I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve seen this, but each viewing makes me like it more and more.An heiress is killed and sets off a sequence of murderous events as her family and acquaintances all try to get a piece of her estate. There’s a bit of debate as to what movie was the “first slasher”, but this one will always hold that title for me. There were certainly movies that came out prior to this that influenced the genre, but this one just really feels like the one that built the framework for all the slasher movies to come.The Kills are super violent and extremely well done. My favorite would have to be that curved hatchet to the face. Bava must have been awfully confident of it as well because we are treated to a beautiful lingering close-up of the aftermath. The cast is good and good looking. When someone isn’t being killed, we are treated to some super fun scenes of everyone else slinking around the estate acting shady as hell. With the exception of some partying teens who just came to the wrong place at the wrong time, these people are the absolute WORST and yet watching all their soap opera antics never gets old to me. If the actors weren’t so good then you’d probably hate every single character, but it’s hard to imagine anyone not loving Laura Betti’s bat shit crazy scheming psychic complete with an entomologist husband because why the hell not, right? Plus, that giant “f*ck all y’all” ending is just one of the best ever.The Kino Lorber print is the best one I’ve seen and absolutely worth the investment. I can’t recommend this crazy bananas gorefest enough.Bananameter: 🍌scale broken🍌
