Kill, Baby… Kill!

We’re back and we’re puzzling over titles. If you were making a Gothic horror film about a haunted village, you might wisely consider a name like Curse of the Dead. Hell, if you wanted to cash in on the popularity of a more famous film, you could even rerelease it as Curse of the Living Dead. On the other hand, you might go for Operation Fear as something more unusual, although that is a bit too close to “Project Fear” for this post-Brexit age. If you were German, you may even consider The Dead Eyes of Dr Dracula, although you might struggle to explain why. On balance, maybe Kill, Baby… Kill! isn’t the worst title you could come up with, although it is close. Maybe another bump of cocaine will shake some inspiration loose. Main Topic: Kill, Baby… Kill! Building on last episode’s exploration of Gothic horror, we thought we’d follow up with a look at a film that typifies the genre. There are a great many films ostensibly linked to the Gothic, but far fewer that really embody both the tropes and the aesthetic. And, when you narrow things down in those terms, one director stands out: Mario Bava. Kill, Baby… Kill! may not be particularly well known, but it turns up regularly on critics’ lists of the best horror films. It’s a strange affair, made on a ludicrously tight budget and largely improvised. As our hosts’ reactions demonstrate, it is not a film for everyone, Still, if you are a fan of classic Italian horror or just dreamlike atmosphere with flashes of weirdness, you’re in for a treat. Links Things we mention in this episode include: * Mario Bava * Black Sunday (1960) * The Whip and the Body (1963) * Black Sabbath (1963) * Baron Blood (1972) * Blood and Black Lace (1964) * Giallo * A Bay of Blood (1971) * All of the Colors of the Dark by Tim Lucas * Calvaire (The Ordeal) (2004) * “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” by HP Lovecraft * Dracula by Bram Stoker * “A Few of My Favourite Things” from Weep for Unknown Armies * Constantine (2005)