bay of blood (cinema history class)

Session: Giallo-Rama, week 1
Movie: Bay of Blood  (1979)

Plot:
After a rich woman dies, everyone connected to her tries to kill each other in order to inherit her land. Hilarity ensues.

Class Reaction:
This went over like gangbusters. The cinematography was great. The transitions were superb. And we all agreed that this had the best decapitation scene we're ever seen. The energy in the room was great. And when we got to the ending -- and what an ending it was -- there was just this huge rush. I enjoyed Joe's comment that this was sort of like a Scooby Doo episode in which people actually get murdered.

It was noted -- I forget by whom -- that Friday the 13th Part 2 was heavily influenced by this, though I wouldn;t know since I never saw it.

Keith opened by explaining what Giallos are -- essentially, lurid crime dramas from Italy. So named because the film genre was adapted from books. The books were called giallos because they were printed on yellow paper (to alert the reader that they were not for children), and "giallo" is Italian for "yellow." It was a helpful explanation. Though I think we all had a vague idea of what Giallos were, we weren't really sure and it was helpful to introduce a month of such films with a bit of exposition about what they are.

The scores from everyone else:

• Joe: 10 / 10
• Dave: 9.5 to 9.8 / 10
• Sean: (declined to rate, as he wasn't familiar enough with Giallos)
• Scott: 9.5 / 10
• Ethan: 9.5 to 10 /10

My Thoughts:
As the movie was winding down -- or at least coming to its conclusion, since it never really wound down -- I found myself conflicted. I was really enjoying the movie for a lot of the same reasons that everyone else was. But I was having a hard time following the plot. Wait, who are they? How are these people related to those people? Why is she trying to kill him?

And yet, despite my confusion I was enjoying it immensely. I had pretty much decided that I would be rating it a 7. But then the ending came, and that pushed it up to 8. And during the post-viewing conversation, my appreciation for this movie was growing. In the end, I gave it a 9. But it was going through my head the rest of the night, and a lot of today. If I were rating it now, I'd probably give it a 9.5 or so.

This was my first exposure to Giallos, and I have to say it was a great introduction. I only hope that the next three don't prove to be a letdown.

I;m not quite sure if Bay of Blood passes the Bechdel Test, at least technically. But the film has enough women in who are driving the action, that I think it passes the spirit of the test if not the letter.

I also note that Bay of Blood was released under a variety of names, including the following:

The Odor of FleshTwitch of the Death NerveCarnageThus Do We Live to Be EvilBlood BathLast House on the Left Part IIEcology of A CrimeThe AntecedentChain ReactionNew House on the LeftBloodbath Bay of DeathThat Will Teach Them to Be Bad

Extras:
Before we watched the movie, Keith showed us the trailers for three other Giallos. I wish I had noted down the titles. He says he'll do that each of the rermaining weeks of this session.