Customer Reviews (5)

An elaborate tome to Italian exploitation cinema.
Lucas' loving tribute to Italian cinematographer/director Mario Bava is so rich in the visual excesses that defined "cinema Italiana" of the last century, that it transcends it's subject, delivering an impressive overview of the very nature of exploitation cinema of the last 50 years.
Bava's career encompassed nearly every genre of "cinefantastique", and there's always going to be at least one film that any avid American moviegoer will identify here - be it a peplum, horror, science-fiction or western picture.Bava's gifts are explored in fabulous detail by someone who's obviously obsessed with his work, and it's impossible to ignore the passion put into this gigantic work, or the beauty of the presentation.
Mario Bava was basically a visual artiste, and Tim Lucas' book is exactly right for honoring that talent.It's a rich, colorful, imaginative literary achievement.You will be spellbound!

A superb book in every sense of the word.
It took me some time to get round to reading this "weighty tome." Far from being disappointed I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of work that has gone into this study and the dedication shown by its author. MARIO BAVA is one of the great film books of the beginning of this century. It not only makes a plausible case for taking the director seriously but is a fascinating study of the cultural, historical, and industrial areas of Italian Cinema, especially in the post-war era. If you can not buy this book then get it from a library. If you can, then you will never regret the money since it is a great investment and a brilliant work by one of the real independent voices in American film criticism.

Quite simply the finest film book you'll ever own.
There is simply no way that you can heap enough praise on this incredible labor of love and obsession from Video Watchdog creator Tim Lucas. From an immensely detailed personal biography of Maestro Bava (complete with super rare family photos that few outside the Bava family have ever seen) to perhaps the most exhaustive career study ever published on anyone in the film world, Lucas offers up a book that is a work of art in and of itself.
Visuals are first rate. Layout, graphics, photo/art reproduction, and printing are exactly what you'd expect from a book bearing this price tag, meaning that it's a VERY lavish book. The quantity and general rarity of photos and art are completely beyond description. Tons of stuff you've NEVER seen before. Bava fans that have ever wondered what Black Sunday would have looked like in color need not wonder any longer. It's all here and then some. If Mario Bava was ever within 100 feet of a movie camera, Lucas documents it thoroughly both in visuals and text. As others have pointed out, it's an overwhelming treat for the mind and eyes.
Also first rate is Lucas' writing. He knows his subject matter as well if not better than anyone and displays a writing style that is very dense with information but yet fluid, organized, and entertaining. His criticism has depth but never veers off into pretentious psycho-babble and is gently provocative enough to cause even the most die-hard Bava fan to rethink many long -held notions. Completely splendid job throughout.
My one and only caveat is that this isn't a book that you curl up with in bed. Due to it's very formidable size and weight, you'll probably need a desk or table to properly savor it's contents, and that's not an exaggeration. It's kind of like trying to read a bowling ball, but that is a remarkably small price to pay for having this wonderful masterpiece.
As previously noted, this book was created and published by the Lucas family, so you would be performing a noble gesture if you bought it directly from them at the Video Watchdog website, but no matter how you do it, BUY THIS BOOK! Long after the mild sting of parting with your dollars subsides, you'll have a book that you'll treasure the rest of your life.

I Waited Seven Years For This!
I ordered this book directly from the publisher (Tim Lucas of Video Watchdog fame) about 8 years ago. If I remember correctly I paid $95 for itto save $20 off the original Pre-order price of $115.I thought I was making out like a bandit way back then.Being a huge fan of the magazine (and a subscriber for most of it's run) I kept reading updates about the book. It's coming.It's expanding. It's exceeded a 1000 pages! And finally the book arrives (after the price crept up - I believe it topped out at $250.00).Being one of those original Pre-Order people my name is actually in the book (along with - a guess - a 1000 others).Kind of cool, but was it worth the wait, was it worth the investment for that long.

Well, of course, it was.Anyone even remotely aware of the magazine knows about Lucas' perfectionism and quality standards of the magazine (which to this day accepts no outside advertising - only placing a few small ads for things like this book) and those standards are increased 100-fold for the production of this book.Besides the quality of the printing, binding, etc, it is the sheer attention to detail that makes this book overwhelming.

I'm not sure I'll ever read this 1100+ page book cover to cover. The 1/2 a dozen times I've opened it, it's almost overwhelming.The poster reproductions, rare stills, storyboards, unpublished art... pretty soon I'm just looking at the photos and drinking it all in.After an hour I'm pretty much exhausted!While this sounds negative, it's certainly not meant to be.I suppose that one can be exhausted by perfection?

To the book itself... obviously if you are a casual fan, or just love Black Sunday and have never seen another Bava film, this probably isn't the book for you.There are other, more manageable books out there (The Haunted World of Mario Bava by Troy Howarth is certainly a fine place to start). But of course, if you are truly an obsessive fan than there will be no other book to buy.

Excellent Book!
Excellent Book! I would suggest that people order this book directly from writer and publisher, Tim Lucas rather than buying used. It only cost a few bucks more plus it is autographed and brand new!!!! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Beautiful tome for Bava cult
Bava is best known for making beautifully composed gothic and horrors films.This book is a feast for the eyes, with many compelling color pictures and an informative easy to read text.The author covers pretty much all of Bava's films, if not all, chapter by chapter with critical analysis and sensible explanations as to why the author feels the way he does about each of Bava's films.Actually deserves 4 1/2 stars.Well worth its cost.Highly recommended.

Gorgeous ButSuperficial
FAB Press has deservedly earned quite a reputation for their outstanding series of gorgeous looking film books, and THE HAUNTED WORLD OF MARIO BAVA is no exception.In fact, its probably the most impressive release yet from the UK publishing house.Jam-packed with approximately eight hundred full color and B&W film stills, posters, lobby cards and publicity photos taken from every era of Mario Bava's career (courtesy of Lucas Balbo's Artschiv collection), the book is available in paperback and hardback editions; both are things of exquisite beauty, but the silver-embossed hard cover edition (limited to only 1000 copies) is the clear winner, as it is a much sturdier volume and features a far more classy cover than the paperback version.

A supremely talented stylist with a deft hand for making near masterpieces out of the most unpromising of material, Bava's best films (BLACK SUNDAY, BLACK SABBATH, BLOOD AND BLACK LACE, KILL, BABY...KILL) have had a huge and profound influence on contemporary world cinema.His B&W films are undeniably extraordinary exercises in pure gothic beauty, but it was when Bava switched to color that his imagination was allowed to blossom into often dizzying heights ofdemonic power.Frequently trapped in supernatural landscapes, Bava's protagonists are helplessly dumped into a hallucinatory whirlwind of color, assaulted on all sides by an ever shifting array of red and blue lights and thick, pulsing mists. The vivid color schemes of Bava's films can be psychologically disturbing for the viewer.While the plots of most of his films are usually quite weak, they carry enough of a narrative thrust to take us willingly along on a ride to a curiously beautiful hell.

THE HAUNTED WORLD OF MARIO BAVA is the first book length English language study of the films of the great Italian fantasist and, as such, it is undeniably an historically important work. It is sadly unfortunate for all Bava fans that the task of writing such an essential book would fall to one so woefully inadequate for the job.Troy Howarth is a monumentally dull writer, dry and humorless in the extreme, whose hackneyed fanboy praises here do absolutely nothing to persuasively argue the worth of this still underrated artist. A man singularly devoid of even the most rudimentary of critical skills, Howarth affects a facade of sophistication by utilizing acomical mock-professorial tone throughout the text, while offering us only the most trite and commonplace of observations.In his chapter devoted to PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES, for example, Howarth allocates an incredible amount of space singing the praises of the film's cornball finale, which even by 1965 was one of the oldest and most cliched of all "sting" endings."(A) wonderfully imaginative plot twist...", he swoons, awed by the innovative genius of the screenwriters."With savage irony,the film proposes that man is not alone [in the universe]...", something this erudite critic apparently never before considered.Finally, the hoary and obvious surprise ending proves that "Bava takes cruel delight in toying with audience expectations..."

Howarth parades an endless series ofsimilarly vapid insights and cliches through the entire book.His torturously overlong story synopses are truly maddening; such lengthy plot rehashing is simply completely unnecessary as most of the director's oeuvre is easily accessible these days via videotape and DVD.For someone who has never seen a Mario Bava film, this book may possibly serve adequately as a superficial introduction to the director's work.But for an illuminating study of the great man's art and obsessions, the reader will have to look elsewhere. ... Read more

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40 pages, approximately 6" x 9"; text in French and English; 8 pages of color photos. ... Read more

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This is nonfiction commentary.Chapters: Black Sunday, Twitch of the Death Nerve, Planet of the Vampires, Blood and Black Lace, Erik the Conqueror, Danger: Diabolik, Black Sabbath, the Girl Who Knew Too Much, Lisa and the Devil, Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs, Shock, I Vampiri, Hercules in the Haunted World, the Whip and the Body, Kill, Baby, Kill, Five Dolls for an August Moon, Rabid Dogs, Hatchet for the Honeymoon. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 95. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Black Sunday (Italian title: La maschera del demonio, also known as The Mask of Satan) is a 1960 Italian horror film directed by Mario Bava, from a screenplay by Ennio de Concini and Mario Serandrei. The film stars Barbara Steele, John Richardson, Arturo Dominici, and Ivo Garrani. It was Bava's directorial debut, although he had completed several previous feature films without credit. Based very loosely on Nikolai Gogols short story "Viy", the narrative concerns a vampire-witch who is put to death by her own brother, only to return 200 years later to feed on her descendants. By the social standards of the 1960s, Black Sunday was considered unusually gruesome, and was banned in the U.K. until 1968, because of its violence. In the U.S., some of the gore was censored, in-house, by the distributor, American International Pictures, before its theatrical release to the countrys cinemas. Despite the censorship, Black Sunday was a worldwide critical and box office success and launched the careers of director Mario Bava and movie star Barbara Steele. In 2004, one of its sequences was voted number 40 among the 100 Scariest Movie Moments, by the Bravo Channel. In Moldavia, in the year 1630, beautiful witch Asa Vajda (Steele) and her paramour Javuto (Arturo Dominici) are sentenced to death for sorcery by Asa's broth...http://booksllc.net/?id=2483209 ... Read more

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Video Watchdog # 50 - Mario Bava; Dario Argento ... Read more

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Les achats comprennent une adhésion à l'essai gratuite au club de livres de l'éditeur, dans lequel vous pouvez choisir parmi plus d'un million d'ouvrages, sans frais. Le livre consiste d'articles Wikipedia sur : La Planète Des Vampires, Hercule Contre Les Vampires, Danger : Diabolik !, Six Femmes Pour L'assassin, Duel Au Couteau, une Hache Pour La Lune de Miel, La Fille Qui En Savait Trop, L'île de L'épouvante, le Masque Du Démon, Baron Vampire, Les Démons de La Nuit, Lisa et le Diable, le Corps et le Fouet, La Baie Sanglante, La Maison de L'exorcisme, Les Trois Visages de La Peur, Opération Peur. Non illustré. Mises à jour gratuites en ligne. Extrait : La Planète des vampires (Terrore nello spazio) est film de science-fiction-horreur italo-espagnol de Mario Bava, sorti dans les salles italiennes en 1965. C'est le premier film de science-fiction qui, en Italie, a été interdit aux mineurs. Dans un proche futur, les vaisseaux spatiaux Argos et Galliot sont envoyés en mission d'exploration sur la mystérieuse planète Aura. Premier arrivé, l'Argos ne donne plus signe de vie. À l'atterrissage, les membres de l'équipage du Galliot deviennent fous et commencent se massacrer entre eux... soit, comme ils l'apprennent rapidement, exactement ce qui est arrivé à l'Argos. Les explorateurs se rendent bientôt compte que la planète est habitée par des extra-terrestres dénués de corps qui sont prêts à tout pour s'échapper de leur planète à l'agonie. C'est une adaptation d'une nouvelle, inédite en France, nommée Una notte di 21 ore (Une nuit de 21 heures) écrite en 1960 par Renato Pestriniero, dont l'histoire suit les expériences terrifiantes des membres d'équipage de deux immenses vaisseaux spatiaux qui se crashent sur une planète interdite, encore inconnue. Les résidents désincarnés de ce monde possèdent des corps de l'équipage mort durant l'accident, et des zombis qui égrappent et tuent les survivants restants. ...http://booksllc.net/?l=fr ... Read more

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Les achats comprennent une adhésion à l'essai gratuite au club de livres de l'éditeur, dans lequel vous pouvez choisir parmi plus d'un million d'ouvrages, sans frais. Le livre consiste d'articles Wikipedia sur : Giuseppe Rotunno, Tonino Delli Colli, Mario Bava, Carlo Di Palma, Mario Montuori, Ennio Guarnieri, Luigi Kuveiller, Nicholas Musuraca, Vittorio Storaro, Enzo Barboni, Massimo Dallamano, Luciano Tovoli, Mario Craveri, Giovanni Fiore Coltellacci, Daniele Ciprì, Franco Maresco, Aldo Graziati, Wolfango Alfi. Non illustré. Mises à jour gratuites en ligne. Extrait : Giuseppe Rotunno, né le 19 mars 1923 à Rome, est un directeur de la photographie italien. Ava Gardner : ...http://booksllc.net/?l=fr ... Read more

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Les achats comprennent une adhésion à l'essai gratuite au club de livres de l'éditeur, dans lequel vous pouvez choisir parmi plus d'un million d'ouvrages, sans frais. Le livre consiste d'articles Wikipedia sur : Luciano Berio, Claudio Scajola, Edmondo de Amicis, Mario Bava, Léonard de Port-Maurice, Fabio Fognini, Giovanni Domenico Cassini, Marco Guglielmi, Carmine Gallone, Andrea Doria, Giovan Pietro Vieusseux, Giulio Benso, Giovanni Verrando, Giacomo Giretto, Pasquale Anfossi, Domenico Ponsello, Carlo Amoretti, Mercedes Bresso, Giulio Natta, Gregorio de Ferrari, Nicolò Maria Lercari, Achille Vianelli, Giuseppe Perletto, Mariella Devia, Francesco Sasso, Cristiano Salerno, Fernando Fusco, Albino Ballestra, Alessandro Natta. Non illustré. Mises à jour gratuites en ligne. Extrait : Luciano Berio, né le 24 octobre 1925 à Oneglia en Italie et décédé le 27 mai 2003 à Rome, était un compositeur italien réputé pour ses travaux expérimentaux et son travail de pionnier dans la musique électroacoustique. Son père et son grand-père étaient des organistes qui lui apprirent le piano. De 1946 à 1951, Luciano Berio fit de courtes apparitions à la télé pour le jeu monopoly et étudia au Conservatoire Giuseppe Verdi de Milan chez Giulio Cesare Paribeni (contrepoint) et Giorgio Federico Ghedini (composition). C'est à cette époque qu'il découvre les compositeurs modernes de la seconde école de Vienne (Arnold Schönberg, Alban Berg et Anton Webern), mais aussi Bartok, Stravinski, Paul Hindemith et Darius Milhaud. Blessé à la main, il ne peut continuer ses études de piano et gagne sa vie comme accompagnateur de classes de chant. Il fait ainsi la connaissance de la soprano américaine Cathy Berberian qu'il épousa en 1950. Ils restèrent mariés jusqu'en 1964. En 1951, il se rendit aux États-Unis à Tanglewood pour étudier chez Luigi Dallapiccola qui poussa son intérêt vers les principes du sérialisme. Il participa aux Ferienkurse für Neue Musik à Darmstadt...http://booksllc.net/?l=fr ... Read more

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Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Luciano Berio, Carlo Amoretti, Mario Bava, Giovanni Domenico Cassini, Pasquale Anfossi, Claudio Scajola, Fabio Fognini, Edmondo de Amicis, Matteo Giordano, Giulio Natta, Maurizio Peccarisi, Mariella Devia, Mercedes Bresso, Hassan Aziz Hassan, Angelo Iachino, Cino Tortorella, Ugo Ventimiglia. Excerpt:Angelo Iachino (or Jachino ; April 4, 1889 - December 3, 1976) was an Italian admiral during World War II . Early life and career Born at Sanremo , Liguria , Iachino entered the Italian Naval Academy at Livorno in 1904, and graduated in 1907. During World War I he served as commander of a torpedo boat. For his bravery in a combat action he received a decoration at war's end in November 1918. From 1923 to 1928 he served in China as naval attache to the Italian embassy. In 1928 he assumed command of a destroyer, and then a cruiser in the early 1930s. During the Spanish Civil War he was the commander of two groups of light ships. He also participated in the occupation of Albania in April 1939. World War II Iachino commanded a cruiser squadron in the Battle of Cape Spartivento in 1940, and after the Battle of Taranto became an Ammiraglio di Squadra (Vice Admiral) and commander-in-chief of the Regia Marina . He led the navy in the battles of Cape Matapan (March 1941), First Sirte (December 1941) and Second Sirte (March 1942). On 5 April 1943 he was relieved of command and replaced by Carlo Bergamini . He retired in 1954 with the rank of Ammiraglio d'Armata (Admiral), and died in Rome in 1976, at the age of 87. References (URLs online) A hyperlinked version of this chapter is at Carlo Amoretti Carlo Amoretti (16 March 1741, Oneglia , now part of Imperia 23 March 1816) was an ecclesiastic , scholar , writer , and scientist . He was born in Oneglia, now Imperia in the Liguria region, Italy... ... Read more

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Videos: The Alley Cats, Dark Odyssey, Frankenstein's Daughter, Hangmen Also Die, The Libertine, The Lickerish Quartet, Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven In Hell, Once Upon A Time In China And America, Railroaded, Red Lion, Righting Wrongs, Shogun's Shadow, The Soviet avant-garde (5 tapes: By The Law/Chess Fever, Man With A Movie Camera, Storm Over Asia, Turksib/Salt For Svanetia, Deserter), The Wacky World Of Doctor Morgus, Wheels On Meals.Tapes from the attic: Blade Of The Ripper, The Strange Vice of Mrs. Ward, Encounter Of The Spooky Kind, Ghost Fever, Spooky-Spooky.The Lathe Of Heaven : Frank Garcia traces the production history of this acclaimed 1980 PBS movie, and investigates the matter of its 15 year disappearance! With exclusive comments from actors Bruce Davison and Kevin Conway, producer Fred Barzyk, and novelist Ursula K. Le Guin!Laserdiscs/DVD: The Asphyx, Countess Dracula, Twins Of Evil, Vampire Circus, Evil Dead 2-Dead By Dawn, Fahrenheit 451, Little Shop of Horrors-Special Edition, Monty Python's Life Of Brian, The Night Porter, Victim, Operation Condor, Armour of God 2-Operation Condor, Rabid Dogs, Rouge, The Terror, Timecop, Tommy, 12 Monkeys, Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars, Waterworld.Also books (Wes Craven's Last House On The Left: The Making Of A Cult Classic, Making Mischief: The Cult Films Of Pete Walker), soundtracks, letters. ... Read more

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VHS Video! Hatchet for the Honeymoon! John Harrington (Stephen Forsyth) is a successful, handsome, somewhat vain young man who runs a fashion studio. He's also, unfortunately, quite insane. Driven by an overpowering Oedipus complex and the recurring image of his dead wife, Harrington has a compulsion to kill women after dressing them in bridal gowns. With each murder, the root cause of his psychosis is a little closer to being fully revealed, until a long-repressed memory finally comes clear. As with many movies of the giallo genre, Bava's film is somewhat short on plot and long on style. The director's questions about a shifting surface of reality come up again and again; Harrington's obsession with fashion and his own primping can be taken as metaphors for that issue. The narrative is reeled off in a somewhat offhand manner, though, and Harrington, though tragic, is not a character with whom the audience can sympathize. The film's long suit, however, is style, and Bava's trademarks are present throughout: red- and blue-lit sets, zoom shots, gauzy flashbacks, inventive camera work and compositions. Bear with the movie's story pretensions and sluggish pace, and you'll find a giallo that, while it doesn't rank with the best of Mario Bava, still has interesting points to recommend it. --Jerry Renshaw ... Read more

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Ultra-rare import from Italy covering horror films and especially dedicated to the memory of Italian Horror film directors Lucio Fulci and Mario Bava. Text is both in Italian and English. Included with the book is a 2-CD set that contains music from classic horror films performed by various artists. Films covered include: The Omen, The Devils, The Exorcist, The Beyond, Tenebrea, Alien, Poltegeist, Suspiria, Phenomena, Inferno, Mask of Satan, City of the Living Dead, and much more. Performers include: Morte Macabre, Nekropolis, Al Festa, Death SS, Goblin and many more. ... Read more

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El cine de terror en España existe y tiene muy buena aceptación. Los recientes éxitos de “Los otros”, “El orfanato” y “REC”, así lo atestiguan.

Este libro repasa los principales títulos, los actores, los productores, los maquillajes y los efectos de las películas del género rodadas en España y dirigidas por cineastas como Paul Naschy, Jesús Franco, Narciso Ibáñez Serrador, León Klimowsky, Juan Piquer, Amando de Ossorio, José Ramón Larraz, Eugenio Martín, Jorge Grau, Guillermo del Toro o Alejandro Amenábar.

Películas como “La noche de Walpurgis”, “La residencia”, “No profanar el sueño de los muertos”, “Pánico en el Transiberiano”, “El retorno del hombre lobo” o “Los sin nombre” son reseñadas a lo largo de sus páginas.

También se habla de cuando los grandes internacionales del horror como Mario Bava, Christopher Lee, Boris Karloff o Vincent Price rodaron en España.

El Spanish Horror también existe. ... Read more