Unknowingly, I first encountered director/cameraman Mario Bava (1914-1980) in the summer of 1999 when the Sci-Fi Channel aired the final episode of MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 featuring the superhero film DANGER: DIABOLIK. In that condescending context the film didn’t really make an impact, but a few years later in college I sought out the MGM Midnight Movies edition of PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES with the knowledge that it was a major influence on Ridley Scott’s ALIEN. From frame-one I was hooked: The colors, the wild camera zooms, the fetish-y leather uniforms, the fog-drenched atmosphere, the cheesy-but-effective in-camera special effects. From that moment on I was a reprobate Bavaholic.
In the years since I slowly accrued one film after another. The double-whammy of BLACK SUNDAY and BLACK SABBATH cemented my love for his style, and I could see the obvious impact his films had on the likes of Martin Scorsese, Tim Burton, Joe Dante, John Carpenter, Dario Argento, Guillermo del Toro and Nicolas Winding Refn. It got to the point that I intentionally took my time seeing the last handful of Bava films because I knew, sadly, that there wouldn’t be any more after that. It wasn’t until the idea to Rank All 22 Mario Bava Movies was approved that I had the courage to finally dig my heels in and finish out the entire filmography.
What I found was surprising: While Bava is often pegged as a horror/thriller director, he also dipped his toes into comedy (FOUR TIMES THAT NIGHT), westerns (ROY COLT AND WINCHESTER JACK) and historical epics (ERIK THE CONQUEROR) to great success. It’s widely known that Bava was very self-conscious about never having learned English, and many producers like Roger Corman had thrown out offers for him to come work in America that he ultimately refused. If he had come to Hollywood, the maestro would certainly have made a mark and become more than simply “The Italian Hitchcock.”
As it stands, the movies he DID make continue to have pop culture aftershocks, having paved the way for both the modern slasher movie (FRIDAY THE 13TH) and the contemporary superhero film (Burton’s BATMAN), and you continue to see movies that bear his influence to this day (SHUTTER ISLAND, CRIMSON PEAK, THE NEON DEMON).
So why rank them? For one thing, this article will be interesting for fans to debate, but it is truly aimed at Bava neophytes who may have only seen a few (or none) of the master’s movies. This list will give newbies a chance to seek out the cream of the crop of Bava’s output without wading through more minor films that may be off-putting. It also filters out flicks sometimes credited to Bava that he only directed some scenes for or finished for other directors (CALTIKI – THE IMMORTAL MONSTER, A GUNMAN CALLED NEBRASKA, THE WONDERS OF ALADDIN) as well as TV work.
So, after a brief look at places to get his movies, head down to the gallery below as we Rank All 22 Mario Bava Movies!!!
BAVA RESOURCES:
Those looking to purchase Bava classics on Blu-ray should look no further than Kino Lorber, which has released a dozen of the master’s most essential titles to the format with beautiful cover art and typically stocked with lovely transfers from 35mm negatives, alternate cuts, trailers and commentaries by Bava biographer/Video Watchdog editor Tim Lucas. We’ve included Amazon links to each of these titles in the gallery for this article!
If you want the full-on BEST edition of any Bava film out on Blu-ray then you should absolutely check out Arrow Video’s region-free 3-disc collector’s edition of BLOOD AND BLACK LACE, which features a jaw-dropping 2K restoration from the original camera negative that literally makes the director’s carefully composed color schemes pop off the screen like never before. It also comes with a DVD version as well as a whole other disc jam-packed with extras along with a collectable 40-page booklet.
Click here to purchase BLOOD AND BLACK LACE on Blu-ray!
There’s a great DVD documentary titled MARIO BAVA: MAESTRO OF THE MACABRE narrated by Mark Kermode that you can still find used on Amazon. It features interviews with directors like John Carpenter, Tim Burton and Joe Dante as well as critics like Kim Newman and Linda Williams.
Click here to purchase MARIO BAVA: MAESTRO OF THE MACABRE on DVD!
Last but not least, if you have the means you should try to seek out Tim Lucas’s acclaimed definitive biography titled “Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark,” which was released in a very limited run and originally retailed for $300 and now goes for prices way north of that. It’s so expensive that even the author of this article -a fan of Bava for half his life- can’t afford it! Lucas spent years upon years compiling over 100 interviews and hundreds of illustrations for the tome, and it continues to be one of the most sought-after books in all of horrordom.
Click here to spend a LOT of money on MARIO BAVA: ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK!
So, without further ado, let’s get to ranking Mario Bava movies in the gallery below!
Be sure to click full-screen on a desktop to read the full article!
RANKED: All 22 Mario Bava Movies
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#1: Black Sunday (1960)
A true thing of beauty. Not only is this Bava's supreme gothic horror masterpiece, it's also the best place to start if you're new to the director's work. His first credited film as solo director shows Bava pulling out all the stops, from the fairy tale-inspired visuals that recall "Snow White" to Barbara Steele's bewitching turn in a dual role as the lovely and innocent Katia as well as the malevolent witch Princess Asa. Steele's big-eyed enchantment was so memorable she wound up effectively repeating the same type of role in numerous Italian copycats, including the equally worthy "Long Hair of Death." Her opening scene in which a metal mask is brutally hammered into her face is unforgettable, as is her transformation from ghoul to beauty done as one remarkable lighting effect! Although it followed on the heels of Hammer's "Horror of Dracula," the sumptuously designed production of "Black Sunday" was mounted on gorgeous sets and ultimately outdid its past and future rivals in shear feverish visual imagination. It still stands today as a pinnacle in the gothic genre.
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#2: Planet of the Vampires (1965)
This film is perhaps best-known as being an obvious inspiration for Ridley Scott's "Alien" (answering distress beacon on fog-shrouded planet, derelict ship with a giant skeletal alien skeleton inside, crew offed one by one, etc) as well as, years later, "Prometheus." It is also, in and of itself, a compulsively watchable B-flick that tinges the best of pulpy 1950's sci-fi design with a genuine sense of dread, all on a literal shoestring budget thanks to Bava's ingenuity with in-camera effects.
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#3: Black Sabbath (1963)
Having spawned the name for Ozzy Ozbourne's legendary rock band and influenced the structure of Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction," this anthology movie is also a terrific starter point for Bava fans as its three stories reveal his gifts with crime, gothic horror and the supernatural. The first story, "The Telephone," revolves around a former prostitute who receives threatening phone calls from the pimp she sent to jail. The second story "The Wurdalak" features Boris Karloff as a recently-turned vampire who attacks his own family. The final -and best- segment is called "The Drop of Water" and involves a nurse who steals a ring off a horrifying corpse which later comes back to haunt her in a wonderful play on "The Tell-Tale Heart." Be sure to see the European version which contains the original order of segments, Bava's color timing and Karloff's ingenius wraparound segments.
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#4: Kill, Baby, Kill (1966)
This movies image of an undead little girl in a white lace dress bouncing a ball from this film has influenced directors as varied as Federico Fellini ("Toby Dammit"), Martin Scorsese ("The Last Temptation of Christ") and Guillermo del Toro ("Crimson Peak"). The film takes place in a Carpathian village where an evil Baroness is using the ghost of her murdered daughter to take revenge on the townspeople. The finale inside a gothic castle is renowned for its use of surreal, psychedelic camerawork and cutting to create a powerful supernatural atmosphere, including a scene where a man chases after himself in a Mobius strip of time loop!
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#5: Twitch of the Death Nerve (a.k.a. Bay of Blood) (1971)
With this film Bava pretty much created -or at least cut the dress pattern for- the slasher film, i.e. the preeminent sub-genre of horror. The "Friday the 13th" films (especially the first two) are near-remakes of "Bay of Blood," which involves a chain reaction of murder at a bayside mansion in which it's less a "whodunnit" as much as its an "everybodydiddit." Carlo Rambaldi provided the memorable gore effects, but the coup de grâce comes at the very end, which is a final scene so stunning in its giddy insanity that you will be grinning from ear-to-ear. It's fair to say that any fan of the slasher genre who has not seen this film is not a fan of the slasher genre.
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#6: The Girl Who Knew Too Much (a.k.a. Evil Eye) (1963)
Here is a jaunty, spirited thriller that earned Bava his reputation as the "Italian Hitchcock," with even the title recalling Hitch's 1934/1956 films "The Man Who Knew Too Much." Considered to be the first cinematic "Giallo" thriller, the story follows an American named Nora (Letícia Román) visiting her sick Aunt in Rome who witnesses a murder no one believes she saw since there is no proof. Together with a handsome doctor (John Saxon), she tries to track down what very well may be a serial killer in a complex web of intrigue. Unlike a lot of Bava's films, the recommended cut for this one is the American one, which contains more humor and a clever internal monologue from the main character.
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#7: Danger: Diabolik (1968)
Western audiences may know this Italian comic book adaptation best as the last movie to air on "Mystery Science Theater 3000" in 1999. Others may know it as being featured/recreated in the Beastie Boys music video "Body Movin," or as one of the inspirations for Roman Coppola's brilliant "CQ" as well as the "Austin Powers" films and Tim Burton's original "Batman." But besides being the antecedent for all this great stuff, is "Diabolik" a good flick? You bet! John Philip Law plays the title master thief/super-anti-hero who lives in a cool underground lair with his partner Eva (Marisa Mell). They stage daring robberies all while being trailed by the police and the mob. The film has a crazy '60s pop sensibility that was probably kitschy at the time but has now magically swung around to hip!
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#8: Blood and Black Lace (1964)
Those who enjoyed the saturated colors and fashion world setting of Nicolas Winding Refn's "The Neon Demon" will feel right at home in this film, a defining entry in the Italian "Giallo" thriller subgenre. Numerous beauties in a fashion house are being picked off one-by-one by a masked, black-gloved killer, which also predicted the slasher genre of later years. The real attraction here (besides the many gorgeous ladies) is the breathtaking way every shot is composed, lit and color-coded to a truly psychedelic degree. A perfect mood movie to have on in the background at a party, although a proper viewing is a rewarding experience, especially if it's Arrow Video's magnificent transfer.
Click here to purchase Arrow's BLOOD AND BLACK LACE on Blu-ray!
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#9: Lisa and the Devil (1972)
Director Joe Dante has said that Bava would have had a much better career if he was ever given a decent script to direct, and "Lisa and the Devil" may have one of the -if not best- then at least the most cohesive stories he'd ever put on screen. As it was, the film was something of a reward, as for the first time he was given complete control over all aspects of the film. The result is the surreal tale of a tourist in Spain (Elke Sommer) who encounters a strange man played by none other than Telly Savalas. The man carries a body that seems to alternate between being a dummy and a living man, and right away we know something is odd about him. Indeed, he changes the very fabric of the town Sommer is in, forcing the lost woman to spend the night at his castle with a wealthy couple whose car has broken down. What follows becomes an increasingly David Lynch-ian trip down the rabbit hole of a dysfunctional family, all with Bava's trademark flair for visual hijinks and clever transitions. Unfortunately the film was underseen and the producers forced him to reshoot parts of it into a new movie called "House of Exorcism," which is recommended only for the curious.
Click here to purchase LISA AND THE DEVIL on a double feature disc with THE HOUSE OF EXORCISM!
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#10: Roy Colt and Winchester Jack (1970)
The director made two spaghetti westerns (and worked piecemeal on a few others), and this is the best of the two. A raucous, wildly comic tale of a partnership between two old west outlaws that is broken when one of them joins the side of law and order. When they both set their sites on the trail to a buried treasure, the title characters end up alternately duking it out and aiding each other, even when a conniving prostitute comes between them. It's a really fun movie filled to the brim with visual gags and a playful attitude that makes you feel like you're watching a bunch of kids play cowboy in their backyard.
Click here to purchase ROY COLT AND WINCHESTER JACK on a Mario Bava Collection DVD!
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#11: The Whip and the Body (1963)
Here we find the epitome of the great director's fetishism, with more S&M, fog-drenched atmosphere, darkly-lit castles and ghostly apparitions than you can shake a stick at. Unfortunately it makes no damn sense. Christopher Lee is imposing but underutilized (and badly dubbed) as a sadistic jerk who returns from exile to claim his title, money and his former fiance Nevenka (Daliah Lavi). When he turns up murdered pretty much everyone in the castle had some motive to kill him, so following the convoluted plot will only result in fruitless mental somersaults. Just turn off the sound, put on some scary organ music and soak it in!
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#12: Rabid Dogs (a.k.a. Kidnapped) (1974)
A huge departure for the director, this has to be the least Bava-y movie Mario Bava ever Bava'd. A taut, sweaty, and extremely unpleasant suspense film involving psychotic bank robbers kidnapping a man, woman and sick child in a car as they flea to freedom with a suitcase full of money. Told in real-time, it's proto-Tarantino trash that, while often effective in-and-of itself, is not representative of the rest of his filmography. Also buyer beware that there are several versions of the film (some including new, poorly-shot footage) since it remained unfinished at the time of Bava's death due to rights issues.
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#13: Erik the Conqueror (1961)
Perhaps Bava's most epic film, itself a loose remake of "The Vikings." While certainly overwrought, it's a colorful, rollicking historical adventure movie full of manly men beating the crap out of each other. It's also shockingly violent for a movie from the early 60's, opening with a rapid-fire scene of a village being massacred, including a mother and baby impaled simultaneously with an arrow.
Click here to purchase ERIK THE CONQUEROR on a Mario Bava Collection DVD!
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#14: Five Dolls for an August Moon (1970)
A man who invented the formula for a lucrative new resin -was there ever a less interesting Macguffin?- comes to a private island for a little R&R only to realize he's been brought there by several businessmen planning to coerce him into selling them his invention. What follows is a lot of the same convoluted whodunnit nonsense that pervaded "The Whip and the Body" and "Bay of Blood," although far less interesting. The fashion and stylish pad go a long way towards making this watchable, though, and there are a few clever if preposterous twists.
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#15: The Road to Fort Alamo (1964)
The director's first spaghetti western is about as by-the-numbers as you can get while still being -for appreciators of the genre- a decent picture. It follows Bud (Ken Clark), a slab of a man in post-Civil War "Wagon City" where he comes across a slaughtered army troop en-route to pick up $150,000 bucks. He uses their official note to rob the bank but is double-crossed and left for dead, then goes looking for revenge in hostile Indian territory. Contains one great gag involving Bud burning his gun handle to get out of a scrape.
Click here to purchase THE ROAD TO FORT ALAMO on a double bill DVD with A PLACE CALLED GLORY!
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#16: Baron Blood (1972)
Once Bava entered the 1970's his career -and confidence as a director- began to flag, and you start to get movies like "Baron Blood" where the maestro was clearly on auto-pilot. The fact that this trifle -about a young man whose murderous great-grandfather returns from the dead after an incantation spell is read- features arguably the greatest actor Bava ever worked with in Joseph Cotton ("Citizen Kane," "The Third Man") makes it all the more a wasted opportunity. Yes, the Austrian castle location gives Bava's camera plenty to drink in, but no matter how much fog the director shoots into the scenes he can't hide his disdain for the material. A perfectly serviceable gothic horror entry, but an unremarkable one in this particular filmography.
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#17: Shock (1977)
Frequent Dario Argento player (and mother to Asia Argento) Daria Nicolodi stars as a woman who moves into a house with her son and new beau only to find it's haunted by the ghost of his dead ex-wife. Bava's final feature film as solo director can be tough-going, as it was clearly shot on a shoestring budget and featured the director relying more on handheld camera in natural light. Like late-period Hitchcock, this is a meticulous craftsman trying to adapt to the more free-wheeling filmmaking styles of the time and not quite pulling it off. However, there is one genuine thrill involving a little boy running down a hallway that remains one of the most effective (and simple!) jump scares in all of horrordom. Worth it for this scene alone.
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#18: Four Times That Night (1972)
Here we find a slightly more successful attempt at comedy from the filmmaker (see the final entry in this gallery for the worst) with this sex farce that tells the story of a man and woman's first date from four different perspectives: Tina's version of events (he tried to force himself on her crudely), John's version (SHE was the insatiable sex kitten), a peeping tom doorman's version (John turns out to be gay!) and a final "true" version of how things went down between the two of them. Although this horndog "Rashomon" has a lot of interesting twists, there's nothing too stylistically or dramatically exciting. For completists only.
Click here to purchase FOUR TIMES THAT NIGHT on a Mario Bava Collection DVD!
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#19: Hercules in the Haunted World (1961)
A pretty standard sword-and-sandal movie is given the Bava treatment as Reg Park's Hercules does battle with Christopher Lee's evil King Lico. His trip through the underworld involves a lot of fog, gnarled trees, a goofy-looking rock monster straight out of a Republic serial and an army of zombies that he smashes with foam... er, stone pillars. A straight-up B-movie is definitely elevated by the Bava touch as well as the presence of Lee in his first outing with the master.
Click here to purchase HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD on a Fantoma DVD!
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#20: Hatchet for the Honeymoon (1970)
Essentially "'Psycho' gets married," this is one of Bava's more pedestrian and downright dark efforts about an impotent bridal shop owner who compulsively kills women due to a shocking childhood trauma. Once he murders his shrew of a wife the film takes on a supernatural dimension that feels pretty forced. This could have been his "Peeping Tom," but Bava's filmmaking is so slapdash and unremarkable that it earns its place towards the bottom of our list.
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#21: Knives of the Avenger (1966)
More cheap and forgettable than "Erik the Conqueror," and like that film this one once again features Cameron Mitchell as a brawny Viking brimming with testosterone named Rurik. He's handy when throwing multiple knives, but this trifle (shot in six days) is the definition of a Bava B-side.
Click here to purchase KNIVES OF THE AVENGER on a Mario Bava Collection DVD!
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#22: Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs (1966)
This is widely (and rightly) considered to be Bava's worst movie, and it shows. While having proven himself adept at comedy in other films (particularly "The Girl Who Knew Too Much"), Bava was forced into making this poor sequel to 60's campfest "Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine." Although Vincent Price is always a charming screen presence, it's the masterfully unfunny physical comedy antics of Franco Franchi and Ciccio Ingrassia that crater any redeeming qualities to be found. They're the Italian Martin & Lewis the way Hitler was the German Charlie Chaplin. The lowbrow slapstick is so dated and forced that at one point the film literally becomes a silent movie.
