Morbid Configurations: The Beauty of Bava

Using the camera and some tricks of light and perspective, Mario Bava created artistic masterpieces that were beautiful in motion and often more beautiful seen at a halting standstill. It's one thing to create a phenomenal photograph and quite another to present 24 a second for 80-100 minutes. Herein we present some visually striking moments from several of Bava's films from within the horror genre and from without. Each still is taken from a DVD screen capture and most are presented without additional comment. 

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Black Sunday (1960):
The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963):
Black Sabbath (1963): The family that slays together... stays together.
The Whip and the Body (1963):
Blood and Black Lace (1964):
Knives of the Avenger (1966): "Shane! Shane! Come back!"
Kill, Baby... Kill! (1966):
Diabolik (1968):
Hatchet for the Honeymoon (1970):
Four Times That Night (1970):
5 Dolls for an August Moon (1970): "She's dead... wrapped in plastic."
Roy Colt and Winchester Jack (1970):
Bay of Blood (1971):
Baron Blood (1972):
Lisa and the Devil (1973): Romance may be dead, but there's always necrophilia.
Rabid Dogs (1974):
House of Exorcism (1975):
Shock (1977):

Any omissions in our appreciation are purely due to a particular film being unavailable to us. If you have a favorite still from one of Mario Bava's films that we don't feature above, please use the Contact Form to let us know.

This feature is presented as part of Mario Bava Week, the last of four celebrations of master horror directors done for our Shocktober 2007 event.