Blood And Black Lace (1964)

It is no secret that Dario Argento was heavily influenced by Mario Bava but nowhere is it more obvious then  in Blood And Black Lace. The camera work is as good as it gets in this early Gialo and the lighting is perfect. Bava's choice of colors is real eye candy for the viewer and also adds a whole new level of eerie, surrealism. Argento borrows from almost every aspect of this film. Watch Blood And Black Lace and Suspiria back to back and you will know what I mean.
Blood And Black Lace is typical of a Bava film in the sense that the movie tends to drag from time to time but the visual keeps the audience interested. Also this seems to be the turning point where Bava's films would become slightly more violent. This one came out in 1964, only one year after Black Sabbath and the level of brutality has undoubtedly increased. Still this movie is by no means a splatter film but the murder scenes just seem a little bit meaner. This Gialo follows a black gloved, (of course) masked killer. Who is killing off a bunch of pretty models. Every one becomes suspicious because everyone appears to have something to hide. It will still be a few years before we get Mario Bava's ultra-gory movies like Twitch Of The Death Nerve but the beauty and artistic view of his early work is almost just as pleasing. This is another must see from the Grandaddy of Gialo.