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It looks like the "new wrinkle" was a subtle title change for the set.

And also the addition of Kidnapped/Rabid Dogs to the set.

Fifty bucks ain't bad for a box set like this - I'm sold! Looks like I'll be getting a first-rate introduction to Bava (and Barbara Steele ). Should I watch Black Sunday first or Black Sabbath first?

Matt wrote:

It looks like the "new wrinkle" was a subtle title change for the set.

And also the addition of Kidnapped/Rabid Dogs to the set.

I'm not sure, earlier in the press release they say:

Now, Anchor Bay Entertainment and International Media Films proudly present The Mario Bava Box Set: Volume 1, a 5-disc DVD collection of five landmark films from the first half of Mario Bava's impressive career. Bowing April 3rd, The Mario Bava Box Set Volume 1 features new transfers of the original international versions, along with brand-new bonus materials, of such seminal Bava classics as The Mask of Satan (Black Sunday), The Three Faces of Fear (Black Sabbath), The Girl Who Knew Too Much, Knives of the Avenger and Kill, Baby…Kill!. SRP is $49.98 with pre-book on February 21st.

On the same day, Anchor Bay will also release Mario Bava's cult thriller Kidnapped, produced by longtime collaborator Alfredo Leone. Available for the first time on DVD, Kidnapped (aka Rabid Dogs)...

... Available as a separate DVD, Kidnapped (aka Rabid Dogs) has a history equal in drama and scope to its explosive narrative...

It looks like they might just have made an error when they listed the special features and repeated the Kidnapped details with the box set titles, accidentally making it look as if it was part of the set.

The total running time of the set of 440 minutes (if that is indeed correct) would also unfortunately appear to suggest that it is a five film box. But, great news in any event!

I'm also going to pick this up as an introduction. Looking forward to it. IT fits as April is the only month so far in 2007 I won't be buying at least one criterion. Unfortunately or fortunately, May will more than make up for that.

>>Should I watch Black Sunday first or Black Sabbath first?<<

BLACK SUNDAY.

The box set is $29.99 at deepdiscount. Not bad.

Bava with subtitles? Oxymoron.

Barmy wrote:Bava with subtitles? Oxymoron.

Well, not everyone understands Italian.

Question about the Bava set, since they do not have the English version are the Image disks which I already have the English versions?

Also while Knives of the Avenger might be the worst film in the set, I still really like it. A very solid Bava, I think that I like it more than A Girl Who Knew too Much.

Black Sunday is one of my favorite Bava films and I am looking forward to a better transfer of it. The release has me extremely excited.

MASK OF SATAN (BLACK SUNDAY)
International version with English dubbing
Widescreen presentation (1.66:1), enhanced for 16x9 televisions
Audio commentary by Mario Bava biographer Tim Lucas
U.S. and International trailers
TV spot
Mario Bava & Barbara Steele bios

Does that mean the set will not include the Italian version of Black Sunday with English subtitles?

I'm a bit confused or maybe I'm making myself blind to the truth.

Thanks to Netlix, I made a tour through Bava's crypt of amazing films this past week. Some for the first time - Blood and Black Lace and The Whip and The Body. Is Anchor Bay planning to release those two films or Lisa and the Devil in the future? If not, then I will definitely buy the VCI dvds and the Raro dvd of Lisa. Bava is the director to love more than any one else.

Michael wrote:Does that mean the set will not include the Italian version of Black Sunday with English subtitles?

I'm a bit confused or maybe I'm making myself blind to the truth.

The latter, Michael. It was never announced it would contain both dubs. The only way to get them is if you buy the italian DVD.

Blood and Black Lace and Whip and the Body are said to be included in further collections.

Lino wrote:Blood and Black Laceand Whip and the Body are said to be included in further collections.

I really hope that they are - though the German edition of The Whip and the Body looks excellent, though I have held off buying it. The VCI edition of Blood and Black Lace is a travesty and the German SE with englihs subs is OOP - the single disc lacks subs.

The latter, Michael. It was never announced it would contain both dubs. The only way to get them is if you buy the italian DVD.

For some reason I thought Anchor Bay was going to turn out the special edition of Black Sunday complete with the Italian audio. Geez, I can get delusional about things like that.

Just for the fun of it, if I had to choose the top five Bava films, then the list would look like this: 1) Lisa and the Devil 2) Kill Baby..Kill! 3) Blood and Black Lace 4) Whip and the Body 5) Black Sunday. I realize that Black Sunday is the most important film Bava made and it's painfully beautiful. The black & white cinematography is spellbinding and shocking. David Lynch claimed that he had his crew studying Sunset Blvd. before filming Eraserhead but the latter certainly feels like Black Sunday more than Sunset Blvd so I'd be surprised if Lynch hadn't seen BS prior to making Eraserhead.

But Bava's color films are really something else also. Black Sabbath remains unwatched by me so needless to say, I'm really looking forward to seeing it very soon.

What pisses me off is that so many criticisms of Bava's films on IMDB and elsewhere complain about his films being "dated". Fuck that.

Michael, I'd rate the Bava films in this order:

1) Black Sabbath
2) Lisa & the Devil
3) Kill, Baby... Kill!
4) The Girl Who Knew Too Much
5) Blood & Black Lace

Although The Whip & The Body is undeniably great (the shot where Christopher Lee literally swallows the camera may be the most beautiful and haunting moment in Bava), it does have its' own sense of pace which can be good or bad depending on your mood. Stunning score too.

Twitch of the Death Nerve is really tense and really funny too. I also enjoyed Five Dolls For An August Moon, which is relentlessly esoteric and has some amazing ellipses. However I'm going to have to disagree with Matt and others here that I don't think Shock is very interesting: although it has an amazing uneasy atmosphere totally unrelated to his usual gothic excesses and one brilliant scare involving the young boy, it falls flat more often than it succeeds. Yet only Bava could make a porcelain hand being removed from sofa cushions as disturbing as it is.

Hatchet for the Honeymoon is a real kick too - it's scary and funny and the opening titles were animated by Bava himself using paint and sand or something similar. And I thought shooting down into a paint mixer at the start of Diabolik was a stroke of genius...

Michael, I'd rate the Bava films in this order:

1) Black Sabbath
2) Lisa & the Devil
3) Kill, Baby... Kill!
4) The Girl Who Knew Too Much
5) Blood & Black Lace

Black Sabbath as #1! This must be a great film. I can't wait to see it when Anchor releases it shortly.

Although The Whip & The Body is undeniably great (the shot where Christopher Lee literally swallows the camera may be the most beautiful and haunting moment in Bava), it does have its' own sense of pace which can be good or bad depending on your mood. Stunning score too.

I agree with every word. Every shot is exquisite - the dark, eerie visuals brilliantly reinforcing the perverse, morbid, sad atmosphere of it all. The actress who plays Nevenka leaves me in utter amazement ...how she conveys incredible emotion through her body language and her enormous, vulnerable eyes. Plus Christopher Lee in one of his most consuming, haunting performances. Perfect film all around.

Michael wrote:Black Sabbath as #1! This must be a great film. I can't wait to see it when Anchor releases it shortly.

The "Drop of Water" segment of Black Sabbath is probably the best thing Bava ever did and one of the finest moments of Gothic horror.

Since other people are doing it and I love making lists, here is how I would rate the Bava's I have seen (sorry for being slightly off topic). Also I would consider the top 5 to all be equal and my ordering of them changes depending on my mood.

1. Hatchet for the Honeymoon
2. Shock
3. Black Sunday
4. Blood and Black Lace
5. 5 Dolls for an August Moon
6. Rabid Dogs
7. Lisa & the Devil
8. Black Sabbath
9. The Whip and the Body
10. Knives of the Avenger
11. Baron Blood
12. Twitch of the Death Nerve
13. The Girl Who Knew Too Much
14. Kill Baby, Kill! -- My first Bava and the one most in need of a rewatch
15. Hercules in the Haunted World
16. Four Times That Night
17. Planet of the Vampires

Um, Danger Diabolik?

love me do wrote:Um, Danger Diabolik?

Oh....I would probably place Diabolik around 8 or 9. I have not seen Roy Colt and Winchester Jack, I will watch it eventually but it is not a high priority right now.

Not to totally threadjack this discussion, but I personally find that ranking of Bava films mystifying.

SHOCK, which is more of a Lamberto Bava feature than a Mario film, at No. 2? PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES last? Below even FOUR TIMES THAT NIGHT? Nothing -- except maybe DR GOLDFOOT AND THE GIRL BOMBS -- is worse than FOUR TIMES THAT NIGHT. FIVE DOLLS and KNIVES OF THE AVENGER ahead of KILL BABY KILL? THE WHIP AND THE BODY all the way down at No. 9???

To each his own, I suppose.

Has anyone found good prices on this set if ordering from Europe?

Lino wrote:Has anyone found good prices on this set if ordering from Europe?

The company I use has it listed at £29.99 if that is any help.

It costs £24.65 including shipping at AxelMusic. They ship from Denmark, Germany or the Netherlands.