As the son of the godfather of giallo, Mario Bava, director Lamberto Bava had a lot to live up to when he entered the film business as a horror movie director. Likewise, so did his second film, "A Blade in the Dark," coming on the heels of his undeniably strong debut effort, "Macabre." Despite a few misfires here and there, Bava's sophomore effort (mostly) cuts deep. Originally conceived as a four- part anthology TV series, the film has an unusual pace and generally off-beat vibe that may be off-putting to some viewers, but when the film gets going, it really knocks you off your feet (or couch?) with its prolonged and cruel death scenes and proto-meta plotting.The film opens on two young boys -- who are as annoying as they are mean -- goading another boy to venture into a dark basement by incessantly chanting "You're a female!" at him. Sure enough, the kid takes the bait, and not long thereafter, a bloody tennis ball is thrust in the bullies' direction, sending them into a screaming frenzy. It's not the opening of the movie, per se, but the first scene of a new horror movie being scored by Bruno (Andrea Occhipinti), a film composer working alone in a rented villa that holds many mysteries. Among these mysteries are why beautiful women seemingly wander in and out, uninvited and unexpected, before succumbing to their grisly demises. Gee, a "No Trespassing" sign might suffice, no?Bava milks the atmosphere for all its worth, turning a slightly padded plot into random bursts of pure shock. There are a couple of stalk scenes that walk a fine line between tense and patience- testing, but the payoff is almost always worth it. Likewise, there's enough mystery and intrigue to keep the whole thing from going off the rails. Perhaps a little tightening would make the film pop that much more (it badly needs 15 minutes or so shaved off), but "A Blade in the Dark" remains pretty darn razor sharp just the same. It's not the finest giallo with the name Bava attached, that's for sure, but it's definitely worth reaching into the dark for.

A textbook example of the Gilli, Lamberto Bava's A Blade in the Dark is an obvious homage to Dario Agento, the Italian director who (along with Bava's father Mario) served as his film-making mentor. Bava worked as assistant director on Argento's Tenebre, shot the year before; that film's influence is readily apparent. A major plot element is lifted from Argento's Deep Red (1975) as well - Blade's story also revolves around a composer who finds himself embroiled in a bizarre series of homicides. But Argento was working with much bigger budgets, longer production schedules, and better stories. Unfortunately, A Blade in the Dark can't begin to compare to its inspirational sources. Originally envisioned as a limited, episodic series for Italian TV, it was shot with a European theatrical release also in mind. The spare scenario (penned by prolific exploitation scribe Dardano Sarchetti) establishes only the most bare-boned of plots. Bruno (Andrea Occhipinti), a young composer, rents a large, rambling villa in which to work on his latest project, the score for a horror film being directed by his friend Sandra (Anny Papa). To the detriment of Bruno's solitude the house comes complete with a suspicious-acting caretaker (are there any other types in Italian horror?) and some unexpected visitors - Katia (Valeria Cavalli) and Angela (Fabiola Toledo), two attractive women, acquaintances of the former tenant, who live nearby. When the women mysteriously disappear shortly after he meets them, Bruno begins to suspect they've been murdered on the premises... He can't find any bodies, but clues abound. (Knife-holes and bloodstains would certainly qualify in that regard!) Someone definitely entered the villa uninvited and destroyed his latest demo tape, that much is sure. Stupidly, Bruno never once picks up the phone to dial the police. If our dimwitted hero did the smart thing, however, there'd be no movie. More people die horrible deaths. Meanwhile Bruno wanders about the house and its grounds, poking around and peering into the dark. There are a lot of such scenes in the flick, which will severely test the patience of even the most avid Gilli fan. (Rapido, Lamberto!) Obviously this was done to pad out the running time; too many of these sequences are obvious red herrings, devoid of any suspense, or just plain pointless. Bava does pile on the shocks, though, in the film's two main murder sequences. The stalking/slaying of Katia owes a lot to Tenebre in look and style (particularly the murder of the hotelier's daughter in that film), but Bava ends the set-piece with an original motif - the victim is trapped behind a sheet of chicken wire through which the killer slowly slashes her to death with a box-cutter - that's guaranteed to get your flesh crawling. The death of Angela, when she's attacked in the villa's bathroom, is a real dozy: a brutal, nihilistic bit of film-making that some could easily interpret as an exercise in misogynistic sadism. (Here Bava does for hair-washing in the sink what Hitchcock's Psycho did to taking a shower...) But amidst the unrepentant brutality Bava injects an occasional touch of sardonic humor, most notably when Sandra the horror director is strangled with a spool of her own film - murdered with her own movie. Aside from the visceral thrills and chills generated by these murder scenes the film is pretty much a misfire. The characters are all involving ciphers. It's not much of a mystery, either; most of the red herrings offered up by the plot are plainly obvious for what they are. As mentioned, an inordinate amount of time is spent following Bruno as he wanders about the villa, checking this room and that - scenes devoid of dialog but accompanied by repetitious theme music that quickly becomes annoying. In one way the dearth of dialog is a good thing... The English dubbing job is poor, featuring ludicrous translations ("You're a female!";"I am not a female child!" etc.) that might be funny in a Godzilla movie, but not one about a sadistic serial killer. At times it seems evident that the translators weren't even looking at a copy of the script - how else can one explain the scene in which Bruno chides Katia over her fear of a spider, telling her with a straight face that the bug isn't even a spider, but a cockroach... at the very moment we're shown a close-up shot of (yep) a SPIDER. Huh??? A Blade in the Dark has fans, no doubt appreciative of its effective, wince-inducing set-pieces. We love Gilli, too - just not this one. We'd much rather watch Bava's supernatural splatter fest Demons (1985) for the umpteenth time than sit through this one again. "Just a case of being a bit overwrought." Sandra sums up the movie Anchor Bay does a fine job with A Blade in the Dark considering it's a fairly obscure title here in America. The transfer is letter boxed and anamorphic ally enhanced for 16x9 TVs; as the film was originally shot in 16mm the picture is understandably on the grainy side. The Dolby mono audio track is service ably clear. In addition to the theatrical trailer, a short (10 min.), interesting video interview with director Bava and screenwriter Sarchetti is included. (This is in Italian, with easily readable English subtitles. Do not watch this before viewing the film itself. It's chock full of spoilers, including the murderer's identity.)

Originally shot for TV, but released theatrically after it was deemed too violent for the small screen, Lamberto Bava's demented giallo, A Blade In The Dark, features some remarkable Argento-style direction and plenty of well conceived and very suspenseful moments. It does tend to plod quite a bit between the good bits, but, on the whole, this is an enjoyable addition to the genre.Andrea Occhipinti plays Bruno, a film composer who is staying at a huge luxury villa whilst working on a score for a horror film. His work is interrupted, however, by a series of visitors, most of whom wind up dead after bumping into a deranged killer who lurks somewhere within the labyrinthine property.As with most giallos, the story has the occasional lapse in logic and the odd 'bizarre' moment (that 'cockroach' was definitely a spider!), and the identity of the murderer isn't as difficult to guess as the director had probably hoped (at least if you are familiar with the conventions of the genre). But with plenty of creepy atmosphere, a nice selection of easy-on-the-eye Italian crumpet as victims, and a suitably bonkers maniac with a typically unbelievable reason for embarking on a killing spree, this effort is worth tracking down.Bava carefully builds the tension before each murder, and his precise framing of shots allows for plenty of effective scares (I jumped quite a few times during this one!). Most of the deaths are relatively tame (at least when compared to some of Argento's bloody set-pieces), but there is one standout scene (in which a woman has her hand pinned to a piece of furniture with a knife, before her head is bashed in, and her throat is cut) that might make the more timid of viewers look away from the screen.

Lamberto Bava may not have the awesome movie making talents of his father Mario, but all the same; he has directed a number of good genre flicks, and for my money; this Giallo is the best of them. The film takes obvious influence from Dario Argento's phenomenal eighties Giallo 'Tenebre' (which Lamberto Bava had a hand in), as well as a certain other influential classic film that I can't name for fear of spoilers. The film was clearly made on a low budget as the cinematography looks cheap and most of the film takes place around just one location - but Lamberto doesn't let this hinder him, and that's a big credit to him as a director. The plot focuses on Bruno, a composer who goes to a secluded villa to work on a score for a horror movie. It's not long before he meets some women that used to know the person who was there before him, and it's not long after that the women begin to disappear! Naturally, Bruno decides to investigate the disappearances, and it's not long before he realises that they have something to do with the movie he's working on...Compared to other Lamberto Bava films, and other Giallo's, the body count here is rather low. However, every murder in the film is memorable, and that is largely thanks to the fact that they're all so brutal! The bathroom murder is somewhat notorious in its own right, and the film also features a couple of brutal knife slayings and someone being repeatedly bashed on the head with a spanner! The cast is made up of lesser known performers, though they all do their jobs well. Andrea Occhipinti is interesting enough in the lead role, and he is supported by a host of beautiful women, which is nice. The film also features a role for Michele Soavi; whom cult fans will recognise as another Argento-trained director. The central setting is well used and Bava manages to spring a foreboding atmosphere from the house and its grounds. The film also features a creepy sequence that involves some kids and a tennis ball that is liable to stick in the memory long after it's over. The conclusion is an obvious rip off of another film and it's just a bit silly too; but all the same, A Blade in the Dark is a fun little Giallo and I certainly recommend it.