Mario Bava's Blood and Black Lace is an early example of the Italian Giallo genre of slasher thrillers, perhaps the first. They tend to focus more on atmosphere and imagery rather than story or character. And they seldom delve into the supernatural and thus fall partially outside of my definition of Horror.
There are plenty of suspects and a bit of a reveal at the end, but this isn’t a who-done-it. It’s a film for people who likes to see great cinematography, excellent sets, and pretty women brutally murdered. And it’s the sexualization of murder I cannot get on board with. Just not my thing. We don’t get to like the victims, don’t get to hate them. We just see them die. It's purely visual.
My problem with Blood and Black Lace, and Giallo in general, is that I feel like I am trying to watch a different film than the one on screen. I want there to be more story, better developed characters, smarter in general, and therefore disappointed. This is entirely a Me problem. With all that said, it wasn’t a hard film to watch. Enough action and detail to keep you interested, and it does look stunning. AMRU 3.
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