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Film: Blood and Black Lace (Sei donne per l’assassino)
Year: 1964
Director: Mario Bava
Writer: Marcello Fondato
Starring: Cameron Mitchell, Eva Bartok and Thomas Reiner
Review:
This was a movie that I got turned on to when I was working through the Fangoria’s Top 300 Horror Films of all time issue. The first time I watched this I thought that it was fine. It wasn’t until I learned more about the giallo style films that I started to appreciate this more. This third viewing was for The Podcast Under the Stairs’ Where to Begin With… as this was selected as a good starting place. I’ve now given it a rewatch at the Gateway Film Center as this doubled as a Foray through the Fours.
Synopsis: a masked, shadowy killer brutally murders the models of a scandalous fashion house in Rome.
We start this by seeing our cast posing with mannequins before cutting to a sign informing us that we’re at a salon/boutique and it becomes unhinged. This was a creative allegory. A woman named Nicole (Ariana Gorini) comes outside to meet Frank Scalo (Dante DiPaolo). He asks if she has any stating that another woman took all that he had. She scolds him and tells him to leave before he’s seen. Marco (Massimo Righi) comes out to fix the sign.
The model was worried about getting out of a taxi. Her name is Isabella (Francesca Ungaro). As she approaches the house, she is attacked by a masked person. Whoever this person is strangles her to death.
We then meet the woman who manages this house, Countess Cristiana Como (Eva Bartok). She is upset that Isabella is nowhere to be found as they have a fashion show. Cristiana tells Max Morlan (Cameron Mitchell) about her absence. He manages the business side of this boutique. It is decided that her pay will be docked and then she’ll be fired if it happens again. Cristiana finds the woman dead in the closet though, freaking everyone out.
Inspector Silvestri (Thomas Reiner) shows up and oversees the investigation. The only one who is taking it hard is Peggy Peyton (Mary Arden), who was Isabella’s roommate. Through this first query, we meet the rest of our cast. Greta (Lea Lander) is another model and she’s engaged to Marquis Richard Morell (Franco Ressel). The guards watching the gate bring him in like he’s guilty of something. Another model we meet is Tilde (Claude Dantes) as well as fashion designer Caeser Lazar (Luciano Pigozzi). The other models are Nicole (Arianna Gorini) and Tao-Li (Claude Dantes). They decide to go on with their show despite what happened.
Inspector Silvestri learns more about those involved, including Frank and his relationship with Isabella. We then see what he was worried about, he is addicted to cocaine. Isabella wasn’t the only one that he had a relationship with either. The inspector notices quickly there is something not quite right with him. also seems to notice something about him that isn’t right. Things also get tense when Isabella’s diary is accidentally found. It is believed that it could have information pointing to the killer. When it is found, it catches the attention of many of our characters, making them potential suspects.
That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is with the historic significance of this film. I’ve already laid out that this is a giallo. I believe this is the first to be filmed in color. I’ll come back to this during filmmaking, as troupes are started here that are seen throughout. It is interesting to come back to this one now that I’m a bit more versed in this genre, Italian filmmaking in general and the films of Mario Bava, because my appreciation is even deeper now.
Where I’ll then go is that I love the concept and story. This one has gone up for me after each viewing. These last couple watches I truly appreciate it as I’ve said. I knew it was good though even after that first watch. What I think I like about this one is not just setting up troupes, but how well it puts the story together. There’s something off about Nicole and Frank from that opening scene. It doesn’t waste any time from there to Isabella being attacked. Then the diary is found. What’s great there is the multiple people showing interest. The movie then strategically picks off these suspects in a similar vein to Agatha Christie’s ‘And Then There Were None’. There’s even twists and turns with things that get revealed that make you question. This movie even has rewatch-ability. The last two times I remembered the truth behind what was happening and I enjoyed confirming that it doesn’t cheat.
That’s not to say there aren’t flaws. I only had one and it was when someone discovers a body and tries to hide it. This character has no reason to do this aside from just panicking. It happens twice, but one of them makes sense with this character while the other didn’t. This doesn’t ruin it and I get that in the heat of the moment, we make bad choices. Especially since this character could be protecting another. I will say, I find this interesting that the police aren’t bumbling and we don’t have someone doing the investigation outside of the police. That is a motif that develops as this genre goes on. Inspector Silvestri is quite competent in his job; he is just missing the evidence he needs.
Moving on to the acting, I think it is strong across the board. We don’t necessarily have a main character, which I did find intriguing. It focuses on different characters for different sequences which works. Mitchell was solid in bringing his character to life. We don’t get much of him until he becomes a suspect, but his screen presence is great. Bartok is attractive and I like that she has checkered past. Her performance was great. I like Reiner as our detective. He’s thorough in his investigation. There’s not a lot he can do without evidence or all the pieces. The cast of women are beautiful and I think the men do a good at making themselves red herrings. Credit to Gorini, DiPaolo, Arden, Ressel, Dantes, Pigozzi, Lander and Ungaro. I also thought that Righi was good, but he overacts when having a seizure. This didn’t ruin anything and the cast was solid.
Let’s finish with filmmaking. Something that I’ve been waiting to talk about is the cinematography. I could tell after that first viewing that Bava shot the heck out of this movie. One of my favorite films is Suspiria and I can see Dario Argento was influenced by him. He captures vivid contrast with colors, especially with how red the phone is along with mannequins. I’m not shocked to learn that he was a master cinematographer first. There’s not a lot in the way of effects here, but I do think that blood we get looks fine. The standout was a burn effect. There is parts of this kept in the shadows which was good. The look of the killer was something else that was good and the kills are diverse, especially one of them with a primitive weapon.
The last thing to go over would be the soundtrack. I knew that it really had a jazz sound to it with horns. The theme song is one that I listen to when I’m writing actually and have it on a playlist. It helps build the atmosphere and vibe of the movie.
In conclusion, I’ve enjoyed this movie and it just gets better with each rewatch. This is a masterpiece from a legend. We have a good story that works. It kept me guessing the first time I saw it and it is fun to watch again to ensure that there are no cheats. There’s a good cast with Mitchell, Bartok and Reiner leading the way there. I like the look of the killer and the kills have diversity to them. The filmmaking is great with the cinematography, framing and soundtrack working together seamlessly. I’d recommend this film to viewers trying to get into gialli or if you haven’t seen this in a while, give it a rewatch. It is worth it for sure.
My Rating: 10 out of 10