Blood and black lace – Mario Bava, 1964

Blood and black lace

Italy, 1964

Director: Mario Bava

Script: Marcello Fondato, Giuseppe Barilla, Mario Bava, Mary Arden (English version)

Cast: Cameron Mitchell (Massimo Morlacchi), Eva Bartok (Condesa Cristiana Cuomo), Thomas Reiner (Inspector Silvestri), Arianna Gorini (Nicole), Luciano Pigozzi (Cesare), Lea Lander (Greta)

Music: Carlo Rustichelli

Story

Countess Christiane is a fashion designer and owner of a tailor’s shop in her villa. Several seamstresses and models work there, as well as other employees. One stormy night, two of these employees, a man and a woman, have a suspicious conversation, in which a drug deal seems to have something to do with it. That night a parade is being prepared. Isabella, who works for the countess, goes to the village. She is late. On her way there, in the garden, she is killed by an individual with his face completely hidden. Shortly afterwards her body is found in one of the villa’s closets.

Inspector Silvestri begins the investigation of the case. He already knew the Countess, as he had previously dealt with the matter of her husband’s death. Apparently, the Count died in an accident. Silvestri goes to see Franco, the lover of the deceased, who runs an antique store. The inspector found cocaine in the dead woman’s house. He suspects that Franco had something to do with the use of that drug.

Soon after, a parade is held in the village. The Countess asks another of the girls to wear the dress that the unfortunate Isabella should have worn. The other models refuse, fearing that it will bring them bad luck. Only Nicole agrees. And when looking for one of the accessories that the deceased was going to wear with that dress, she finds Isabella’s diary by chance. From the faces that all those present put on, it seems obvious that they all have a lot to hide, and that they fear what the deceased may have written there.

Nicole keeps the diary, supposedly to hand it over to the police. But she immediately calls Franco, to inform him of her discovery…

Soon there is a new victim. The girls in the tailor’s shop are being killed by the mysterious individual in the mask. The inspector decides to keep the men who work with the countess in her villa. But also during this period a murder occurs, so the five detainees have “an ironclad alibi”.

Everything seems to indicate that a sex maniac, a psychopath, is on the loose. Or is there perhaps a more “pragmatic” reason for the violent deaths of these beautiful young women?

Commentary

Very elegant and aesthetically magnificent this giallo from the 60s by Mario Bava. Hitchcock’s influences are palpable. But the graphic violence is greater, and the brutality of the murders more explicit. This would set the stylistic basis of the Italian-style thriller or giallo, which combines detective suspense, macabre crimes shown without any concealment and sometimes touches of eroticism.

In most gialli the identity of the killer and his motivation are not revealed until the end. On this occasion, however, we discover shortly after the middle of the film who is behind the crimes and why. But this does not detract from the interest and intrigue of the feature. For the story continues, reaching a convincing climax by far.

The murderer alluded to in the title of the film is the stereotype of the giallo: Trench coat, hat, black leather gloves and the hidden face (in this particular occasion by a kind of white bandage, which gives it the appearance of a dressed mummy.

Worthy of note is Mario Bava’s use of lighting. The photography and the handling of the camera are excellent. Also the atmosphere. The aristocratic villas and mansions in which the story takes place, full of antiques and luxurious ornaments, remind us of the Gothic atmosphere that Bava so masterfully built for his horror films. Dario Argento would later use this particular handling of illumination and image coloring in his films, especially in “Suspiria” (1977). He also makes great use of the aesthetic game provided by mannequins.

“Blood and black lace” is an Italian-French-German co-production (and with the participation of the Principality of Monaco). In one of the scenes, curiously, the killer writes a note to one of the girls asking where Elizabeth’s diary is, and that note is in German.

Among the actors, Luciano Pigozzi, whom we saw in the memorable “Libido” (Ernesto Gastaldi, 1965) and Lea Lander, who will later intervene in the excellent road-movie thriller “Cani arrabiati” (1974), also by Mario Bava, are involved.

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