I had watched this (with my mother in tow!) many years ago on Cable TV – in fact, back when I wasn’t yet a Euro-Cult devotee and, consequently, ended up being rather lukewarm on it. This is Bava’s third “body count” movie after BLOOD AND BLACK LACE (1964) and FIVE DOLLS FOR AN AUGUST MOON (1970); however, given that teenagers are also involved here, this is the one which became the virtual template for all the teen slashers which stormed Hollywood in the late 1970s/early 1980s.<br /><br />The narrative – in which members of the same family kill each other off because of an inheritance – brings to mind not only the “old dark house”-type thrillers like THE CAT AND THE CANARY but also the celebrated black comedy from Ealing Studios, KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS (1949). Incidentally, Bava’s film has also been seen as a black comedy in some quarters – but it’s rather difficult to concur, in view of all the typical giallo viciousness (reportedly, former Bava collaborator Christopher Lee walked out of a screening of the film because of its excessive violence!). Still, the fact that no sooner has a murder been committed that the killer is himself brutally dispatched adds a refreshing touch of irony (since usually there is only one killer) – none more so than during that knockout ending! <br /><br />There’s no denying that the murder set-pieces are the film’s true raison d’etre: to this end, Bava devises varied and often stylized methods in which to dispose of his 13 victims – strangulation, stabbing, gunshot, decapitation, meat cleaver in the face and, most infamously perhaps, a double spearing (which, in 1980, was imported wholesale for the first installment of Friday THE 13TH!). A pretty good cast, too, was assembled for the film (Claudine Auger, Luigi Pistilli, Leopoldo Trieste, Laura Betti and Isa Miranda) but most of the characters they portray are unsympathetic; Auger and Pistilli may be the film’s real protagonists, but they only appear halfway through the film – and, interestingly, their relationship vis-à-vis the murders mirrors that of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare’s play! The seemingly insignificant opening sequence – in which we follow a fly buzzing around until it plunges to its death in a bay – is, in fact, a clever foreshadowing of what is to come.<br /><br />Stelvio Cipriani’s memorable score is deceptively light most of the time, but rises to admirable percussive crescendos during the murder set-pieces. The film had a handful of alternate titles both on its homeground (3) and abroad (4); it’s rather a pity that the R1 and R2 DVD editions do not make use of the best titles: personally, I would have preferred TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVE to A BAY OF BLOOD and ECOLOGIA DEL DELITTO to REAZIONE A CATENA! The English-dubbing is not too bad (even if the audio is, typically for this second Bava collection from Anchor Bay, regrettably low in spots), but I wish the option of listening to the original Italian soundtrack had been offered; at least, the latter is available on the Raro Video disc and, according to Bava authority Tim Lucas, that version actually includes several alternate takes (as well as an accompanying featurette) – and being currently discounted, I took the opportunity and picked up a copy for myself! <br /><br />Tim Lucas’ audio commentary on the new Anchor Bay disc imparts a lot of information despite having the occasional silent passage: most interesting was the film’s genesis as Dino De Laurentiis’ initial foray into the giallo genre (he eventually backed out of the project) and as a collaboration between prolific genre screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti and Mario Bava (after the former had had a falling out with Dario Argento) - but Lucas informing us about the sad fate of some of the participants (heroin addiction, hardcore pornography, murder and incarceration, suicide) makes for a rather gloomy track.