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Kill Baby Kill
[Dark Sky Films]
1966; color
Directed by Mario Bava
Starring: Giacomo Rossi-Stuart, Erika Blanc, Fabienne Dali, Piero Lulli, Luciano Catenacci, Micaela Esdra & Valerio Valeri
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One of Mario Bava's best known Gothic horror efforts, Kill Baby Kill is essentially a classic tale of revenge from beyond the grave. Things start off in fine horror fashion, as we see a terrified girl succumb to death by spiky wrought iron fence even before the credits roll. After she jumps, we hear a little girl's laugh and glimpse a pair of children's shoes on the ledge. A few days later, we see the arrival of a coroner. The coachman tells the doctor he won't actually drive his carriage into the village proper. Instead he drops him off outside the gates, warning him that the town is cursed. Shrugging off the warning as stupid local superstition, the coroner goes into town and, after a relatively icy reception from the locals, meets with the police inspector that summoned him. Also present is the burgomeister, who is very opposed to autopsy being performed for reasons he refuses to specify. Apparently a second witness to the autopsy was needed, so the inspector sent for a woman who is a medical student (I think) and happens to originally be from the town. The locals are all in objection to anything being done to the dead, so they try to disrupt the autopsy, but it happens anyway. During the procedure the coroner finds a gold coin inserted into the dead girl's heart. (Inserted post-mortem no less!) Somehow we learn this is done to ward off evil spirits and prevent the corpse from becoming a vengeful ghost. Eventually it's revealed that the little girl we got a glimpse of in the first scene is actually the murderous ghost of an 8 year old who bled to death in the village square. (Because no one came to her aid.) It's said that anyone who sees her will die a bloody death… and we know that's true cause we've already seen it happen. Not to give too much more away, but through a well-executed series of twists, turns and murders - each ratcheting up the pace the movie a bit further until the inevitable conclusion is reached and the girl's spirit is finally allowed to rest in peace - Bava builds an almost perfect horror film. Being the visual master he was, not only did he direct the film but he served as director of photography as well (something he did on almost all of his films); making every frame as compelling as the story itself. Shot mostly at night in some obscure Italian village (although in the film it's supposed to be set in Germany or the Balkans), the scenes are lit in such a way that they sometimes look unreal or even surreal. Some of the camera work, particularly the times when it appears to swing back and forth like a pendulum (via a quick zoom in and right back out), or the way the spiral staircase chase scene is shot, add a whole other dimension that only adds to the suspense. Kill Baby Kill is as much fun to look at as it is to watch.
—the Kommandant
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