Mario Bava: Maestro of the Macabre (2000)
*** (out of 4)
All-star tribute to Italian director Mario Bava features interviews with his son Lamberto, his grandkids Roy and Georgia as well as John Carpenter, Joe Dante, Tim Burton, Kim Newman, Allan Bryce, Sam Arkoff, Alfredo Leone, John Saxon, Sean S. Cunningham, Daria Nicolodi and Bava expert Tim Lucas. This hour long documentary features these people talking about their respect for Bava and his films. Not only do we take a look at his films but we get a pretty good opening where we learn about Bava's early life and how he ended up working as a cameraman before being hired as a director. The films discussed include BLACK Sunday, BLACK SABBATH, BARON BLOOD, BLOOD AND BLACK LACE, THE EVIL EYE, LISA AND THE DEVIL (and its alternate version), TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVE and PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES among others. Overall this is a pretty good look at the director, which shows why his talents were so strong and why he never really got any credit until after his death. There's discussion of how Friday THE 13TH PART 2 ripped off TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVE and we even get Cunningham finally, somewhat, admitting that the series "borrowed" from the director. The one thing that I didn't care too much about was how much attention PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES got. They talk about this film as if it was some sort of masterpiece, which I don't agree with and I think saying that ALIEN ripped it off was going a tad bit too far. I'd say that IT! THE TERROR FROM OUTER SPACE is the film that really influenced ALIEN so I think the documentary spends too much time with it. With that said, the great cast makes this a must see and it certainly gives one a great idea on the career of Bava's directing career.
*** (out of 4)
All-star tribute to Italian director Mario Bava features interviews with his son Lamberto, his grandkids Roy and Georgia as well as John Carpenter, Joe Dante, Tim Burton, Kim Newman, Allan Bryce, Sam Arkoff, Alfredo Leone, John Saxon, Sean S. Cunningham, Daria Nicolodi and Bava expert Tim Lucas. This hour long documentary features these people talking about their respect for Bava and his films. Not only do we take a look at his films but we get a pretty good opening where we learn about Bava's early life and how he ended up working as a cameraman before being hired as a director. The films discussed include BLACK Sunday, BLACK SABBATH, BARON BLOOD, BLOOD AND BLACK LACE, THE EVIL EYE, LISA AND THE DEVIL (and its alternate version), TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVE and PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES among others. Overall this is a pretty good look at the director, which shows why his talents were so strong and why he never really got any credit until after his death. There's discussion of how Friday THE 13TH PART 2 ripped off TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVE and we even get Cunningham finally, somewhat, admitting that the series "borrowed" from the director. The one thing that I didn't care too much about was how much attention PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES got. They talk about this film as if it was some sort of masterpiece, which I don't agree with and I think saying that ALIEN ripped it off was going a tad bit too far. I'd say that IT! THE TERROR FROM OUTER SPACE is the film that really influenced ALIEN so I think the documentary spends too much time with it. With that said, the great cast makes this a must see and it certainly gives one a great idea on the career of Bava's directing career.