BLOOD AND BLACK LACE REVIEWED
“Blood and Black Lace” is a beautiful horror movie that helped to establish the Giallo subgenre. Is it perfect? No. But, it’s one of the most beautiful films ever made. Mario Bava holds a special place in genre fans’ hearts that he doesn’t quite occupy with me. I appreciate his work and his historical impact. It’s just that I could only find myself rewatching maybe five of his films. Thankfully, “Blood and Black Lace” is among that number.
Creating a slasher that targets the fashion industry seems pretty unique for the era. But, Bava created something far greater. By abandoning the murder mystery format and creating something darker, “Blood and Black Lace” pushes the audience harder. The film says that the audience is in on the crime, by forcing the collective POV during murder scenes and positioning the screen to optimize the kills. Elsewhere in 1964 filmdom, American audiences were still thrilling to skeletons flying over the audience and other later era William Castle theatrics. Bava was ahead of his time.
The stellar ending continues to save the film for me. While the later second half and most of the third feels weak to me, nothing has that payoff like Cameron Mitchell’s discovery. Younger film fans will see many points that Argento, Carpenter, Scorsese and even Burton would later lift for their work. Kudos to Arrow US for releasing this film, as we need more releases like this on Blu. Learn your history, young ones. Study the fundamentals of horror.
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Commentary
- Documentary
- Featurettes
- Panel Discussion
- TV Episode
- Short Film
- Alternate US TV opening
- Trailer
A/V STATS
- 1.66:1 1080p transfer
- DTS-HD Mono