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Mario Bava (31 July 1914 – 27 April 1980) was an Italian filmmaker who worked variously as a director, cinematographer, special effects artist and screenwriter. His low-budget genre films, known for their distinctive visual flair and stylish technical ingenuity, feature recurring themes and imagery concerning the conflict between illusion and ...
IMDb profile of Mario Bava, the Italian director, cinematographer and special effects genius who created the giallo genre and influenced horror cinema. Learn about his life, career, works, awards and trivia.
- January 1, 1
- Sanremo, Liguria, Italy
- January 1, 1
- Rome, Lazio, Italy
- I Coltelli del Vendicatore (Knives of the Avenger, 1966) It is the end of the year 1964 when director Leopoldo Savona abandons the production of the viking epic “I Coltelli del Vendicatore”, and Mario Bava is called to finally bring the project to a conclusion.
- Gli Orrori del Castello di Norimberga (Baron Blood, 1972) In this horror film Bava tells the story of Peter von Kleist, a young Austrian university student that during his investigations on his family’s mysterious past accidentally brings back to life his legendary ancestor Otto, that very same Baron that gives this enjoyable flick its international title.
- Le Spie Vengono dal Semifreddo (Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs, 1966) The comedy duo composed of Franco Franchi and Ciccio Ingrassia were the absolute stars of the Italian comic cinema of the 60s and 70s.
- Roy Colt e Winchester Jack (Roy Colt and Winchester Jack, 1970) The second and last contribution to the western genre in Bava’s filmography, “Roy Colt e Winchester Jack” is a better film than “La Strada per Fort Alamo”, probably because of its constant refusal to maintain a serious approach to its derivative plot.
- Kill, Baby, Kill (1966) A coroner in the 19th century visits an isolated village to perform an autopsy on a young woman who leapt to her death.
- Planet of the Vampires (1965) A group of astronauts respond to a distress signal emanating from a strange planet. Once they begin their descent, the crew inexplicably begin to attack one another.
- Hatchet For The Honeymoon (1970) “A woman should only live until her wedding night, love once, and then die.” A handsome young serial killer with some serious hangups about woman likes to dress women in wedding gowns from his own bridal business and then murder them.
- Black Sabbath (1963) A trio of stories, actually. In “The Telephone”, a prostitute receives menacing phone calls from her former pimp, who has just been released from prison.
- I Vampiri (1957) Bava doesn’t get a full director’s credit on this one, but he did complete the picture after original director Riccardo Freda left the production.
- Black Sunday (1960) While Black Sunday wasn’t a hit on its original Italian release (though it did find success when it came out in the US a year later), the right people did catch it – it was a turning point for horror cinema, pioneering in the way it combined extreme horror and lush beauty.
- Black Sabbath (1963) Black Sabbath was a transitional picture in many ways, it was Bava’s first experiment in delivering horror in colour (using his fantasy work as an influence), it paid respect to the past by casting Boris Karloff in the host role, while also keeping a gouged eye on the future, featuring startling imagery that felt bold for the era, and still shocks today.
- Blood and Black Lace (1964) A year later, Bava decided to transform horror once again, making the colours more bold, the terror more beautiful, and the plot more modern than anything he’d created before.
Learn about the life and career of Mario Bava, the Italian director and cinematographer who pioneered the giallo genre and influenced many horror films. Find out his achievements, trademarks, trivia, quotes, and family.
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Apr 22, 2004 · Mario Bava directed (or co-directed) twenty-four features during an eighteen year period, 1960 to 1978. His œuvre consists entirely of the formula films (filone) which made Italy the most successful production centre in Western Europe in the ’60s.
