Schlocktoberfest XV – Day 15: Blood and Black Lace

Blood and Black Lace (1964)

Country of Origin/Production: Italy

Trailer:

*Spoilers Throughout*

What’s This About: Masked killer. Dressed in black. Dead models. Italian. Take a fucking guess.

Here are some of my observations as I watched the film:

Five giallos for the month is plenty for no money and no readership.
This is like, my third or fourth Cameron Mitchell project here isn’t it?
Nice credit opening with the actual actor appearing with their names.
Would have been funny to show the crew too, but this is Bava.
More models and another goddamn fashion house. These giallos are starting to bleed into each other.
I can already see Suspiria in this.
Why is everyone hiding from each other here.
This is another oddball haute couture house isn’t it?
Those red mannequins are Suspiria mannequins. I know this movie was first, just go with the fucking joke.
Dead body in the locker, memories of Student Bodies.
The cop looks like he could have been Drago’s father.
The dress designer was hired solely because he looks like Peter Lorre.
This giallo killer went for an almost opaque white mask to go with the obligatory back gloves, Fedora, and trench coat.
He looks exactly like the Blank.
Peggy looks like Grace Kelly. That is all.
Every fucking cast member is visually upset at the revelation of Isabella’s diary.
Laura Palmer’s diary destroyed an entire Pacific Northwest town, so this fashion house should be fine.
The US’s retrieval of the Lost Ark of The Covenant didn’t cause a stir like Isabella’s fucking diary did.
You know it if you see it, but this movie was very 1960’s.
How did Peggy’s purse get stolen from the table? She was holding it.
Black gloves! This is a giallo remember.
And the record for the number of times the word, “Frank?” being said goes to…
Peggy never realized that the consequences of her bailing out of a in-progress fashion show would be so dire.
This killer has a 3-pronged claw. Molto bene.
Why is the blank killer hilarious while driving?
The only good thing about the actor playing Marco is Paul Frees’ voice overdubbing him.
Am I crazy or is every male voice in this dub Paul Frees?
All of the voices are Paul Frees confirms the IMDB.
And I am crazy. We now return you to the arts…
If Hitchcock invented the Macguffin, Bava definitely perfected it with Isabella’s diary.
Of course there’s dirt on everyone in this movie in that diary – gotta move shit along ya know?
Well, so much for that Macguffin, which is now aflame.
The killer writes, “wo ist das tagebuch?” I had to Google it too.
I think the killer knew when he woke up this morning he was gonna have to slap a bitch.
He carries Peggy up the stairs willy-nilly. The fucking cardio that is required to be a masked serial killer is ridiculous. Leslie Vernon was right.
I think even Paul Frees would admit he has only 5 or 6 accents before they start to sound the same.
My point is that they could have hired Hans Conreid to help out with some of the dubbing.
Nobody got that fucking reference.
Nobody reads this site.
This Ricardo fella (played by Franco Ressel) looks like if you did that Alison Brie / Dave Franco “Together” thing with Donald Sutherland and Udo Kier.
Fuck that movie by the way, the whole time waiting for them to morph together and all they do is make Pat from SNL. Fuck you.
Oh Peggy, I’m sorry I forgot you were there. Let her go Blank Faced Killa, she never hurt nobody.
Nope, he burns her to death in a furnace. Oh well, fuck me. Which way is the Faramaceutica di Santa Maria Novella?
I want Inspector Silvestri to say, “Frostbite Falls” so fucking bad.
That’s it. Scream, “I’ll kill you” to profess your innocence.
I hope Paul Frees had an absolute ball dubbing Cesare’s epileptic seizure, because I had one listening to it.
A woman who matches her lipstick to her phone, is a woman who has OCD and you should get her some help.
Slivestri arrests the whole fucking cast and I guess we’ll just chop away at the bandits from here on out.
This one model looks like Elvira swallowed Katie Sackoff while burping Joan Jett.
Women drivers. Am I right fellas?
Those mannequins remind me of my old Micronauts collection.
This killer loves leaving his vics in trunks of cars boy howdy.
No screams of help? Just drag the corpse into the villa? All right, you do you I guess.
Charles the butler is Mr. Belvedere by way of Italy and China. I guess it would have been easier to just say weird looking.
According to our new arrival, this movie is pure survival, and we just might get through this giallo yet.
That wasn’t a scene transition, the killer actually strummed a harp I think. It’s pretty dark in this room.
The killer gives Greta the old-folks-home pillow sandwich to shut her up.
Bodies are still piling up even with everyone arrested Inspector. You might wanna rethink some things in this investigation.
Cameron Mitchell has the killer’s notebook. Hmmm.
Line of the year: “Mr. Morland I’m a calm person, I’m not nervous. But the thought that a sex maniac is prowling around your fashion house, well; I don’t like it.”
Cameron and Christina come right the fuck out and tell you that they’re the killers. Why BS the audience at this point.
That was a long fucking scene for our killers to figure out what their next move is.
Smash cut to Blank Face Killa drowning the last bitch barking.
Not only does Christina drown the last model in the tub, she figures while she’s there she’ll give her the Frankie Pentangelli special.
The blood going up to her face underwater is a now famous shot that is almost always on Mario Bava’s highlight reel.
Christina has been double-crossed by her POS husband and partner in crime, then falls out of the model’s window.
Andiamo Mario, we don’t need this slow a POV shot so close to the finish line.
When you double cross you partner in crime, why would you ever leave a loaded gun on a desk then walk away from it?
Looks like Christina survived her fall much to Max’s chagrin. Those pesky shop awnings breaking falls instead of spinal columns, Murphy’s law right Max?
Holy fuck, another speech with the killers.
She gives Max two slugs in the belly, summons the gendarme, and then dies right next to him.
Well, at least they won’t talk to each other anymore.

Final Thoughts: To call this movie Bava’s Mona Lisa would be accurate since it’s not his best work, it’s just his most popular. It is definitely the springboard for what was to become his oeuvre, and a sweet finish to my giallo run this year.

How Italian 🇮🇹 is it: Luciano Pavarotti and Andrea Bocelli sing its praises to the villages. 100% Tariff.

Was It Entertaining: