Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Four Times That Night Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 31, 2018

Mario Bava's "Four Times That Night" (1971) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include an audio commentary by Tim Lucas, deleted scenes, and vintage trailers. In English or Italian, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Men loved her poodle, but she did not know why.

Is Mario Bava’s Four Times That Night a bland sex comedy or something else? Well, if all you see in it is naked bodies, and all you hear from the moving lips is silly jokes, then yes, it is a bland sex comedy. But why would that kind of a simplistic film have such an interesting narrative construction? And why would Bava trouble himself to create such drastic contrasts in each of the film’s segments? Could it be that he was a tad smarter and trying to accomplish something else with his film?

There are five characters that are given completely different identities in each of the film’s four segments. When viewed through their eyes, the events that are chronicled in the film also change rather dramatically.

In the first segment a very attractive girl named Tina Brandt (Daniela Giordano) goes out for a short walk in the park with her puppy and her mini-skirt instantly catches the attention of local playboy Johnny Price (Brett Halsey). He pulls over his fancy car to talk to her, but the girl ignores him and disappears behind the nearby bushes, so the playboy is left with no other option but to turn off the engine and follow her. When he tracks her down, he offers to take her out on a date and -- surprise, surprise -- she accepts. Soon after, the playboy visits the girl’s home and after her mother (Valeria Sabel) explains to him how a proper date ought to end the two head to the city’s fanciest night club. The date goes as planned until on the way back the playboy announces that he must quickly stop by his place and the girl begins to panic. And then it gets worse – the girl is tricked to go with the playboy to his lair, he drops his pants, and she has to fight him to remain a virgin. A few hours later she returns home and reveals to her fuming mother that she was nearly raped.

In the second segment Johnny meets a few of his buddies at a fancy bar and describes to them an entirely different date. Much to their amusement, he confesses that for the first time ever he took out a girl that was a much bigger player, and was so aggressive that after they returned to his place he used his entire arsenal of tricks to preserve his reputation. He could not wait to take her back to her mother.

The third segment features a different version of the date courtesy of an aging doorman (Dick Randall) with a fetish. In it the playboy and the girl are visited by a friendly couple whose idea about having a good time surprises even the supposedly seasoned guard.

The final segment uses different bits of the previous three descriptions and arranges them in a way that changes a lot. In fact, it changes so much that a scientist steps in front of the camera and asks whether there are times when the truth can emerge in a context that makes it so absurd that it actually invalidates itself. A pretty interesting concept, isn’t it?

The playful attitude may seem a bit too loose but it very much works in sync the film’s desire to effectively subvert the classic definition and purposefulness of the truth. In fact, it is because of it and the zesty humor that the film makes its point crystal clear and quite easy to agree with.

The film can be viewed in English or Italian and it is important to underscore that these original audio tracks actually have a pretty dramatic impact on the manner in which important resolutions are delivered, including the big one at the end. For example, the English track, which is preferable, has some particular exchanges that directly target dated stereotypes about the two sexes. More importantly, the short segment with the scientist was completely removed from the international version of the film. (This upcoming release has the Italian version, but when the footage with the scientist emerges the audio switches to Tim Lucas’ comments from the audio commentary about this particular discrepancy between the two versions of the film that were in circulation).

Four Times That Night Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Mario Bava's Four Times That Night arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The film was probably recently transferred in high-definition and then some minor tweaks were done to make it look acceptable. This does qualify as 'remastering' work, but not a 'restoration'. Indeed, the current transfer retains plenty of background shimmer/flicker, some very light color instability, and even a few tiny blemishes. So, there is room for additional improvements and stabilization enhancements, as well as some cosmetic adjustments that ultimately can make the film look significantly healthier. The good news is that the current presentation still has pretty strong organic qualities and even on a larger screen for the most part the visuals hold up quite well. Depth and fluidity are the areas where the shortcomings of the remaster are most obvious, but my guess is that quite a few viewers will have similar feelings about the color instability and lack of proper nuances. There are no traces of problematic sharpening adjustments. Density levels are decent, but they can also be improved quite significantly. There are no serious stability issues. All in all, this is an acceptable remaster that will be appreciated by Mario Bava fans, but this film can and should look even healthier on Blu-ray. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Four Times That Night Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the Italian track.

I viewed the film with the English track because the leads spoke their lines in English, but they were overdubbed and there is some familiar unevenness. However, occasionally there is also light background hiss, as well as a few tiny pops that easily could have been eliminated with digital tools. The good news is that clarity and even depth are still pretty nice. Since the release contains the Italian version of the film which has the footage with the scientist that was trimmed from the international version, there is no English audio for it, so Tim Lucas' comments from the commentary pop up there.

Four Times That Night Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailers - a vintage trailer for Four Times That Night and other Mario Bava films that have been released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber.

• Deleted Scenes - two deleted scenes.
  
  1. Johnny and Tina - this scene was censored in the Italian release version of the film. The picture negative was also cut. However, the audio of the longer U.S. release version survives. In English. (2 min, 1080p).
  
  2. Tina and Esmeralda - this scene was also censored in the Italian release version of the film. In English. (3 min, 1080p).

• Commentary - critic Tim Lucas deconstructs Four Times That Night and comments on the interesting overlapping of different themes throughout the film, and discusses the time period in which the film was produced as well as its placement in Mario Bava's body of work.

Four Times That Night Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is not a coincidence that in the early '70s both Mario Bava and Lucio Fulci directed comedies that used sex only as a pretext to highlight 'unusual' behavioral patterns that actually revealed plenty about the socio-cultural environment that they shared. Bava's Four Times That Night and Fulci's The Eroticist are both chameleons -- the former tackles the nature of perception and subversion and its impact on the evolving relationship between the two sexes, while the latter offers a very witty social commentary on Italian politics and macho culture. I actually think that Fulci's films from this period are so good that had he not veered off in a different direction a few years later he would have left a body of work that would have placed him in the company of such masters as Dino Risi, Alberto Lattuada, and Mauro Bolognini. Kino Lorber's upcoming release of Four Times That Night is sourced from a decent remaster, but there is still room for meaningful improvements. RECOMMENDED.