Just so...so bad

Crappy film

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

It's not the most obvious idea in the world to rework Akira Kurosawa's 1950 classic Rashomon as a sex comedy. But that is effectively what Italian legend Mario Bava has done here. This is not a genre that I am particularly familiar with, the Italian strand in particular I know nothing of. So I can't say I exactly knew what to expect here, especially seeing that Bava's output was mainly in horror and thrillers. Well, the verdict is that it's great, what else can I say? Like other films in the director's back catalogue like Danger: Diabolik and Five Dolls for an August Moon, this one is very pop art. The sets, costumes and overall look are vibrant, colourful and sexy. Perfect for an erotic comedy. And in the hands of a master stylist like Bava it's a visual delight.The story is about a first date gone wrong. The guy ends up with a scratched head and the girl with a torn dress. How did it happen? Well, we have her story, his story, the janitor's story and finally the analysis of a psychologist. At the end we are really none the wiser and left to decide for ourselves.It stars Daniela Giordano, a former Miss Italy. And she sure is a knock-out; a very sexy girl who happens to constantly be in either slinky outfits and/or in a state of undress. Well, you'll get no arguments from me on that score. She is the real focus of the movie with good reason. Bava himself is the other trump card of course. While the story is confined to very few locations, he always keeps things looking great with a great eye for colour. There's a little bit of psychedelic action in the dance-club too which never gets old in my opinion. The film's multiple story structure means that it moves at a cracking pace and never bores. It's not especially funny to be honest but it is quite sexy and more than a little bit cool. An unexpected triumph.

Dashing playboy John Price (handsome Brett Halsey) meets sweet virgin Tina Brandt (ravishing brunette knockout Daniela Giordano, who was Miss Italy 1966) in a park. The two strike up an immediate rapport and go on a date which goes disastrously wrong. Depending on the person relating the incident, the date went down like this: 1) amorous cad Price attempted to rape the innocent Tina, 2) shameless and insatiable nymphomaniac slut Tina aggressively came on to the hapless John, or 3) Tina was seduced by predatory lesbian Esmeralda (a memorably spiky Pascale Petit). Director Mario Bava relates the amusing story at a constant quick pace and expertly maintains a playfully light and bouncy good-natured tone throughout. Antonio Rinaldi's crisp, polished cinematography fills the screen with lots of rich, vibrant colors while Cariolano Gori's frothy, groovy score totally hits the swinging spot. Moreover, this amiably silly and innocuous fluff further benefits from charming performances from attractive and personable leads Halsey and Giordano. Co-producer Dick Randall is a real hoot as the sleazy voyeur doorman. The delectable Brigitte Skay, the ill-fated skinny-dipper in "Bay of Blood," has a sexy bit as naive bimbo Mumu. Bava even manages amidst all the delightfully inane tomfoolery to make a relevant point about how individual perspectives radically vary from person to person. A cute little romp.

I honestly didn’t know what to expect from a Bava sex comedy which, thankfully, emerged to be not quite as low-brow and vulgar as most genre offerings (which the Italians would soon make their own); for the record, Lucio Fulci also dabbled in the subgenre a few years later with the THE EROTICIST (1972), which has just been released on R1 DVD. Even so, the film also wasn’t particularly interesting per se, albeit a typically stylish effort from this director. As a matter of fact, despite being undeniably amusing in its RASHOMON (1950)-like multiple (and hugely contrasting) depiction of the central situation, it made for a rather tedious – and dated – whole! Anyway, the plot involves a young couple (Brett Halsey and Daniela Giordano) who meet by accident one day and then decide to go out together that night – which ends with the girl having her dress torn and the man with scratches on his forehead! Both of them then recount the way things went (she to her mother and he to his pals) – according to Giordano, Halsey tried to rape her; he, on the other hand, passes himself off as a shy person with the girl an insatiable vamp! A third version of events is told by the oversexed middle-aged concierge of the complex where Halsey lives, which sees the latter depicted as a homosexual who brought Giordano to his flat so that she could serve as partner for his lover’s lesbian companion. This is the funniest, but also campiest, part of the film – funny due to the banter between the concierge and his dumb listener and campy because of the stereotypical representation of the male gay lifestyle, though the women’s angle is treated with greater sensitivity)! The last interpretation is then offered by a psychiatrist which rather deliberately supplies the most innocent and, frankly, dull outcome possible for that fateful night – since the closing narration goes on to ask the audience whether they actually swallowed his ‘theory’! Despite having an American lead in Brett Halsey (who’s somewhat uneasy with the fluctuations in his character), the film really revolves around statuesque beauty Daniela Giordano (a former winner of the Miss Italy contest, no less). She looks confident in her various suggestive poses (this is easily Bava’s most explicit film with respect to nudity, though still pretty mild – there’s a similar hilarious contrivance to conceal private parts in bed as seen in DANGER: DIABOLIK [1968]!) but also demonstrates reasonable talent in her various facets of virtuous ingénue, sultry seductress, annoyed object of desire, etc.Accompanying the film is a lounge soundtrack all-too-typical of its era. Incidentally, there’s some confusion concerning the year in which the film was made – many give it as 1972, but the look and feel of it all simply spells 1960s to me and, in fact, it’s listed in other sources as 1969 (which I’m inclined to believe); others yet seem to concede that the latter is true but then report its actual date of release as late as 1976!! Interestingly, the print on display has the film split into two parts – where the title in Italian is actually given as QUATTRO VOLTE…QUELLA NOTTE (which fits the English translation, whereas the original QUANTE VOLTE…QUELLA NOTTE means HOW MANY TIMES THAT NIGHT!); strangely enough, just as the film goes into its second half, the audio level drops considerably! By the way, this proved to be the director’s first collaboration with producer Alfredo Leone (who eventually got hold of the rights to a sizable portion of Bava’s back catalog!).

Four Times that Night is the story of what happened during Tina and John's first date. According to Tina, John tried to rape her and she barely escaped with her innocence intact. According to John, Tina was an insatiable wild woman he couldn't get away from. According to John's voyeuristic doorman, while John was in the bedroom having "homosexual sex", Tina was having her own lesbian encounter. So, just what did happen? Mario Bava wasn't afraid to try different genres. He directed Gothic horrors (Black Sunday), gialli (Blood and Black Lace), sword & sandal movies (Hercules in the Haunted World), westerns (Roy Colt and Winchester Jack), spy movies (Danger Diabolik), science fiction (Planet of the Vampires), and so on. But Four Times that Night is his only "sex comedy". Bava called it his "blue movie". While it may have represented a departure for Bava, you can clearly see his trademark style all over the movie. Everything from the bright, rich colors to the camera zooms screams Bava.While I enjoyed the movie, it's far from being my favorite thing that Bava ever made. It is interesting to see how different people's perceptions are given the same set of events. In the fourth segment of the film, we get to see what really happened. And, as is often the case, reality can't match the sensationalism that our imaginations can dream up. Much of my enjoyment in the movie comes from the casting of John and Tina. Bret Halsey and Daniela Giordano are simply perfect in their roles. They are very believable even in the most absurd situations.