 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. This is for the 1970 Italian giallo film Five Dolls for an August moon and it is a Mario Baba film So I will gush a little bit about Mario Baba and his visuals and how he was basically ahead of his time as I have with All my reviews of his stuff pretty much which by the way if you're into giallo in particular I have a whole playlist on my channel for giallo movie reviews I also have an entire playlist for Mario Baba film reviews the giallo one is obviously much larger, but Obviously spoilers for this because it is a old film and I watched it on the Blu-ray that I purchased Very recently Kino Lorber puts out all of Mario Baba stuff. So that's where you're gonna get Baba things But I had heard that this was this was kind of on a list of like definitive Kind of giallo from the time that was influential blah blah blah, you know that type of stuff So I had just gone ahead and purchased it because I couldn't find it streaming anywhere So yeah Anyway, like I said directed by Mario Baba who's also directed such things as it's not all of it But black Sunday black Sabbath the whip in the body blood and black lace Planet of the vampires kill baby kill a bay of blood Hatchet for the honeymoon the girl who knew too much and shock Which a bunch of those I have reviews for already and a few of the other ones I will be doing reviews for so stay tuned for that This was written by Mario DiNardo who wrote scripts for death knocks twice The fifth chord which I have a review for the two faces of fear and Yeti giant of the 20th century I want to see that one because it sounds like an interesting title Especially from the 70s This star is one of my favorites. This is my film crush Edwige Fennec She was in a bunch of giallo film She was well known for kind of doing some sexploitation stuff But then also doing a bunch of giallo films and getting naked in a bunch of giallo films That's not why I like her but just saying this was a thing within giallo the nudity and it's on display here So would we also start in your vices a locked room and only I have the key Which I recently did a review for the strange vice of mrs. Ward all the colors of the dark the case of the bloody iris Anna the pleasure the torment strip nude for your killer Phantom of death and she apparently had a small part in hostile to which I own and I need to go back and rewatch so Apparently there were only 19 days for this to be shot now the full situation of this film is pretty messed up So it's not the greatest film and I will say that it is Still a giallo film so therefore I am fine watching it And I will probably rewatch it especially because I own it now because I feel like all giallo is we're seeing at least once and pretty Much for me all giallo is we're seeing pretty much more than once just because I like it that much It's just the subgenre really I love it. I really do love it So anyway, what happened is that apparently the original director who was signed on for this film ended up Dropping somehow nobody knows what really happened there Nobody even knows or has on record who the original director was supposed to be for this film So they then approach the financiers approach Mario Bava and really tried hard to get him to take the project over because obviously At that time he was a known director. He knew what he was doing He was really hesitant to take it because he had read the script and he thought the script was not very good Which it is not very good. That is the biggest problem with this film is that the script is pretty rough For many reasons and I'll talk about that as I go further in the review So in the end Bava decided to do it under the terms that he get paid up all up front But there were a lot of problems with it. They only shot in 19 days and that's because of Money they were so strapped for cash that Mario Bava had to do all the editing himself The other thing is once he signed on they said okay Awesome, you start filming in two days and Bava was like what Because he intended to actually take a pass at the script and make it better because it was not good in his opinion And he just didn't have time to do that So the script stayed basically as it was when Bava got it now I think he changed a few things on set as they were shooting it, but in my opinion not enough So this film really is one of those issues of like the script was not good But with what Mario Bava did visually it's worth watching because it looks really good There's some really interesting camera shots some really interesting cinematography directing all that and pretty solid acting to it too But the story is just so bare bones It's not that good and like Mario Bava said Or has supposedly said about this film before he even took it on was that it's so Derived from Agatha Christie's and then there were none that you can tell so yeah, that's just the way it is Yeah, oh Additionally, not only was the budget so low on this film that Bava ended up having to do all the editing himself, but also all the actors had to wear their own clothing They had to provide their own costumes and everything for this film that gives you a good idea In true Mario Bava fashion the film starts with a body of water That is something that Bava likes to do he almost always features some sort of body of water in his films. It is interesting Additionally when it starts you see this nice house on the cliff So it's it's this beach and the body of water you learn later it's on an island and Then it kind of shows this really nice beach house on this cliff now That's very very similar to the starts of a Bay of Blood and The whip and the body those are the exactly the same it shows You know the body of water with you know the shoreline right there and then it shows a very nice big house Different looking houses, but it's like the same thing It's it's just like a go-to for Mario Bava to start films that way I guess and like what is this thing with bodies of water? I don't get it I mean, I don't have a problem with it But I just noticed that these films start very similarly I do like initially how they're having that kind of party in the beginning and that's the way to introduce characters Now that said I don't think I think it's kind of hard to keep characters straight in this film for a few reasons One you get really no backstory on them to there's really no development three You really can't tell through the interactions or through the story who they really are as people or that they're even interesting at all because they're not really interesting and the other thing is that Their interactions are so brief and the scenes are so like short that you don't get much of a sense of them anyway So I think it is kind of helpful that they start with this party and they show each person But you don't know their name at that point so keeping the name straight like you'll see the person be like Okay, I remember this person who looks like this this happened with them But the names were hard to keep straight because there are a lot of characters and like I said They're very much not memorable and there is a lot going on So I like the party aspect, but it's still hard to keep straight who's who and what's going on. So just saying The faked killing in the dark in the beginning during the party. I think was an obvious over overshadowing foreshadowing moment for the film that here They are joking about someone being killed at the party and guess what someone will be killed many people will Be killed because that's the whole point of giallo as we know I Like the comment that George is a beast but ends up becoming very charming when he starts signing checks Therefore reducing his his wife to a person who is just there for his money So that kind of creates a potential motive as maybe she's the killer because she doesn't even love George She could be trying to kill other people and eventually George because she doesn't even love him and you also find out I think believe that's Jill you also find out that she is Romantically involved with Trudy as well, which is another motive right there And then we also get that additional motive early on of this formula, which for a while. It's like this Unspecified formula and then you find out it's for like an industrial resin Which I looked up and basically industrial resins can be used in manufacturing of like plastics stuff like that So I guess this is something that could make someone a lot of money But it's very like cloak and dagger like typical cloak and dagger the way they cover the whole Formula thing with the little Strip of film like the mini strip of film and everything Yeah, it's just Yeah, I mean it's the 70s. I understand that it was 1970. I get it and That that's why there is a bit of a charm to it. I will say Why is the dude with the shades whittling wood wall while they look at Charles's body on the beach? Charles is the first person to go. He was the cabana boy I guess they they kind of call him something like that like a cabana boy or something and Edwige's character Maria was having an affair which Her I think it's Jack. No Nick Nick was her her main squeeze And he ends up like not caring that she's having sex with this like a Vanna boy dude Who ends up? Being found dead and in general like whenever anyone's found dead. No one really reacts properly to it. They're all just kind of like Just kind of like put out by the fact that they have to deal with a dead body pretty much There's like oh man another dead body come on and then they just lug it to the meat freezer Which I do like the aspect in this film of storing the bodies in the meat freezer I mean it makes sense, but also it's a cool visual and I think my favorite thing in the film in general is every time They go back to that meat freezer and keep showing the bodies like stacking up Especially with the plastic over the bodies now apparently that in particular was Mario Bava's idea He added that kind of last minute for the the actual plastic to be over them because initially they weren't going to be It adds this like extra darkness to it like it's more messed up when you see people presented that way So I like that touch to it. But yeah, these people don't act properly when when anyone's showing up dead It's more just like I'm put out because I have to move this body and then they're like, okay Let's distract ourselves with having drinks or sex because that's another big thing Everything's very sexually motivated in this movie, which is you know, it happens in giallo. That's all good But yeah There's a lot of happy light music in this film for how dire things end up being Which you know, it's weird because It mismatches what's going on for sure and the music's not really very good either even though it is a product of its time I'm saying now watching it now. It's not good music and it gets annoying Especially because it doesn't vary a whole lot and I would assume that has a lot to do with the budgetary issues of the film But it just mismatches what's going on But I think it also creates this kind of like light quirkiness with the film as well So you can kind of laugh with it and be like nobody's taking this seriously that people are dying so yeah, just saying and No one even seems seems all that concerned either that there's Potentially someone on the island that can kill them until much later in the film Then people start to be concerned, but it shouldn't have taken that long for people to be concerned that someone's murdering The film is just a series of scenes of one character walking into a scene with another character for the most part And a lot of them are sexually motivated This is what I was saying is it's a lot of like short Scenes of like one character showing up in a scene with another character who's already been in the scene They have a quick interaction and then on to the next one until you get towards the end of the film And then you start to have some longer scenes and that's when they're better. That's when they look better They feel better. There's a little more story to it But in the beginning it's just so chopped up that it's kind of hard to watch for that reason The scenes are typically pretty short. Oh, yeah, I already said about the chop up Bava puts in some interesting shot angles though and some really cool panning shots that really keeps you engaged There's one in particular that I'm gonna cite later that you know, it just goes back to what I love about Bava You know, even though this isn't a good script The visuals are really good because this his cinematic eye is always at work and he has really good cool Movements of the camera and frame shots and everything So this seems odd because you see Isabel shoot the gun and then she drags Jerry's body to the water Now you end up finding out the reasoning for that later because Jerry's not actually dead He was just tranquilized by her and then she drags him drags him and people are supposed to think that he's dead but that whole like Terrible writing like it was awful. I do like the fact that they kind of like put that in there For her to kind of be a bit of a red herring, but I actually kind of think it may have been better if that wasn't even a part of it at all a Lot of things needed not be in the script though There are a lot of into focus and out of focus transitions as far as camera work goes in this film Notice that if you rewatch the film or if you think back to when you did watch it There's a lot of scenes that end or begin with Out of focus in focus that type of thing Just an observation Nowadays not so great, but back then it's probably fine. It is a cool shot when Jack finds Peggy dead Yeah, that's a really cool moment when she's outside and Jack walks out there They had sex and you don't know yet. She's been shot So it's focusing on Jack and then it pans down it like comes back out pans down and shows Jill was a Peggy. Sorry Peggy. I'm having a hard time keeping these guys straight Peggy It shows Peggy's like face with the bullet hole and like blood running down like that camera movement Awesome, so good like it looks great. It's a very engaging shot. I love those things Isabel swinging on the swing attack attached to that funky looking tree branch Just actually first of all, it's just a random thing to have in the film and plus nobody seemed concerned about Isabel People just kind of felt like oh, she's here like who is she really like I still don't understand like who is she? To these people like they saw her the whole time No one ever suspected anything of her and she she's just there creeping around like spying on people. I don't Weird her character is terrible. It's just terrible But anyway, this the scene where she's swinging on that swing The way it was shot and the way that it looked really reminded me of mario baba's film kill baby kill and the ghost Child that is like swinging on that swing. Obviously it looked and worked a lot better in kill baby kill But just reminded me of that The reveal of jill being dead in the bath looks really cool And I like how they ended up getting there where you know Those glass balls are rolling across the floor and then and it's following them And then you hear some of them off screen start like plunking into the tub And then it pans over and you see her dead in the corner of the tub And you see like blood in there and then the the note on the mirror about how she can't go on and everything Another cool way to get into the scene like a really nice cool Smooth movement and a cool way to get you to that shot Very cool I love the shots of a character up close and then others further back in the scene That's done a lot by mario baba as well the one in particular where it's trudy jack and george and trudy's messing with the The audio recording device and she's like up front in the scene and then behind her is like I forget in what order but it's like george and then jack and like There's it's staggered and they're kind of like in a semi circle They like arc over of where they are I just think those are visually very appealing and cool And I think it also opens the scene up a lot more for for the audience So it's just more engaging and you feel like you're more like immersed in the film For that reason I do like the twist of george Drugging people. I do like that how they were all drugged and then I guess he moved the bodies and cleaned everything up so that when I think it was no, I'm sorry. That was jack who did that God When george's um Yeah, george's yacht crew was supposed to be showing up and they walk around there like nobody's here I mean obviously they didn't search everywhere because where they were somewhere But I I do like that kind of twist where like you see it play out and then they come back to it And then you find out that it was jack who had you know Pretended to be drugged as well and he drugged trudy and george and then you know They were trapped on the island with him and he had this master plan that he then unveils to I'm gonna kill you guys and then you know, take the boat out and so that it on fire and sink it So I did like that does isabel have nothing to do with her life She's just sneaking around all day and night. Her character is horrible. Once again, I'm gonna say her character is terrible She makes no sense, but whatever that's giallo. That's part of the nostalgia now of watching these films So trudy and jack seemed that they were independently going after people And we're going to end up taking everyone out. I do also like that aspect of having kind of You think it's one killer, but here we go There's another person trying to do something and another person because in the end you had jerry Who was kind of this mastermind of the of this plot with Isabel and then isabel undercuts him in the end basically But then you had these other people involved so there's a lot going on but It could have been executed a lot better Script wise is what I mean Isabel seeing jerry in jail clarifies the scene where it looks like she killed him and then was dragging his body But the whole thing with him confessing to killing because of the sodium pentathal That she shot him with is dumb. That is unbelievably terrible. What a stupid idea in the script It's it's so dumb. It's so dumb. I don't know how other people feel about it, but I thought it was terrible Uh real beautiful shooting location. I love the shooting location is in this I think that's one of the other things that kept me engaged in the film other than mario bob is directing and the cinematography Um the characters are unbelievably paper thin. Like I said, there's no backstory. There's no personality You don't know who they are as people really they if they have motivations. It's all it's boiled down to one thing pretty much So, yeah The music gets annoying like I said I think that bava did what he could Visually with this film with a really bad script now I would have seen what I would have liked to see What could have happened if bava had that time ahead of shooting to rework at least part of the script I think it could have been a much better film But as it is, I mean, it's still worth watching Like I said, it's not the best as far as giallo goes and it ranks pretty low on my giallo watch list, but yeah And like I said My favorite thing about it is just continually checking in on the body stacking up in the meat freezer I really like that about the film. So yeah, it's a it's a good enough time in my opinion and I enjoy it So out of five Jesus, I'm sorry about that one Putting stress on my voice because I'm getting so emphatic about how much I hate the script Uh, so out of five stars with half stars in play I feel like I have to put it at a two and a half I think if the visuals weren't so great I would put it at a two or a one and a half to be honest, but Because of what bava brought to the table I'll go two and a half. I thought about maybe going to three But I just don't think I can justify that with how bad the characters are and how dumb a lot of the turns of the Of the story are so I'm going two and a half. But anyway, I would love to hear your comments about this film What do you think and just giallo in general go ahead and put it down there And do me a quick favor though hit that subscribe button If you like this video or any video I've ever done that is your best way to repay me And please repay me in that way. 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