Palaest recommended

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Robert Joyner The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Alistair Olson After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Mr_Ectoplasma "A Blade in the Dark" follows a musical composer staying in a remote Tuscan villa to work on the score of a horror movie. A series of murders begin to occur in the villa after his arrival, sparking local interest.Directed by Mario Bava's son, Lamberto Bava, "A Blade in the Dark" is one of the later giallo films to come to fruition, debuting in 1983. Haphazardly dubbed in English (which, as others have noted, is some of the worst dubbing you're likely to ever see), the narrative twists and turns in relatively predictable ways, though there are a few nice surprises to be had, and Bava toys with the movie-within-a-movie trope by having the protagonist scoring a horror film.The film does succeed at achieving a relatively strong atmosphere, and the hilltop Italian villa locations are breathtaking and eerie. There are some great murder sequences as well, and the film strikes a nice balance between suspense and violence. The performances are decent, although the aforementioned dubbing does distract a bit. The ending is clever and very much in line with the film's giallo dedications, as absurd as it may be.Overall, "A Blade in the Dark" is, like many films of its type, atmospherically and visually interesting, but narratively convoluted. As an early-eighties entry into the giallo subgenre, it doesn't do much to distinguish itself, and that is where its biggest problem lies. It is reasonably suspenseful, however, and warrants a view from genre fans. Just don't expect Lamberto to live up to his father's legacy. 6/10.

Red-Barracuda This is the second of Lamberto Bava's impressive string of horror films in the 80's. It followed in the wake of the excellent Macabre and preceded the highly entertaining Demons. This one was firmly in the slasher/giallo style of films. It's another polished effort from the director and is one of the best gialli of the 80's. Unlike the 70's proto-type Bava's film doesn't really focus too much on the mystery side of the story, although it is still definitely there. It's more a stalk and slash affair, although one with some style and suspense.It stars, amongst others, future director Michele Soavi. And it is basically about a film composer who rents a remote villa to create the music for a new thriller. While there vicious murders begin to happen.The story line is nothing out of the ordinary and I would even say things pan out a little predictably. In fact, it's a pretty pedestrian film when it isn't focusing on scenes involving tension or violence. The mystery itself is not especially well thought out and the film as a whole does not have a very good script. The dialogue isn't helped, though, by the particularly bad dubbing. But I can hear a lot of people asking so what, hasn't it ever been thus in this sub-genre of film? Well, this is true but these aspects are made more damaging by the fact that the movie is definitely overlong for what it is and consequently, there is too much padding. It could easily have been trimmed by twenty minutes without sacrificing anything important. If the editing had been tighter, focussing more purely on the horror content at the expense of much of the melodramatics, it would have been a considerably better film.But I have to say that where A Blade in the Dark really scores is in Bava's good handling of tension and horror. When the film does hone in on this, it's often really effective. I would even go as far as to say that it can be genuinely frightening at times. No mean feat to be honest, considering how most films of its type rarely are. The whole finale in the villa with the killer stalking around half-seen speaking with that creepy voice is really effective. While from a horror perspective there is a bathroom killing sequence that is particularly inventively nasty. The atmosphere throughout is helped by some good camera-work and a fairly decent, if repetitive, score. There are also some memorably stylish moments such as the scene in the pool with roaming underwater photography. The action rarely moves from the villa which probably hinders the story developing its mystery thread but it's a reasonably effective setting, even if it is a house that is for some reason fitted out with a somewhat disproportionately impractical number of cupboards. The characters themselves act completely stupidly throughout, however, and at any given opportunity actively ignore events that appear incredibly suspicious. For example, tape is ripped from a recording machine and pages in a diary are thrown in a fire indicating a house-invading intruder but our protagonist merely treats these occurrences with mild concern. And when a mysterious girl emerges from a cupboard in his house he doesn't appear to consider this very strange. But I suppose he subsequently then mixes up a spider with a cockroach and later repeats this strange mistake, so I suppose we are not dealing with a character with too much common sense in fairness.Overall, seeing as this is an 80's giallo I have to cut A Blade in the Dark some slack. Its daftness is sort of endearing to at least a certain extent and it's hardly alone in this when you consider other similar films from the time. But, at the same time, it is successful as a horror film. There's good tension generated at times and it does have a nicely stylish presentation for the most part. It's not going to trouble your brain too much but it's pretty good value as an entertaining example of 80's Italian horror.

ferbs54 Lamberto Bava's first film as a director, 1980's "Macabre," was supposedly a bit too tame in the violence department to satisfy all the gorehounds out there, so in his next picture, 1983's "A Blade in the Dark," the son of the legendary "Father of the Giallo," Mario Bava, created a bloodbath that might well have made papa proud. Filmed on the cheap in only three weeks at the country villa of producer Luciano Martino, the film is yet surprisingly effective and looks just fine. The plot centers around a young composer named Bruno (appealingly portrayed by Andrea Occhipinti) and the four stunning-looking women in his life. Sandra, a film director (Anny Papa), has just hired him to compose the score for her latest horror film, and has ensconced him in a secluded country villa to get the job done. Bruno, as the viewer soon learns, in not untalented, and the score that he comes up with--and that crops up regularly throughout Bava's film--is quite an eerie one. His work, however, is constantly interrupted by the arrival of his actress girlfriend Julia (Lara Lamberti) and by his two hottie neighbors, models Katia and Angela (Valeria Cavalli and Fabiola Toledo). And when these last two mysteriously disappear, apparently by homicide, and other strange events begin to transpire in his lonely rental pad, Bruno finds himself in a real-life horror situation that puts Sandra's fictional one to shame...."A Blade in the Dark" takes its time creating atmosphere and delivering shocks. Its deliberate pace has proved offputting for many viewers, it seems, but I found the picture to be consistently suspenseful and interesting. The film's shocks are well placed and the body count is fairly high, although there are a bit too many "false scares" and red herrings for this viewer's taste, cleverly integrated as they are. It is, as I mentioned up top, a fairly violent giallo, and some of the slayings are quite gruesome to behold. In the worst (if I may spoil things for you/prepare you a bit), the victim has her hand impaled by a kitchen knife, her head wrapped in a plastic bag and battered to a bloody pulp, and her neck pierced through with that same blade. Yikearoo! This killer sure does know how to do a thorough job! And I haven't even mentioned his/her weapon of choice: a retractable box cutter that clicks open, segment by excruciating segment. "I find doing scenes in which women get stabbed to death repugnant," Lamberto says in one of this Blue Underground DVD's extras, but that surely did not prevent him from getting his picture made in an effective manner! The slaying just mentioned is one of the most difficult to watch that I have seen in any giallo, and would fit right into papa Mario's gorefest "Bay of Blood" (1971). Lamberto's later giallo film, "Delirium" (1987), was far less sanguinary, by the way, while his two "Demons" films of the mid-'80s combined the gore with a goodly leavening of humor. "Blade" also features a clever script from the remarkably prolific Dardano Sacchetti, although his psychological explanation for the killer's motive is a flimsy one, at best. Indeed, if everyone had a similar reaction to such a paltry stimulus, 1/4 of all human beings would be homicidal maniacs! As for this Blue Underground DVD itself, the print looks just fine, but has been horribly translated and dubbed (resulting in such lines as "Is it possible you're such a vacant nerd?"); subtitles would have been infinitely preferable. Modern-day interviews with Bava and Sacchetti make for nice extras, however, and, in all, the film is a must-see for all gorehound and giallo completists. When it comes to Lamberto and Mario, it would seem, the apple did not fall far from the tree; or perhaps it would be better to say that the blood did not fall far from the vein....

Leonard Smalls: The Lone Biker of the Apocalypse The version of this that I got is HORRIBLY dubbed. It's like they went on an online translator and changed the dialog to English and it's so ridiculous. There are words used that just make no sense and I got the feeling the whole time that it would have made more sense if it had just been subtitled."A Blade in the Dark" is probably my least favorite Lamberto Bava film that I've seen so far and I'm surprised because usually I love Sachetti's stuff (City of the Living Dead...) But this film was just full of holes. How big is this villa that the dude is staying in??? How come he's not shocked when there is a woman in his closet??? How come he doesn't contact the police??? Then, when you find out who the killer is, it's just totally implausible.I've seen it written that this movie was made to be a comedy. I think it takes itself way too seriously. The only thing that redeems it in the end is the gore. There are a few awesome gore scenes. The music is pretty cool too.5 out of 10, kids.