Bloody Red Baron

BARON BLOOD, reviewed by me, over at Electric Sheep.

Arrow’s outstanding Blu-Ray does the right thing by this comparatively minor Mario Bava Gothic tale, offering two versions of the movie, a Tim Lucas commentary, and supporting essays.

This was one of the first Bava movies I saw, on a VHS from Redemption Video (not pictured). All the maestro’s movies improve massively when seen in good quality transfers (or original prints), and this one is no exception — the films really are demonstrations of the art of cinematography.

Don’t forget that you can order Bava’s seminal BLACK SABBATH, featuring liner notes by your friend and humble narrator, also released by Arrow and with equally lavish treatment.

Black Sabbath [Blu-ray]

Witch’s Brew

Here’s a bit of welcome news — a spanking-new Blu-ray of Mario Bava’s BLACK SABBATH, with essay by me.

I first saw this film in Vienna, on VHS, dubbed into German. Fiona and I were visiting friends, and I dropped into a vid store to see if they had anything not available back home. DIE DREI GESICHTER DER FURCHT looked too good, and too cheap, to pass up, even though I knew I wouldn’t understand a word of the dub. It proved to be the American cut of the film, which needlessly rearranges the episodes and jettisons Karloff’s magnificent send-off/send-up at the end, but the film still worked its magic. It’s scarier when you watch it someplace that’s not your home, actually.

I hadn’t been too taken with BARON BLOOD on VHS from Redemption at this point; childhood viewings of MASK OF SATAN and LISA AND THE DEVIL had left me amused and bemused respectively; but I’d acquired a really ratty tape of BLOOD AND BLACK LACE, and that had impressed me no end, even with all the murders cut by the British censor. From this point on, I was a fan.