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Mario Bava
Italian director, screenwriter, special effects artist and cinematographer

Mario Bava

The basics

Quick Facts

Intro
Italian director, screenwriter, special effects artist and cinematographer
Places
Gender
Male
Place of birth
Sanremo
Place of death
Rome
Age
65 years
Family
Father:
Eugenio Bava
Children:
Lamberto Bava
The details (from wikipedia)

Biography

Mario Bava (31 July 1914 – 27 April 1980) was an Italian director, screenwriter, special effects artist and cinematographer from the "golden age" of Italian horror films. His work kick-started the giallo film genre and the modern "slasher film". His son Lamberto Bava later went on to become a noted horror film director in his own right.

Biography

Mario Bava was born in San Remo, Liguria on 31 July 1914. He was the son of Eugenio Bava (1886-1966), a sculptor who also worked as a special effects photographer and cameraman in the Italian silent movie industry. Mario Bava's first ambition was to become a painter. Unable to turn out paintings at a profitable rate, he went into his father's business, working as an assistant to other Italian cinematographers like Massimo Terzano. He also helped his father at the special effects department at Benito Mussolini's film factory, the Istituto LUCE.

Bava became a cinematographer in his own right in 1939, shooting two short films with Roberto Rossellini. He made his feature debut in the early 1940s. Bava's camerawork was an instrumental factor in developing the screen personas of such stars of the period as Gina Lollobrigida, Steve Reeves and Aldo Fabrizi.

Bava completed filming I vampiri (aka The Devil's Commandment) for director Riccardo Freda in 1956, a movie now referred to as the first Italian horror film. Bava was originally hired as the cinematographer, but when Freda walked out on the project midway through production, Bava completed the film in several days, even creating the innovative special effects that were needed. He also handled the cinematography and special effects on the 1955 Kirk Douglas epic Ulysses and the 1957 Steve Reeves classic Hercules, two films credited with sparking the Italian sword and sandal genre.

Bava co-directed The Day the Sky Exploded in 1958, the first Italian science fiction film, predating even the sci-fi films of Antonio Margheriti. Because he had no earlier credited experience as a director, the film was credited solely to Paolo Heusch. In 1959, Bava completed Caltiki - the Immortal Monster, again for Riccardo Freda who left the project prematurely, and also worked on the lighting and special effects for 2 Steve Reeves epics, Hercules Unchained and The Giant of Marathon.

In 1960, Bava directed the gothic horror classic Black Sunday, his first solo directorial effort, which made a genre star out of Barbara Steele. His use of light and dark in black-and-white films is widely acclaimed along with his spectacular use of color in films such as Black Sabbath, Kill, Baby... Kill!, Blood and Black Lace and The Whip and the Body.

His work has proved very influential. Bava directed what is now regarded as the earliest of the Italian giallo films, The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963) and Blood and Black Lace (1964). His 1965 sci-fi/ horror film Planet of the Vampires was a thematic precursor to Alien (1979). Although comic books had served as the basis for countless serials and children's films in Hollywood, Bava's Danger: Diabolik (1968) brought an adult perspective to the genre. Many elements of his 1966 film Kill, Baby... Kill!, regarded by Martin Scorsese as Bava's masterpiece, also appear in the Asian strain of terror film known as J-horror. 1971's A Bay of Blood is considered one of the earliest slasher films, and was explicitly imitated in Friday the 13th Part 2.

Mario Bava was very disappointed with the theatrical distribution of some of his later films. His Lisa and the Devil (1972) was never picked up by a distributor, and had to be later re-edited by the producer (with new 1975 footage) into an Exorcist-clone retitled House of Exorcism in order to get released. Bava's Semaforo Rosso (1974) was never released theatrically during his lifetime; the film only appeared on Video in the late 1990s, re-edited with some new footage, as Rabid Dogs, and was released again later on DVD in 2007 in a slightly altered version under the title Kidnapped.

In 1977, Bava directed his last horror film, Shock, which was co-directed with his son Lamberto Bava who did the work uncredited. Bava later did special effects matte work on Dario Argento's 1980 film Inferno. Mario Bava died of natural causes on 27 April 1980 at age 65. His doctor had given him a physical just a few days before he died from a sudden heart attack, and had pronounced him in perfect health. Right before Bava's death, he was about to start filming a science fiction film titled Star Riders, a project on which Luigi Cozzi had hoped to collaborate.

Mario Bava's son Lamberto Bava worked for 14 years as Bava's assistant director (beginning with Planet of the Vampires), and went on to become a horror film director on his own. On several of Mario's movies, Mario was credited as John M. Old. Later, Lamberto was sometimes credited as John M. Old, Jr. When Lamberto directed his first solo film Macabre in 1980 and screened the completed work for his father, Mario commented jokingly to Lamberto: "I am very proud of you. Now I can die in peace". (He actually did die less than two months later.)

Several books have been published about Mario Bava: Mario Bava by Pascal Martinet (Edilig, 1984) and Mario Bava edited by Jean-Louis Leutrat (Éditions du Céfal, 1994) in French; Mario Bava by Alberto Pezzotta (Il Castoro Cinema, 1995) in Italian; The Haunted Worlds of Mario Bava by Troy Howarth (FAB Press, 2002) and most recently, the massive critical biography Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark by Tim Lucas (Video Watchdog, 2007; ISBN 0-9633756-1-X).

Filmography

YearFilmWorked asNotes
DirectorWriterCinematographer
1943Annabella's AdventureYes
1943Sant'Elena, piccola isolaYes
1946L'Elisir d'amoreYes
1947Uomini e cieliYes
1948Natale al campo 119Yes
1948PagliacciYes
1949Anthony of PaduaYes
1949Follie per l'operaYes
1950Miss ItaliaYes
1950È arrivato il cavaliere!Yes
1950Song of SpringYes
1950Vita da caniYes
1950Her Favourite HusbandYes
1951La Famiglia PassaguaiYes
1951Amor non ho... però... peròYes
1951Cops and RobbersYes
1951La Famiglia Passaguai fa fortunaYes
1952Papà diventa mammaYes
1952Gli Eroi della domenicaYes
1953Balocchi e ProfumiYes
1953Il Bacio dell'AuroraYes
1953Perdonami!Yes
1953Il Viale della speranzaYes
1953Villa BorgheseYes
1954Terza liceoYes
1954Hanno rubato un tramYes
1954GraziellaYes
1954Cose da pazziYes
1955Buonanotte... avvocato!Yes
1955Le avventure di Giacomo CasanovaYes
1955UlyssesYesYes
1956I VampiriYesYes
1956Roland the MightyYes
1956Città di notteYes
1956Beautiful But DangerousYes
1956Mio figlio NeroneYes
1957HerculesYes(translation)
1958The Day the Sky ExplodedYes
1959Hercules UnchainedYes
1959Caltiki - The Immortal MonsterYesYes
1959The Giant of MarathonYesYes
1959The White WarriorYesYes
1960Black SundayYesYesYes
1960Esther and the KingYesYes
1961Hercules in the Haunted WorldYesYesYes
1961Erik the ConquerorYesYesYes
1961The Wonders of AladdinYes
1961The Last of the VikingsYes
1963The Girl Who Knew Too MuchYesYesYes
1963Black SabbathYesYesYes
1963The Whip and the BodyYesYesYes
1964Blood and Black LaceYesYesYes
1964The Road to Fort AlamoYesYes
1965Planet of the VampiresYesYesYes
1966Knives of the AvengerYesYesYes
1966Kill, Baby, KillYesYesYes
1966Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl BombsYesYes
1966A Gunman called NebraskaYesYes
1968Danger: DiabolikYesYesYes
1968The Odyssey (made for Italian TV)YesYes
1970Five Dolls for an August MoonYesYes
1970Hatchet for the HoneymoonYesYesYes
1970Roy Colt and Winchester JackYesYesYes
1971Bay of BloodYesYesYes
1972Baron BloodYesYes
1972Four Times That NightYesYes
1972Lisa and the DevilYesYes
1974Rabid Dogs (aka Kidnapped)YesYesYes
1977ShockYesYesYes
1979La Venere d'Ille (The Venus of the Island)YesYesYes

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