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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r |
(aka "Reazione a Catena" or "Ecologia del Delitto" or "Twitch of the Death Nerve" or "Blood Bath" )
directed by Mario Bava
Italy 1971
A picturesque piece of bay property is the motivation for murder in Mario Bava's A BAY OF BLOOD (aka CHAIN REACTION or THE ECOLOGY OF CRIME or TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVE or BLOOD BATH or LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, PART II). Countess Federica (Isa Miranda, THE NIGHT PORTER) is murdered for profit by her husband Filippo (Giovanni Nuvoletti). Seconds later, however, Filippo too is murdered by an unseen assailant and his body hidden. Upon news of the Countess' mysterious death (and her husband's disappearance), a number of victim-fodder characters converge upon the bay. There's Simon (Claudio Camaso, brother of Gian Maria Volante), the countess' illegitimate son who lives as a squid fisherman in a shack on the bay, Filippo's daughter Renata (Claudine Auger, THUNDERBALL), her husband Albert (Luigi Pistilli, FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE), their children (DAMNED IN VENICE's Renato Cestič and Nicoletta Elmi of Argento's DEEP RED and Lamberto Bava's DEMONS), medium Anna Fossati (Laura Betti of Pasolini's TEOREMA and Bava's earlier HATCHET FOR THE HONEYMOON) and her amateur entomologist husband Paolo (Leopoldo Trieste, CALIGULA), profiteering land developer Frank Venura (Chris Avram, THE EERIE MIDNIGHT HORROR SHOW) and his slinky secretary Laura (Anna Maria Rosati). Oh, let's not forget the bubbly, scantily clad quartet of youths Denise (Paola Montenero, MAN, WOMAN, AND BEAST), Duke (Guido Boccaccini), Robert (Roberto Bonanni, FORGET PARIS), and skinny-dipping Brunhilda (Brigitte Skay, who also appeared in Bava's FOUR TIMES THAT NIGHT). Soon enough, a watchful presence (or several since many of the characters are seen spying on each other for various sexual and violent motivations) starts whittling down the cast in increasingly bloody ways. The solution may not be a question of whodunnit, but of "who's left?" Mario Bava was originally proposed to do the special effects for Dino Di Laurentis' KING KONG, which ultimately went to Carlo Rambaldi (who slathers on the gore here). |
Posters
Theatrical Release: 3 May 1972 (USA)
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
Comparison:
Arrow Video (English Export Version) - Region 0 - PAL vs. Arrow Video (English Export + Italian Versions) - Region FREE - Blu-ray vs. Anchor Bay (English Export Version) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Raro Video (Italian Version) - Region 2 - PAL vs. Arrow Video (Italian Version) - Region 0 - PAL |
Big thanks to Eric Cotenas and Gregory Meshman for the Screen Caps!
1) Arrow Video - Region FREE - Blu-ray - LEFT2) Arrow Video (English Export + Italian Versions) - Region 0 - PAL - SECOND 3) Anchor Bay (English Export Version) - Region 1 - NTSC - THIRD4) Raro Video (Italian Version) - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT |
Box Covers |
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Distribution |
Arrow Video Region FREE - Blu-ray |
Arrow Video Region 0 - PAL |
Anchor Bay Region 1 - NTSC |
Raro Video Region 2 - PAL |
Runtime |
1:24:02.078 Italian Version: 1:24:53.630 |
1:20:30 (4% PAL speedup) Italian Version: 1:21:21 (4% PAL speedup) |
1:24:09 | 1:21:24 (4% PAL speedup) |
Video |
Disc Size: 46,731,409,195 bytes Feature Size: 22,484,219,904 bytes Italian Version: 10,532,468,736 bytes Average Bitrate: 29.96 / 13.99 MbpsDual-layered Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video 1080P |
1.89:1 Original Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
1.77:1 Original Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
1.87:1 Original Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Bitrate:
Arrow Video Blu-ray (English Export Version)
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Bitrate:
Arrow Video (English Export Version)
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Bitrate:
Anchor Bay (English Export Version)
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Bitrate:
Raro Video (Italian Version)
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Bitrate:
Arrow DVD (Italian Version)
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Audio |
LPCM Audio English 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536
kbps / 16-bit LPCM Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit LPCM Audio Italian 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit |
English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono |
English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono |
Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 mono |
Subtitles | English, none | English, none | none | English, Italian, none |
Features |
Release Information: Studio: Arrow Video
Disc Size: 46,731,409,195 bytes Feature Size: 22,484,219,904 bytes Italian Version: 10,532,468,736 bytes Average Bitrate: 29.96 / 13.99 MbpsDual-layered Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video 1080P
Edition Details:
Joe Dante remembers TWITCH OF THE
DEATH NERVE (12:23 in HD!) Chapters 16 |
Release Information: Studio: Arrow Video Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details: Chapters 16 |
Release Information: Studio: Anchor Bay Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details:
DVD Release Date: 23 October
2007 Chapters 16 |
Release Information: Studio: Raro Video Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details:
DVD Release Date: 6 December
2010 Chapters 10 |
Comments |
ADDITION: Arrow DVD (Italian version) - (December 2010) - The Arrow Italian version has the exact same bitrate and runtime as the Raro DVD and may be a direct port of that PAL MPEG2 stream as I can see little difference between the Arrow SD Italian version and the Raro transfer (it has the exact same running time and bitrate - compare the bitrate graphs - the 1080P version on the Blu-ray runs longer because its framerate is 23.976). The English subtitles, however, are rendered in a different font. Disc 2 also features an interview with screenwriter Dardanno Sacchetti. Eric Cotenas NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. ADDITION: Arrow Region FREE Blu-ray - (November 2010) - Like Eric, I was sent a an early single-disc screener with no packaging. It is a dual-layered Blu-ray (almost 47 Gig) and it has both the English export (at 22 Gig) and the Italian version (at a little over 10 Gig) plus most of the extras already discussed below in Arrow's SD-DVD package but in HD (this includes the Tim Lucas commentary, 1/2 hour Giallo Gems of Dardano Sachetti featurette, Joe Dante piece, cameraman Gianlorenzo Battaglia etc.). The English export appears quite strong in motion. It is, obviously, from the same source as the DVD but almost 4X the bitrate. It shows more texture, depth and looks much more like 'film' than the flatter, video-like, DVD presentation. I can't speak to the muted colors. The 1080P Italian version doesn't fare as well - with, predictably, more noise (1/2 the bitrate of the Export transfer), but it also seems brightness boosted with visible flaring and the image may be horizontally stretched with characters appearing with abnormally fatter faces. This, however, seems true of the Raro DVD as well though and is probably due to the available source being compromised.Audio also get a healthy bump to HD (a linear PCM track at 1500 kbps) but remains faithfully mono. Stelvio Cipriani's eerie and funky original music doesn't gain any range but has improved depth and bass response. There are optional English subtitles available. It appears as though the video extras on the Blu-ray are now in NTSC running time (as opposed to PAL speed on the DVD) and like the two features played fine on my region-locked Oppo player. This confirms the disc is region FREE disc playable on Blu-ray machines worldwide.
Beyond the body
count this is often considered one of the pinnacles of the
Giallo genre and despite the inherent inferiorities of the
Italian version - this seems like another very adept package
from Arrow that will have Bava fans drooling. Keep it coming...
*** ON THE DVDs: Only disc 1
featuring the new transfer of the English version and the bulk
of the extras was provided to me for review. As with most of the
English versions of the film, music and effects are louder (and
sometimes prone to high-end distortion) while the dialogue track
is lower (the English version has been equipped with optional
English subtitles). While the increased amount of detail from
this HD-mastered transfer is truly revelatory (some shots look
like they were filmed yesterday), the telecine operator has
sapped some of the film's Technicolor hues (the spurting blood
in some of the gore scenes look more like rust compared to the
earlier transfers). There is also a faint image trembling during
the first reel. The transfer occupies 4.51 GB of the dual-layer
disc's total 6.85 GB.
Arrow has carried
over the Tim Lucas audio commentary from the Anchor Bay edition.
One annoyance is the long introductory credits to the interviews
(one of these intros eats up a minute-and-a-half of the twelve
minute Joe Dante featurette that itself only devotes less than
three minutes to discussing BAY). There is also a 20+ minute
interview with assistant cameraman Gianlorenzo Battaglia (who
first assisted Bava on
HATCHET FOR THE HONEYMOON
and subsequently became son Lamberto Bava's cinematographer of
choice) who speaks about working with Bava as well as some of
the cast members. Edgar Wright comments on the two trailers (he
cites the CARNAGE version as the inspiration for his
DON'T trailer for
GRINDHOUSE) but the trailers themselves are not offered
without commentary. Disc 2 (which was not provided) presents the
Italian cut of the film (which is virtually the same but some
dialogue sequences were shot in both English and Italian) and an
interview with screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti. While the color
timing on this new edition is disappointing, the new transfer is
still an essential view for Bava fans (it would be interesting
to see an HD-mastered
BARON BLOOD which which was made just after this and
features a similar mix of earthy tones and gelled lighting -
with less subdued color). A Blu-ray
of the Arrow edition is set for December 20, 2010 (HERE). Anchor Bay's DVD
has better audio (an improvement over the out-of-print Image
Entertainment disc which featured a nice 16:9 transfer but had
virtually inaudible dialogue and loud music and effects) and it
is only available in 6-disc THE BAVA COLLECTION VOLUME 2
(which features eight films - nine if you include the alternate
version of RABID DOGS). The transfer features bolder
colors. The audio commentary track with Tim Lucas that is
featured on the Arrow disc was recorded for this edition (along
with three others for this set). The CARNAGE trailer is
included here sans Edgar Wright commentary as well as the radio
spots. The Image DVD had special access to the film's thirteen
murders (in addition to the normal scene selection options).
Raro's DVD presented the Italian cut of the film in a
not-so-pristine 16:9 transfer (it appears that the telecine
operator for the HD version based the color timing on this
Italian master, although even the Raro version has stronger
colors) in Italian with optional English subtitles. The Italian
track is more elegant and sophisticated so it is fortunate that
it was also carried over to the Arrow sets.
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DVD Menus
(Arrow Video (English Export Version) -
Region 0 - PAL - LEFT vs. Anchor Bay (English Export Version) -
Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE vs. Raro Video (Italian Version) -
Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)
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Arrow Video - Region FREE - Blu-ray
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CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Screen Captures
1) Arrow Video (English Export Version) - Region 0 - PAL - TOP 2) Arrow Video (English Export Version) - Region FREE - Blu-ray - SECOND3) Anchor Bay (English Export Version) - Region 1 - NTSC - THIRD4) Raro Video (Italian Version) - Region 2 - PAL - FOURTH 5) Arrow Video (Italian Version) - Region FREE - Blu-ray - FIFTH 6) Arrow Video (Italian Version) - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM |
Subtitle sample (no subtitles on Anchor Bay edition)
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1) Arrow Video (English Export Version) - Region 0 - PAL - TOP 2) Arrow Video (English Export Version) - Region FREE - Blu-ray - SECOND3) Anchor Bay (English Export Version) - Region 1 - NTSC - THIRD4) Raro Video (Italian Version) - Region 2 - PAL - FOURTH 5) Arrow Video (Italian Version) - Region FREE - Blu-ray - FIFTH 6) Arrow Video (Italian Version) - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM |
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1) Arrow Video (English Export Version) - Region 0 - PAL - TOP 2) Arrow Video (English Export Version) - Region FREE - Blu-ray - SECOND3) Anchor Bay (English Export Version) - Region 1 - NTSC - THIRD4) Raro Video (Italian Version) - Region 2 - PAL - FOURTH 5) Arrow Video (Italian Version) - Region FREE - Blu-ray - FIFTH 6) Arrow Video (Italian Version) - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM |
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1) Arrow Video (English Export Version) - Region 0 - PAL - TOP 2) Arrow Video (English Export Version) - Region FREE - Blu-ray - SECOND3) Anchor Bay (English Export Version) - Region 1 - NTSC - THIRD4) Raro Video (Italian Version) - Region 2 - PAL - FOURTH 5) Arrow Video (Italian Version) - Region FREE - Blu-ray - FIFTH 6) Arrow Video (Italian Version) - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM |
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1) Arrow Video (English Export Version) - Region 0 - PAL - TOP 2) Arrow Video (English Export Version) - Region FREE - Blu-ray - SECOND3) Anchor Bay (English Export Version) - Region 1 - NTSC - THIRD4) Raro Video (Italian Version) - Region 2 - PAL - FOURTH 5) Arrow Video (Italian Version) - Region FREE - Blu-ray - FIFTH 6) Arrow Video (Italian Version) - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM |
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