Kill, Baby... Kill - Mario Bava

(aka "The Curse of the Living Dead" or "Operazione paura" or "Operation Fear" or "Die toten Augen des Dr. Dracula" )

directed by Mario Bava
Italy 1966

This oppressive and visually overwhelming exercise in the conjuring of atmosphere allowed Mario Bava to crank the gothic stylistic tendencies of Black Sunday into overdrive, finally permitting him to churn out scene after scene of hallucinatory intensity with only the barest threads of a plot to hold it all together. The avenging demonic forces of his past films have been distilled here into the single, chilling image of a ghostly young girl, rolling a sinister pale ball down hallways and street corners as she drives those around her to certain death. Rarely has a more haunting or unforgettable specter graced the horror cinema, and even had he never made another film after this, Bava would have already proven himself as a master filmmaker.

Excerpt from Mondo Digital's review found HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: 8 July 1966

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Recommended Books on Italian and Giallo Cinema (CLICK COVERS or TITLES for more information)


Italian Cinema: From Neorealism to the Present by Peter E. Bondanella	Blood and Black Lace Adrian Luther Smith	Italian Film in the Light of Neorealism by Millicent Marcus	The Haunted World of Mario Bava Troy Howarth	Italian Film (National Film Traditions) by Marcia Landy, David Desser	Italian Movie Goddesses: Over 80 of the Greatest Women in Italian Cinema by Stefano Masi, Enrico Lancia	Italian Cinema by Maggie Gunsberg	Art of Darkness: The Cinema of Dario Argento (Directors S.) Chris John Gallant

Check out more in "The Library"

DVD Comparison:

Anchor Bay (Mario Bava Collection) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. VCI - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Laser Paradise - Region 0 - PAL

Big thanks to Gregory Meshman for all the Screen Caps!

(Anchor Bay (Mario Bava Collection) - Region 1 - NTSC LEFT vs. VCI - Region 0 - NTSC - MIDDLE vs. Laser Paradise - Region 0 - PAL - RIGHT)

DVD Box Covers
Distribution	Anchor Bay Region 1 - NTSC	VCI Region 0 - NTSC	Laser Paradise Region 0 - PAL
Runtime	1:23:21	1:23:27	1:19:54 (4% PAL speedup)
Video	1.83:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.52 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.33 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.45 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.85 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 4.12 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Anchor Bay
Bitrate: VCI
Bitrate: Laser Paradise
Audio	English Dolby Digital 2.0, Italian Dolby Digital 2.0	English Dolby Digital 2.0	German MPEG 2.0
Subtitles	English, None	None	None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Anchor Bay Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.83:1 Edition Details: • International Trailer • TV Spots • Mario Bava Bio • Trailers for other Mario Bava Films DVD Release Date: April 3, 2007 Slimcase in a boxset Chapters 16	Release Information: Studio: VCI Aspect Ratio: Fullscreen - 1.33 Edition Details: • 3 Trailers to other movies • Filmography and Biography of Mario Bava DVD Release Date: October 24, 2000 Keep Case Chapters 24	Release Information: Studio: Laser Paradise Aspect Ratio: Widescreen letterboxed - 1.85 Edition Details: DVD Release Date: 16. April 2004 Keep Case Chapters 13

Comments

ADDITION: Anchor Bay - April 07':

Anchor Bay release is a vast improvement over previous public domain and VCI releases. The quality is similar to German disc, but Anchor Bay includes English audio and original Italian soundtrack with English subtitles. Unfortunately, Tim Lucas commentary is not included on this disc (it's owned by Dark Sky Films which cancelled their release at the last minute).

- Gregory Meshman

***

VCI disc is out of print now. There are several public domain releases of this film, but the VCI disc is said to be the best quality. It was transferred from 16mm print, so it doesn't show the whole frame. There're no extras on the disc, so there's no reason to keep this mediocre release. Mario Bava biographer Tim Lucas recorded a commentary for this film to be released by Image Entertainment, but that release never happened. Hopefully, some other studio does this film some justice. German release has excellent colors, but alas it's only in German with no subtitles. There was an earlier German release from Anolis Entertainment under the title Die toten Augen des Dr. Dracula. That disc also includes a 20-minute interview with Erika Blanc in German only, but the picture quality is the same as the disc reviewed here.

- Gregory Meshman

DVD Menus

Anchor Bay (Mario Bava Collection) - Region 1 - NTSC

(VCI - Region 0 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Laser Paradise - Region 0 - PAL - RIGHT)

Screen Captures

(Anchor Bay (Mario Bava Collection) - Region 1 - NTSC TOP vs. VCI - Region 0 - NTSC - MIDDLE vs. Laser Paradise - Region 0 - PAL - BOTTOM)
NTSC capture was minimized from the original size to show the proportion to the PAL release