Over the course of more than two dozen features, Mario Bava’s distinctive style developed from baroque manipulation of chiaroscuro into spectacular use of color, with his reach extending into spy films, Westerns, sex comedies, and a series of benchmark horror films that laid the groundwork for the giallo and the modern slasher movie. A master stylist with a flair for lurid visuals, Bava’s imprint on contemporary cinema is incalculable: Fellini, Scorsese, Carpenter, Dante, del Toro, Tarantino, Francis Ford Coppola, Dario Argento—all were influenced by the so-called maestro of the macabre.
“Bava was a true horror visionary who influenced countless directors and nobody could do better with smoke, cobwebs and lighting to create a shadowy nightmare world than he. Seeing these films in a cinema is a mind-altering experience.” – Paper Magazine
“Those who delight in lush, shadowy compositions and macabre manifestations of an unbridled id will celebrate.” – The New York Times