There's a chill in the air this time of year––the kind that makes you hurry inside your house when it's dark out, or sleep with the lights on. As Halloween approaches, you'll want to have your lineup of scary movies handy for cool autumn nights at home. There's no better place to begin than with the legendary Mario Bava. The acclaimed writer/director/cinematographer from the apex of Italian horror cinema influenced the "slacker" genre, and knows how to deliver a heck of a scare. Sit back, lock the doors, and pull the covers up to your nose––here are five must-see Bava films currently streaming on Netflix for your screaming pleasure.
What happens when an heiress is mysteriously murdered in a remote lake house and a bunch of greedy relatives duke it out for the inheritance? You'll have to watch to find out. This film boasts beautiful cinematography, and subtle yet terrifying gore. Bava knows how to direct in such a way that will scare the pants off his viewers. Swift pans, zooms, and focus pulls are all put to ingenious use, here. Watch it, but don't watch it alone.
WARNING: This film is not for those hyper-sensitive to creepy mannequins. Lisa, a beautiful American tourist in Spain, stumbles upon a wealthy family living in isolation on her travels. The only problem for Lisa is that everybody she meets has something to hide. Death, destruction, and terror await her in her stay with this family, and their unsettling butler who bodes, "We all have some unforgivable secret."
If seeing blood makes you woozy, but you're still seeking to quench your horror movie thirst, this film just might be for you. Bava is much more subtle in this whodunit thriller, but every bit as calculated and menacing. What's more, the female protagonist is cunning and nuanced, making her story an incredibly fascinating one in and of itself. In gorgeous black and white, Bava plays with shadows and alternative lighting styles to ensure that you never feel comfortable.
Two words: Boris Karloff. This is a three part series of scary shorts that will make you shudder. Karloff knows how to frighten, and Bava knows how to terrify. Think of it as a three-for-one bargain scare, that showcases Bava's storytelling ability and some might even say Hitchcockian flair. If you're on the fence about this one, just know that it's Ozzy Osbourne loved it so much that he decided name his band after it. All aboard...
If you only see one film by this evil genius, let it be Black Sunday. Also known as The Mask of Satan, this is the film that made Bava a household name, and with good reason. This unnerving film is so wonderfully ahead of its time you'll have a hard time believing the gore and sacrilege was permissible in 1960. In it, a witch rises from the dead to seek vengeance upon her killer's family. It's a simple premise, that delivers on all fronts––story, cinematography, and gore. Gothic horror has never been so...gothic.
