There are very few directors who captivate audiences on a variety of sensory levels, but Mario Bava stands above everyone else in this regard. His films are incredibly beautiful and deeply meaningful. He is one of the most fascinating filmmakers of the era he helped define, and he made some truly influential films. The one film that many consider to be his masterpiece is Kill, Baby, Kill (Italian: Operazione paura), and it is considered to be one of the most exquisite horror films ever made. Full disclaimer: as much as it pains me to say it, I just didn’t love it as much as I thought I would. The reason for this is something I am still trying to figure out myself, because all signs point to Kill, Baby, Kill as being a fantastic film.

Where to begin? In terms of visuals, there are very few filmmakers that can approach Bava’s level of beauty, and that isn’t something that is excluded from here. There are some moments in Kill, Baby, Kill that are gloriously decadent and mystifyingly beautiful, and there is little fault that despite the fact that it may not be on the same level as some of his other films, there are some unbelievably stark uses of production design working in symbiosis with the technical elements of cinematography and editing. There is very little doubt that this was a visually stimulating film – but it also came at a cost, which I’ll discuss later on.

I can’t exactly comment on the performances in this film because I watched the dubbed version of this film. Regardless of the common usage of dubbing in Italian films, it just detracted from the overall experience and failed to allow me to see these performers as anything other than physical vessels for the dialogue. It would be wrong to nitpick the problems with this film as coming from the fact that the dubbing is overtly distracting and sometimes is quite laughable (as are the theatrics some of these actors place into the physical aspects of their performances, somewhat overcompensating for the fact that they know their voices won’t be the ones coming out of these characters’ voices come opening night), but it just makes the film that much less authentic. However, try as one might, one just can’t seriously blame the performances of the actors for being the reason why I felt this film was far less than perfect than its reputation would have you believe. Even within these dubbed performances, a clear effort is put in by the likes of Fabienne Dali and Giana Vivaldi as the sorceress and the Baroness respectively, who bring quite a bit to their performances and leave an imprint. I can’t really comment on Giacomo Rossi-Stuart and Erika Blanc, as their performances were nothing more than the archetypal attractive horror protagonists that plague these films – they weren’t bad in the slightest, but also just weren’t that good. Yet, this isn’t my problem with the film – many horror films feature unremarkable leads and notable supporting players, relying on this formula as something tried-and-tested successfully on countless occasions.

I love the gothic. I really, genuinely have a passion for a good gothic story, especially a horror. Kill, Baby, Kill felt like the precise film that would be right in my wheelhouse, because it has such an original concept. Yet, I found it being far less reliant on the gothic aspects as I would’ve liked. The film is arguably about small-town life being impinged upon by large supernatural forces, and that’s absolutely wonderful – except for the fact that the most beautiful and notable moments take place in the gothic scenes within the Baroness’ manor – but the majority of them are left until the final act, where the audience may have already slightly lost interest, even if they are making the conscious decision to power through this film, because a film by Mario Bava cannot be this…dull, can it?

Fortunately, as I’ve alluded to, this film isn’t all that dull. It just seems that way based on the surface. The entire first act, as much as it hurts to say this, is painfully dull. The landscape is just dour and bland, and there is far too much time spent on constructing this world that is far too extensive for the context of the story. It may not bring in useless characters per se, but it does focus unnecessarily on characters that prove to be inconsequential to the plot, characters that do serve their purpose but aren’t characterized beyond their initial appearance. Absolutely none of these characters develop or grow – Paul Enswai just walks around in the same brown trench coat as he fights off supernatural forces, like a postmodern Sherlock Holmes in the Twilight Zone, but without the wit or foresight to see what is about to happen. These characters all exist within the same suspended world where characters have two emotions – neutrality and fear. I’m still not sure if this film was trying to push a romantic subplot on us as well, and I truly hope not, mainly because the chemistry between the leads was…lacking.

The first act is odd because it is the first time I have ever considered the first act to be almost completely disposable. I’ve rarely seen a film that has a first act that betrays the rest of the film. Kill, Baby, Kill has a solid second act and a brilliant third act, mainly because these are the moments where we encounter precisely what Bava does best, the exploration of the gothic, and the beginning flirtations with the realm of the supernatural. The first act simply exists to be an extended prologue to a film that seriously did not need the extraordinarily long introduction to this world, not because it was dragged out, but simply because it just wasn’t all that interesting in the first place to warrant such a prolonged journey into the dull clutches of a town that just doesn’t inspire any emotion than bored apathy. How are we supposed to care that this little girl’s ghost is murdering all these people when we don’t really care for them in the first place? A film like Kill, Baby, Kill needs to have characters that we can actually actively root for – and when the most empathetic character in this film is the actual villain who wasn’t designed to be charming, then you know you have made a fatal blunder in characterization.

Yet, this still doesn’t explain why I didn’t absolutely love Kill, Baby, Kill. There are some moments in this film, particularly the third act, that left me dumbfounded and in absolute awe. To be perfectly fair, there are two moments in this film that have instantly shot up into my pantheon of all-time great horror film moments – the suicide of one of Melissa’s victims, where the camera slowly dollies up to her as she looks on in fear, as well as the scene where our protagonist attempts to leave the sinister clutches of the manor, which made me leap up in absolute ecstasy due to its profound brilliance. There are several other moments that are terrifying and notable – they just occur around a film that just isn’t all that interesting, as heretical it is for me to say that.

To answer the question I keep asking myself – why did I not absolutely adore this film? Why was my instant reaction after this film ended nothing more than muted appreciation for a film that I found good, rather than unbelievably great, as its reputation would suggest? I can’t say that I did not have high expectations for this film – I did to an extent, and the points many people made about it were very true and relevant, and it is a Bava film after all. It met all my expectations, it just didn’t exceed them. There were some moments where this film was legitimately terrifying, and hypnotic in its surreal beauty. But there were even more moments where the motivations of these characters were questionable, the plot meandered through fields of unneeded explanation and far too much emphasis was placed on the theme of small-town society rather than focusing on the moments of legitimate brilliance scattered throughout this film? I am also very sure there is a political backdrop to this film that I am missing, but I’m not entirely sure I saw any reason for that to be brought in. Maybe a rewatch will clarify such themes and make this film’s often bland social commentary a little bit more bearable. However, it isn’t likely.

I understand that it is unpopular to criticize a film of this stature – Kill, Baby, Kill is a minor giant in the field of horror, and for good reason – when this film is actively being portrayed as a horror, it is remarkably good. It is the fact that far too much time is spent looking elsewhere, moving us away from the extraordinarily terrifying moments to serve us with a mystery film that just doesn’t need to be there in such an overt way. It is a good film, one that I did find myself enjoying, especially later on when the plot picked up and the story seemed to flow with a bit more ease. However, it is overall just a film that I just didn’t fall in love with. Honestly, the best reason I can give for not really adoring this film is just purely on a personal level – I just wasn’t moved by it. I couldn’t connect with any of these characters, and the story just drew my attention away from the film. What good are a few moments of genuine genius when the moments occurring around it pale in comparison? I may be committing cinematic heresy by not adoring this film, but as much as I tried, it just didn’t work for me on a level I was expecting it to. It is a good film and one that I am sure a few more viewings will make me appreciate more. However, for now, it just isn’t something I’d consider to be essential. It is pretty scary though, I’ll give you that.