Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Kill, Baby... Kill! Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 8, 2017

That old Shakespearean adage states that a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet, but does changing a film’s title alter at least the perception of what that film has in store? Kill, Baby. . .Kill! has an almost absurd number of alternate names under which it has been released in various countries, names as disparate as Operation Fear, Curse of the Dead, Curse of the Living Dead, and The Dead Eyes of Dr. Dracula, the last two titles showing perhaps a bit of marketing desperation on the part of some nations’ studio bean counters fearful that a “simple” ghost story wouldn’t be enough to get ticket buying posteriors into theater seats. Despite its prevalence of alternative monikers, Kill, Baby. . .Kill! has had a singular influence on certain filmmakers (including such iconic names as Federico Fellini and Martin Scorsese) for years, and has long been considered a high point in Mario Bava’s equally storied career, though truth be told the actual story at hand in the film is fairly basic, without the twists and turns that are often customary in other Gothic themed outings. The opening vignette details the horrifying death of a woman who climbs up the facade of a building and jumps to her demise by impaling herself on the spikes of a wrought iron fence. A doctor named Paul Eswai (Giacomo Rossi-Stuart) is called to a medieval looking Carpathian village to perform an autopsy, and is almost instantly embroiled in what seems to be a conspiracy of silence on the part of the villagers with regard to what may have pushed the deceased woman to take her own life. In fact, Eswai and the town’s local policeman, Inspector Kruger (Piero Lulli), aren’t even sure it was a suicide, and instead wonder if the woman perhaps had a “helping hand” pushing her to her fate. It in fact turns out there were helping hands, albeit perhaps of a spectral variety, and one of the film’s most striking motifs is the image of a young blonde girl placing her hands up against frosted glass as she peers into abodes where the inhabitants are most definitely not thrilled to see her.

There are a number of frankly fairly rote aspects to Kill, Baby. . .Kill! that would seem to argue against it being an outright “masterpiece”, but Bava’s always secure visual virtuosity helps the film to overcome some of these potential drawbacks. The addition of a comely young woman named Monica Schuftan (Erika Blanc) offers an obvious romantic interest for Eswai, but kind of interestingly the film doesn’t exploit this angle as much as might be expected. That said, some of the dialogue between Eswai and Monica is among the clunkiest in the screenplay by Bava, Romano Migliorini and Roberto Natale. The two become a de facto team as the story develops, especially after Inspector Kruger goes poking around where he perhaps shouldn’t.

It becomes apparent fairly quickly into this kind of shallow tale that a local family called Graps is behind all of the nefarious activity, and, again, Kill, Baby. . .Kill! doesn’t ever really provide any substantial surprises as to the background of what’s been going on. The film instead derives quite a bit of interest from purely presentational aspects, with Bava and his cinematographer Antonio Rinaldi taking delight in offering slightly askew framings of the ancient stoneworks of the ancient village of Calcata, north of Rome. The apparitional aspects are among the film’s most memorable visions, with little Melissa Graps (Valerio Valeri) showing up repeatedly to haunt various people, often with a ball in her hands for no discernable reason, in an image that has been repeatedly utilized by other directors in order to convey a kind of weirdly menacing but still innocent seeming mien.

There are certain elements in Kill, Baby. . .Kill! aside from the ghostly little girl which have arguably provided inspiration for other filmmakers along the way. This film’s local “witch”, Ruth (Fabienne Dali), seems an obvious precursor in some ways for characters like Maciara (Florinda Bolkan) in Lucio Fulci’s celebrated giallo from 1972, Don't Torture a Duckling. What’s so interesting about the aspects of Kill, Baby. . .Kill! that have had such resonance with subsequent creative artists is how the actual plot of the film is never truly aped, and instead this or that individual element seems to have captured various imaginations along the way. Therefore, this is one ghost story where the actual underlying plot dynamics aren’t all that memorable, but where there is still certainly a visceral feeling of being haunted.

Note: It's always interesting to see what little "trivia" item may catch some fans' interest with regard to any given cult title release, and in the case of Kill, Baby. . .Kill! it seems to be which title sequence this release features. This has the freeze frame of the impaling main title sequence, though the supplements offer what some feel is the superior title sequence, with the first appearance of Melissa Graps.

Kill, Baby... Kill! Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Kill, Baby. . .Kill! is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following information on the transfer:

Kill, Baby. . .Kill! (Operation paura) is presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with English and Italian mono sound.

The best available original element, an original 35mm internegative, was scanned at 2K resolution at LSP Medien Kuhn und Albrecht GbR, Germany.

Additional grading and restoration was completed at Silver Salt restoration in London.

Audio was provided by LSP Medien Kuhn und Albrecht GbR, Germany.

This is a sometimes odd looking transfer, with an almost always fairly heavy looking grain field which can tend to resolve a bit unevenly at times, as can be seen in some of the screenshots accompanying this review (look especially at those featuring some lighter backgrounds, like bright skies). Color timing and densities are also somewhat variable. Some scenes have rather striking saturation (look at the gorgeous tones lighting the cobwebs in screenshot 12), but quite a bit of this presentation has a somewhat brown, even dowdy, look that doesn't totally pop in the expected "Bava-esque" fashion. Perhaps because of the heavy grain field, clarity is also variable, and at times on the negligible side in midrange and wide shots. Whatever restoration regimens were undertaken have eliminated any huge signs of damage like scratches, and there are similarly no problems with image instability. I will say that the film looks considerably better in motion than some of these static screenshots might suggest.

Kill, Baby... Kill! Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Kill, Baby. . .Kill features English and Italian language tracks in LPCM Mono. The English track sounds like its amplitude has been boosted slightly, and as such some sound effects may resonate better for some listeners in that version. You get very loose synch at times no matter which language you choose, with lip movements sometimes having very little to do with the sounds emanating from them. Fidelity is fine generally speaking, though both tracks have an unmistakable boxiness that tends to show itself most in underscore and effects scenes.

Kill, Baby... Kill! Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary by Tim Lucas


• The Devil's Daughter (1080p; 21:39) is a well done video essay by Kat Ellinger which is subtitled Mario Bava and the Gothic Child and which explores the film's most iconic image and how it has influenced other filmmakers.


• Kill, Bava, Kill (1080i; 25:03) is an archival interview with Lamberto Bava, Mario Bava's son. In Italian with English subtitles.


• Erika in Fear (1080p; 11:00) features actress Erika Blanc in a 2014 interview.


• Yellow (1080p; 6:49) is a short film from 2006 by Semih Tareen that pays homage to Bava.


• German Opening Titles (1080p; 3:25)


• International Trailer (1080p; 2:32)


• Photocomic (1080p) hails from 1976 and the collection of Uwe Huber.


• Image Gallery (1080p) features a selection of advertising material for the German version, again from the collection of Uwe Huber.


• Introduction (1080p; 00:35) features Erika Blanc. This option is available under the Play menu.

As usual, Arrow has also provided a nicely appointed insert booklet with writing and stills.

Kill, Baby... Kill! Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kino Lorber has brought out Kill, Baby... Kill! for domestic (US) consumption a few weeks ago, but as of the writing of this review, we haven't officially covered it. US consumers may want to wait until that version is officially reviewed to compare and contrast, but for those interested, this release plays fine in Region A, with no problematic boot up content encountered. The film has some glaring logical flaws, and some of the dialogue is beyond silly, but Kill, Baby. . .Kill! still manages to whip up a palpable mood, one built largely (and successfully) on Bava's almost inerrant visual sensibilities. Technical merits encounter a few hurdles, but as usual Arrow has assembled a nice supplemental package. Recommended.