark films that has been copied dozens of times over the years but it's lost none of its luster. The film is as impressive today as it was the day it was released.