MARIO BAVA: MASTER OF THE MACABRE
Born: 31 July, 1914, Italy
Died: 27 April, 1980
Masterpieces: Black Sunday (1960), Black Sabbath (1963)
Other notabe films: Planet Of The Vampires (1965), Kill Baby...Kill! (1966), Danger: Diabolik (1968), A Bay Of Blood (1971), Baron Blood (1972), Lisa And The Devil (1973)
Mini Bio:
Italian director Mario Bava is best known for his horror films and giallo thrillers (a genre later perfected by Dario Argento). Bava was trained as a painter but followed in his father's footsteps and became a cinematographer. He developed a reputation as a special effects genius, using optical trickery and creating amazing photography effects on shoe-string budgets. Bava was always considered to be "before his time".
Bava's best known film is in fact his first, Black Sunday (1960), in which a vengeful witch returns from the dead to begin a campaign to possess the body of the witch's look-alike descendant. It is a wonderful piece of dark imagination and expressionism.
His second film, Black Sabbath (1963), is made up of three episodes, one of which stars Boris Karloff. It is laced with his strong visual style and eerie atmosphere. It is Bava's (and my own) personal favourite of all his work.
Bava is admired among many of the modern directors and his work has proved very influential: Planet Of The Vampires (1965) strongly influenced the look of Ridley Scott's sci-fi film, Alien (1979). Danger: Diabolik (1968) was one of the world's first comic book adaptations, while A Bay of Blood (1971) is considered one of the first slasher films. Among his admirers are Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Tim Burton, Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci and John Carpenter.
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