A Bay of Blood [Blu-ray]

Overview

This Italian shockerama was originally released as Twitch of the Death Nerve in 1971. When distributed to the US, it picked up yet another title, Last House on the Left Part II. In fact, it has nothing whatever to do with the original Last House on the Left, those this may be the film's only nod to originality. The slasher "hero" in this one sets about to kill a baker's dozen worth of victims-13 in all, to those of you who aren't bakers. Though he goes through familiar paces, goremaster Mario Bava manages to pull off quite a few genuine shocks, enough to earn this film latter-day cult status. Reportedly, Bay of Blood was the primary influence for Friday the 13th and its blood-splattered progeny.

Product Details

Release Date:	09/03/2013
UPC:	0738329112721
Original Release:	1971
Rating:	NR
Source:	Kino Classics
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Language:	English
Time:	1:24:00

Special Features

Audio commentary by Tim Lucas, author of Mario Bava: All The Colors Of The Dark; Alternate European release version (Italian with optional English subtitles); Theatrical trailer; Trailers of other Bava films

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Claudine Auger	Renata
Luigi Pistilli	Albert
Claudio Volonte	Simon
Anna Maria Rosati	Laura
Cristea Avram	Actor
Leopoldo Trieste	Actor
Laura Betti	Mrs. Fusadi, the clairvoyant
Brigitte Skay	Brunhilda
Isa Miranda	The Countess
Chris Avran	Ventura
Paola Rubens	Actor
Guido Boccaccini	Actor
Robert Bonani	Actor
Giovanni Nuvoletti	Actor
Stelvio Cipriani	Composer

Technical Credits

Mario Bava

Filippo Ottoni

Dardano Sacchetti

Franco Barberi

Mario Bava	Director,Screenwriter
Giuseppe Zacciarello	Producer
Filippo Ottoni	Screenwriter
Dardano Sacchetti	Screenwriter
Franco Barberi	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Although considered during its 1971 release to be among the weakest films directed by Italian genre stylist Mario Bava (Black Sunday), Twitch of the Death Nerve has since taken its rightful place in horror history as the progenitor of countless "splatter" films, including Friday the 13th and Halloween. By far the most explicit shocker Bava ever made, Twitch employs the venerable narrative device of isolating a diverse group in some remote location -- in this case a picturesque lakeside house -- and killing off its members one by one. Bava's players, among them Claudine Auger, Luigi Pistilli, Claudio Volonte, Laura Betti, Brigitte Skay, and former Marcel Ophuls leading lady Isa Miranda, are dispatched in especially gruesome ways. Passionate lovers in bed are skewered on a spear, a woman has her head split open by an axe, and one man is repeatedly belly-stabbed. Plot development comes to a screeching halt once the killing commences, and Bava's body count pushes into double digits before the film's jaw-dropping surprise ending. Previously released with varying degrees of completeness as Bay of Blood, Carnage, and Last House on the Left, Part II, this graphically violent trendsetter has been restored to its original gory glory for Image’s DVD reissue.