Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

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

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

The first thing I want to mention is I do not like the American title "Kill, Baby, Kill" - it's sounds very cheesy. The film is not as cheesy as the title suggests. It would do better with a simple title like maybe "The Girl" or "The Ghost" -- but what do I know? LOL.It's all eye candy and little story to me. The little ghost girl shows up and people kill themselves. The older woman in the mansion knows the story behind the girl.The story is drawn out a bit to long - could have been shorter. There are some boring scenes that could have been left out all together or shortened.This is another movie I wanted to like better than I do.4.5/10

The people of a late 19th century European village are beginning to perish in incidents that could be accidents, suicides...or murders. A dedicated police inspector, Kruger (Piero Lulli), investigates the case, while calling in a doctor from out of town. Dr. Paul Eswai (Giacomo Rossi Stuart) arrives to find a community full of frightened and deeply superstitious citizens, which frustrates the practical man of medicine. Dr. Paul even goes so far as to perform an autopsy on a young woman, a practice that these locals find to be abhorrent. In an odd touch, victims are found with gold coins placed inside their hearts.The relatively simple story actually isn't hard to follow at all, and in fact much crucial plot information is conveyed through pure exposition. Still, when this exposition is so vividly delivered by such an eclectic cast, it's hard to complain too much. Master of the macabre Mario Bava does go overboard with his frequent zooming in on people and then zooming back out. Other than that, this is an engaging example of the whole Gothic horror genre, with Bava working at the peak of his abilities. As he demonstrated so stylishly in previous efforts such as "Black Sunday" and "Black Sabbath", Bava was expert at creating an otherworldly atmosphere. He's capably assisted by his set decorator, Alessandro Dell'Orco, and cinematographer, Antonio Rinaldi. Bava also helped with the lighting, uncredited. Carlo Rustichellis' music is excellent, and the sound design is another plus, with that infernal giggling helping to put us on edge.The handsome Rossi Stuart is a jut jawed, stoic hero. Erika Blanc is beautiful and appealing as Monica Schuftan, who assists him with the autopsy. Gorgeous raven haired Fabienne Dali is intoxicating as Ruth, the local sorceress. Lulli, Luciano Catenacci, and Giovanna Galletti round out our interesting primary cast. One key casting decision is crucial in keeping the film somewhat off kilter.The finale is over awfully quickly, but there's still a fair bit to recommend here. The sequence that takes place about a quarter hour from the end is the most striking of all.Seven out of 10.

With a title like this, how can one take Kill, Baby...Kill seriously? By recalling that it's a Mario Bava movie. Bava had a prolific career as Italy's horrormeister, a progenitor of sorts of Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci. By 1966, Bava had made such minor classics as Black Sunday, Black Sabbath, and Planet of the Vampires. Bava's stylish movies weren't always Oscar material, but they sure looked good. Kill, Baby...Kill is no exception.In a small, secluded town in 18th century Europe, a Dr. Eswai (Giacomo Rossi-Stuart) arrives via coach. Like Renfield in Bram Stoker's Dracula, Eswai's coachman refuses to even enter the town, let alone get close to the castle where the doctor is to meet the local inspector (Piero Lulli). Eswai has been called by the inspector to conduct an autopsy on a possible murder victim. Trouble is, the townspeople don't want the good doctor to touch the body, even going so far as to try burying it and to attack Eswai as a warning.Why? Because they all feel that the town is under a terrible curse placed on them by a young girl who died a good twenty years earlier. Apparently, the girl died in plain view of an unhelpful citizenry, and now, through her sorceress mother, is avenging herself. Anyone who sees young Melissa is doomed to die a horrible death, usually at their own hands. So you can see how some may be a little skittish about letting Dr. Eswai cut the latest body open. Don't want to irritate the ghost, you know.The movie needed a romantic interest for Eswai, so enter nurse Monica (Erika Blanc), who was born and raised in the town but moved away at a young age - she's present just to check in on the graves of her parents, so she agrees to witness the autopsy, with the prodding of the inspector.As I noted, the movie is characteristically stylish, with an almost visceral feel to it. The blood is there, but it's less copious than it would be in later Bava movies, like Twitch of the Death Nerve. One shot I loved in particular appears to be of a diorama of the town's main passage. The camera swoops in, and then back out, and then in, and then out, and each time it's like walking into a 3D painting. The shot is meant to imitate the perspective of a child on a swing, and it's very effective. There's also a mind-bending scene in which the doctor pursues Monica, who's being carried away; no matter how quickly he moves, he never seems to gain on his target. It's a dizzying scene.Although there are some of the basic cornerstones of the genre - isolated town, superstitious villagers, a damsel in distress, a curse, ghosts - Bava's direction and cinematography (uncredited) mark this as a cut above your typical mid-1960s old-school horror feature. The conclusion may never really be in doubt, but the journey's an entertaining one.

Despite a very poor print from Netflix streaming, despite the film being dubbed instead of subtitled and despite some occasional bad acting, "Kill Baby, Kill" is a dandy Gothic horror piece. This is because director Mario Bava successfully has created a moody film that will keep you on edge.The film is set around 1900 and begins with a doctor and a police investigator coming to a remote village to investigate a very suspicious death. However, this is all complicated by the townsfolk--who do NOTHING to help with their efforts. Eventually, however, the story SLOWLY unfolds and you learn that the fear of the town is because MANY healthy young people in town have died suspiciously and some crazy Baroness and her dead child are somehow responsible.This is clearly a film you need to see and force yourself to keep watching. That's because the film is talky and slow and it takes a while for the film to unfold. But it IS worth it. So, look past all the moaning women, silly cobwebs and slow plot--it IS scary, moody and worth it.