The crippled Countess Federica Donati (Isa Miranda) sits in her wheelchair at a window in her house, looking out at the bay that she owns. Moments later she is murdered, hanged from a door frame. The camera, starting at their feet moves up the murderers body and he is revealed immediately as her husband Count Filippo Donati (Giovanni Nuvoletti). He puts a suicide note on a nearby table. It's obvious what will happen next, and indeed it does. Filippo himself is murdered, stabbed to death and then dragged off. The film then introduces us to various characters who all want something from the bay, or the abandoned run down leisure complex. Simon (Claudio Comaso), a local fisherman who lives close to the bay in a wooden cabin. Paolo Fosatti (Leopoldo Trieste), who is studying local insects he collects from the bay, and his Tarot card reading wife Anna (Laura Betti). Renata Donati (Claudine Auger), her husband Albert (Luigi Pistilli) and their two children arrive at the bay in a camper, Renata is supposedly looking for her Father, Filippo who has disappeared. Upon hearing Of the Countess's death Frank Ventura (Cristea Avram) and his wife Laura (the rather attractive looking Anna Maria Rosati) also both travel to the bay to try and buy it so he can begin to a build long planned development that the Countess was so opposed to. Four teenagers also turn up, George (Guido Boccaccini), Bobby (Roberto Bonanni), Patty (Paola Rubens) and Brunhilda (Brigitte Skay) all looking for somewhere to party. Soon the inevitable starts to happen, person or persons want the bay so badly they are prepared to kill for it, and so begins a tale of murder, mystery and double cross with the ultimate prize of the bay and the Countess's fortune at stake! Directed by Mario Bava this isn't really a straight horror film, more of a mystery film. It will keep you guessing right up to the final twist at the end. The music by Stilvio Capriani seems a bit out of place at times. The photography is a bit shaky and dated at times, but stylish. The acting is fine. But it's the entertaining script by Bava where the film shines. Very complex and thought provoking, you will need to concentrate or you may miss something important. Almost everyone is a suspect, they all seem to want something from the bay. Many of them are portrayed both as predator and prey. But the ending is a bit strange and didn't make a whole lot of sense. One more part of the script thats less successful is the insertion of the teenagers, who are there solely to be murdered in various gory ways. Speaking of the gore, there's a reasonable amount, and whats there is pretty cool, a machete in someones face, impaling on spears, a slit throat, a decapitation and various stabbings among other acts of gratuitous violence! A great film, well made and cleverly thought out to keep you guessing. However, I'm not sure about repeat viewings as once you know about the twists and turns they, and the film as a consequence will lose their impact. Still, I certainly recommend it to horror and slasher fans. I liked it.