Mario Bava’s legacy is celebrated at New York City’s The Quad Cinema
Fans of Italian horror are generally aware that if it wasn’t for Italian artist-turned-director Mario Bava, there would be no Italian horror movies full stop. Well, at least they wouldn’t have made the kind of phantasmagorical mark they made on the world of cinema. Bava’s early work with director Ricardo Freda (I Vampiri, Caltiki) gave Bava, a fine artist, the chops to strike out on his own with the legendary Barbara Steele shocker Black Sunday… and the rest is history.
RELATED: Every Mario Bava Movie Ranked!
Over the course of more than two dozen features, Bava’s distinctive style developed from baroque manipulation of chiaroscuro into spectacular use of color, with his reach extending into spy films, Westerns, sex comedies, and a series of benchmark horror films that laid the groundwork for the giallo and the modern slasher movie. A master stylist with a flair for lurid visuals, Bava’s imprint on contemporary cinema is incalculable: Fellini, Scorsese, Carpenter, Dante, del Toro, Tarantino, Francis Ford Coppola, Dario Argento – all were influenced by the so-called maestro of the macabre.
Now, The Quad Cinema in New York (34 West 13th St. btwn. 5th & 6th Ave) will present their own salute to the master with Mondo Bava, running July 14-25. The series is a celebration of Bava’s legacy with a near-complete retrospective of his work — 21 titles with 13 on 35mm — plus the U.S. Premiere of a new 4K restoration of Planet of the Vampires.
The series will be preceded by the World Premiere of a new 50th Anniversary restoration of Kill, Baby…Kill!, opening on July 7.
Here’s the list of films being screened:
5 Dolls for an August Moon 1970, 35mm
A Bay of Blood 1971, 35mm
Baron Blood 1972, 35mm
Black Sabbath 1963, 35mm
Black Sunday 1960, 35mm
Blood and Black Lace 1964, DCP
Danger: Diabolik 1968, HDCam
Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs 1966, 35mm
Erik the Conqueror 1961, 16mm
Evil Eye 1963, 35mm
Four Times That Night 1972, 35mm
A Hatchet for the Honeymoon 1970, DCP
Hercules in the Haunted World 1961, 35mm IB Technicolor
The Judge and the Assassin 1976, DCP
Knives of the Avenger 1966, DCP
Lisa and the Devil 1973, 35mm
*Planet of the Vampires 1965, DCP
*U.S. premiere of new 4K restoration
Rabid Dogs (aka Kidnapped) 1974, 35mm
Roy Colt and Winchester Jack 1970, 35mm
Shock (aka Beyond the Door II) 1977, 35mm
The Whip and the Body 1963, DCP
For more on the series visit the official Quad website today. This is an important series and if you’re in the area, you have few excuses not to venture out.
