Film Review
One of the most unsettling and chillingly atmospheric films in the
entire horror genre is this understated supernatural thriller from the
undisputed king of Italian horror, Mario Bava. Its most
commonly used English language title
Kill
Baby, Kill hardly does justice to the film and erroneously
suggests something akin to today's juvenile slasher flicks.
Previous titles
Curse of the Dead
and
Operation Fear (
Operazione
paura, the original Italian title) are much nearer the mark in
conveying what the film offers - a spine-tingling excursion into Gothic
fantasy in which the living are viciously preyed upon by the spirits of
the dead, or rather one spirit in the guise of a creepy little girl.
Kill Baby, Kill was the last
in a run of startling baroque horror films that Mario Bava made in the
1960s, films which were made cheaply but which had an immediate and
lasting impact, influencing numerous film directors, including Martin
Scorsese. Bava, like his American counterpart Roger Corman, had a
reputation for making quality horror films on a miniscule budget and
this film, perhaps more than any other, demonstrates Bava's ability to
conjure up something magical from next to no resources. The film
was shot in just eleven days and reused sets from earlier films, but it
still ran into financial difficulties so that, at one point, Bava was unable to pay
his actors. With no money to commission a new score, the director
was compelled to piece together a soundtrack from music and sound
effects used on his previous films (something that accentuates the
film's unsettlingly disjointed feel). Yet, miraculously, the film
was completed and not only does it look like a pretty lavish
production, it actually stands as one of the most visually striking and
original works in its genre.
As is the case with much of Bava's cinema, this film offers a
remarkable visual experience, one that draws the spectator into a nightmare
alternative reality where the laws of the natural world are gleefully
perverted and where one's notions of time, space and consciousness are
constantly challenged. The colour-saturated chiaroscuro and
unsettling camera positionings give the film an ethereal, brooding unreality, which
the discordant score complements to suggest a universe in which the
paranormal has triumphed over the natural order. The
recurring motif of the spiral staircase, with its explicit Freudian
undertones, reminds us that we have departed from the world that we
know and have entered an altogether different state of being, that
unchartered realm of the imagination, the mist shrouded buffer zone
between life and death. The stark unreality of what we see
conveys a powerful sense of oppression and dread, and the overriding
sensation is one of being trapped in a nightmare that is drifting
inexorably towards a climax of pure terror.
Kill Baby, Kill is remarkably
effective but it is also one of Bava's most understated films.
There are a few intensely gory moments, but these are fleeting and have
much less impact than some of the film's more subtle horror images,
such as the sudden appearance of a child's hand pressed against a
window pane. Because the film was shot so quickly, Bava was
unable to prepare a detailed shooting schedule, so much of what we see
was improvised on the day. This must have been a liberating
experience for the director, since the film contains some of his most
inspired flourishes. The most memorable sequence is the one in which
the hero chases a man through a series of rooms, only to end up back in
the room where he started and discovers that the man he has been pursuing
is himself. Another stroke of genius is a pendulum shot that
appears early in the film. The camera moves back and forth and
suddenly reveals the unimaginably scary image of a young child on a swing.
A white ball bouncing across the field of view to the sound of a child's
manic laughter lends the chilling impression of a ghostly
visitation. The entire film is studded with inspired touches of
this kind, subtle touches that take something familiar and seemingly
innocent and give it a horrifying demonic purpose. The result is
one of the most disturbing films in the horror genre, a film
that requires at least three viewings to fully appreciate its haunting
visual power and its quiet blood-curdling menace.
© James Travers 2010
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
Dr Eswai arrives in a remote Transylvanian village
to perform an autopsy on a young woman who has recently died,
apparently by impaling herself on railing spikes. He is met by
Inspector Kruger, who reveals that several girls have died in a
similar manner over the past few years. Eswai is surprised to find a
coin in the heart of the dead woman and discovers it was placed there
by Ruth, the village sorceress, to give her peace after death.
Eswai then meets Monica Schuftan, an attractive young woman who has
just returned to the village after many years to visit her parents'
grave. The locals are suspicious of both Eswai and Monica and
urge them to go away as their lives are in peril. Eswai is
scornful of the villagers' superstitions but soon discovers that
supernatural forces are at work. The only thing to connect the
dead women is that, before they died, each was visited by a little
girl. Eswai receives a note instructing him to meet Kruger at
Villa Graps, the house where the latest victim worked as a
maid. Here, after being repulsed by the reclusive Baroness
Graps, Eswai sees the little girl from a distance, but she runs away
and disappears before he can reach her. This is Melissa Graps,
who died twenty years ago in horrific circumstances. She has
returned from beyond the grave, to claim her revenge...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.