Nobody makes movies like Mario Bava – this is a fact that I used to be very thankful for, since I understood the appeal of Bava’s work, but could never quite get on board with the effusive praise cinephiles layered on him, constantly being reluctant to embrace him, because while his work was certainly unique, it never quite struck the chord that it did for everyone else who adheres to his vision in an almost cult-like manner. He was a director that embodied the more perilous side of style superseding substance, and other than a few moments of unrelinquished genius, nearly every encounter I had with him left me entirely disappointed. However, not enough to deter me from revisiting his work, which proved to eventually bear fruit, as Blood and Black Lace (Italian: Sei donne per l’assassino) is one of the first times I am in full agreement of his importance as a filmmaker, being an opportunity to glimpse his genius and understand precisely what it was that Bava could do better than anyone else. Certainly not a film without its small shortcomings (more indicative of the genre from which this film was borne, rather than being a sign of any weakness in terms of the director’s efforts in bringing this film to life), Blood and Black Lace is a fantastic entry into the often maligned sub-genre of Euro-horror that doesn’t get much attention outside of its small, dedicated group of supporters – and manages to be a work that comes very close to converting the agnostic to believing in the deceptive charms of a director, who made bold and ambitious films – and when given the opportunity, managed to find some heart in them as well.

The House of Morlacchi is a prestigious Italian fashion house, owned and operated by the mysterious Max Morlacchi (Cameron Mitchell). Without much warning, a new killer emerges on the scene and appears to be targetting Morlacchi’s models, with the consensus being that the first victim was secretly keeping a diary that outlined the sinister machinations of the institution, including the mistreatment of the models and the flippant corruption on the part of those running it. Should these revelations come to light, the House of Morlacchi will be entirely destroyed, eviscerated into a scandal that would harm the industry and leave the wealthy owner and his mistress, the widowed Countess Cuomo (Eva Bartok) without any respect or the immense wealth they’ve individually amassed over the years. Gradually, the killer weaves through the models, targetting each person who is rumoured to possess the missing diary. This becomes a challenge for Detective Silvestri (Thomas Reiner), a principled man whose insistence on adhering to the strict guidelines of his job turns out to be insufficient in solving this case, with all evidence pointing towards a viciously dangerous serial killer whose motives are unknown until it is much too late.  The House of Morlacchi begins to accept that it is now the collective target of a malevolent figure that is most likely lurking just out of view, ready to pounce on the next suspecting victim – and whether to prevent the long-held secrets from becoming public, or simply for the sake of getting revenge, the mysterious murderer makes his (or her) presence felt throughout the industry, waiting patiently for the next ill-fated soul to cross their path and become yet another in an increasingly terrifying set of bodies collected for the sake of silence.

What is most admirable about Blood and Black Lace is how simple it is – it may follow a similar structure to a traditional Giallo insofar as it starts out as a set of wildly disparate fragments that soon fall into place (normally after a major proclamation, in which a revelation is made that kickstarts the story), but it isn’t compelled to extend itself further than pure simplicity. Bava’s work here is a wonderful deconstruction of both the slasher horror (in a time when such a term wasn’t even conceivable for these kinds of films) and the psychological thriller, which he portrays with incredible ease, never wavering from keeping it fundamentally straightforward. It’s from this approach that Blood and Black Lace manages to actually be quite compelling. Bava takes the basic subplot of any past or future slasher film and slowly unravels it at the seams in a way that is highly creative but not too ambitious to lose its way. The film takes on a very basic plot – a serial killer targetting a series of models while searching for a diary that can expose horrifying secrets and doesn’t deviate too much from this simple premise. Some would argue such an approach is derivative and signals a lack of creativity when in actuality, it is often the most unassuming premises that take on the most fascinating meaning. Staying within the confines of such an unfurnished story not only makes Blood and Black Lace an enthralling film that manages to keep a steady pace without needing to do too much in the form of overanalysis or extreme exposition but also lends it a certain atmospheric elegance that benefits the film greatly.

One of the finest examples of “glamour horror” of its era, Bava’s work here is really quite incredible. The director’s work is always distinctive in its flair and style, which is often right where his merits often cease. The phrase “style over substance” is one that is tossed around very often (including by yours truly), and while it is often disparaging and seen as reductive to a lot of works, it’s undeniable that the sumptuous nature of Bava’s work doesn’t often lend itself to much more than the spectacle. Fortunately, Blood and Black Lace remedies these problems quite nicely through finding a good balance between the story and its execution, which started from the aforementioned use of a very simple premise, which sets the foundation for a thrilling psychological thriller that isn’t too complex, but still has many chilling secrets to be uncovered, even if any logical viewer can easily figure out where it’s leading (the film occupies an ambigious space between sub-genres of the slasher film, namely those in which the audience either knows the identity of the assailant, or those where it’s kept a mystery until the very end – we know who the killer is, but rather than being explicitly told their identity, we just pick up on the very heavy clues left by Bava, figuring it out after a while). It does help tremendously that Blood and Black Lace is a very stylish film – even the English-language title is masterful in how it is both evocative and terrifying, setting the tone for what is going to become a very pleasant, but undeniably unsettling, experience that will take us on a fascinating journey into the trials and tribulations of a group of familiar but slightly uncanny individuals, something Bava often thrived on. The visual scope of the film is as expectedly lush and gorgeous as we’d expect (it seems redundant to call the appearance of a Bava film “impressive”, as anyone who is familiar with his style will automatically know the extents to which he paints detailed visual portraits in each frame), and when coupled with a fascinating crime story, it dovetails into something quite special and entirely unforgettable.

As a whole, Blood and Black Lace is a perfectly decent dosage of European horror that satiates the craving for gorgeous, delectable sensation all of us tend to have from time to time. It is one of the better Bava films insofar as it has the perfect combination of a strong story and a unique manner of executing it, which immediately puts it above some of the more self-indulgent affairs that tend to populate this sub-genre. It has a twisted sense of humour as well, which contributes to the general deconstruction of both form and narrative that Bava seems to be employing with this film (such as one particularly interesting scene, whereby the killer escapes the home of one of his victims, and where a more conventional director may end with his swift exit, the scene cuts to the murderer in their car, struggling to start it before driving off). There’s an undercurrent of darkly comical brilliance that lurks beneath this film, pouncing at the unsuspecting audience just like the murderer onto his victims. Naturally, Blood and Black Lace is not without its flaws, and some of it can be chalked up to a predictable storyline, which is remedied by the fascinating dismantling of many horror tropes Bava employs to add nuance to a film that manages to become a lot more than what is offered to us at the outset. Rousing, unsettling and quite frankly outright terrifying in many instances, Blood and Black Lace is a peak for Bava, undeniably one of the best uses of his immense stylistic talents and penchant for unconventional narratives, to the point where it becomes one of his definitive, and most fascinating, works of unconventional horror filmmaking, and a new height for a director whose folkloric reputation is entirely warranted based on this film alone.