IL GIOKO aka SCHOOL OF FEAR (Lamberto Bava, 1989)

Italian language teacher Diana Berti is hired by a prestigious private school halfway through the school year. On her first day as the new teacher, she learns that:
A) The previous teacher died.
B) A student was kidnapped the year before.
C) The students are a secretive, manipulative lot, and their headmistress (Daria Nicolodi) is their protector.
Nonplussed by the barrage of bad news, she starts the semester enthusiastically, though her optimism fades quickly when she catches onto a secret, sinister "game" that her pupils are playing in the school's basement. Little does she know that the kids have already waged psychological warfare on her, and intend to include her in their game.

Il Gioko is one of Bava's better made-for-TV movies, with some content that must have pushed the boundaries of acceptability at the time. The film kicks off speedily enough as the soon-to-be dead teacher is chased through a vault, stumbling across a severed head and teased by kids' shadows before falling to her death. The following 85 minutes or so do live up to the prologue's promise of steady pacing, heavy atmosphere, and general weirdness. The hurried conclusion, however, may be unsatisfying for most. Character-wise, my only beef was with Diana, who, despite being clever enough to catch on to the game and associate the students with her predecessor's death , cannot see that she is being played. Fortunately, her policeman boyfriend is there to keep her ignorance and rampant emotions in check. 1989 and the woman still needs a man to figure things out; guess that was the style at the time, but I digress.

This film is an unmistakeably Bava production. Though he's never had the most original ideas for his pictures, he's always given them a slick, professional look that is uniquely his. The fluid, voyeurish camerawork, stylized lighting, creative compositions, and even the soundtrack by frequent collaborator Simon Boswell are pure Lamberto. His recurring theme, "what horrors the kids get up to when the parents are away", as demonstrated in most of his previous work, is also found in Il Gioko. More mystery than horror, Il Gioko is somewhat engrossing and worth a watch, though one will be hard-pressed to track down this TV obscurity. Happy downloading!

Mini Bio : Daria Nicolodi

Born June 19, 1950, in Florence, Italy, actress Daria Nicolodi started performing at an early age. She dabbled in theatre and underground film before making her bigscreen debut in 1970's "Men Against". Her first daughter, Anna was born in 1973. She continued with theatre and TV appearances until her big break in 1975, when avant-garde thriller director Dario Argento cast her in his hugely successful Deep Red. A romance blossomed between the two, and that same year their daughter, actress Asia Argento, was born. Their union, which would last until 1985, started to unravel in 1977, when the two cowrote the masterpiece, Suspiria, based on a story Daria's grandmother had told her. Though the lead role was written for Daria, it was instead given to American cult-goddess Jessica Harper when the distributors demanded an American play the part. Perhaps the greatest injustice she was dealt was not being given any credit for her part in the film when it was released. It wouldn't be until two decades later that Dario finally gave her writing credits. It wasn't all doom and gloom though, as that same year she starred in Mario Bava's Shock. She continued to act in Argento's films until 1987, though throughout that time period she also acted in horror films for Lamberto Bava,and Luigi Cozzi, and even wrote Cozzi's Paganini Horror and Demons 6/ The Black Cat. Sadly, her daughter Anna died in an accident in 1994. To this day she continues to appear on TV, and not long ago had a part in Argento's Mother of Tears, where she performed alongside Asia.

Selected Filmography

Deep Red (Dario Argento, 1975)
Suspiria (Dario Argento, 1977 - writing and cameo appearance)
Shock (Mario Bava, 1977)
La Venere D'Ille (Mario Bava, 1979)
Inferno (Dario Argento, 1980)
Tenebre (Dario Argento, 1982)
Phenomena (Dario Argento, 1985)
Opera (Dario Argento, 1987)
Delirium (Lamberto Bava, 1987)
Giallo Natale (Turno Di Notte, TV Series, 1987)
Demons 6/ The Black Cat (Luigi Cozzi, 1989 - writing)
Il Gioko (Lamberto Bava, TV, 1989)
Paganini Horror (Luigi Cozzi, 1989 - writing and actress)
Scarlet Diva (Asia Argento,2000)
Mother of Tears (Dario Argento, 2007)

Visit Daria's official site HERE.

DINNER WITH A VAMPIRE

(Lamberto Bava, 1988)

A foolish camera crew discover a crypt, and within it the withered corpse of an ancient vampire of Mesopotamian origins. One of the crew scratches himself (of course), the blood drips onto the corpse (as would be expected), and the vampire is almost instantly revived. He then kills the crew (naturally!).

Fast-forward to 1988. A group of 20-somethings are auditioning for a chance to be in the latest horror film by avant-garde director Jurek (George Hilton). After a few scenes of horrible dancing, poor acting, and weak singing, we are introduced to the winners: Rita, the blonde singing sensation (haw!), Sasha, the brunette stage actress, and Monica the redhead whose dancing consists of hopping about like a Mexican jumping bean. With Sasha's man-friend Gianni in tow, they set off to Jurek's castle to meet him in person.

Once there they are introduced to an assortment of bizarre servants before meeting Jurek. After dinner and a creepy black and white home movie, Jurek informs them that he is actually an ancient vampire who has grown weary of living but cannot destroy himself or tell anyone else how to. He then advises them of his true intentions for inviting them to his home: he wants them to find a way to kill him before dawn, or he will do the same to them. Oh yes, and crosses, stakes, and garlic have no effect on him!

I initialy went into DWAV with a sour taste in my mouth. A horror comedy by Lamberto Bava? Does the world really need this? It's actually not as bad as one would expect, but by no means does this imply that it's a great film.
The special effects are incredibly cheesy, what with the spiders and bats on strings, the stop-motion animation, and a hilarious chest-ripping scene. On another sad note Lamberto pretty much ripped off his two Demons films and pasted them right into this one. Must have run out of ideas. And it shows.

On the upside, it's somewhat entertaining. There's a fair bit of funny dialogue amidst the crud, and George Hilton definitely makes a splash with his over-the-top vampire hamming. Bava again proves that he's more than competent with the technical aspects of film making. The location/ sets are absolutely breathtaking in their use of colour, lighting, and texture. The camerawork and compositions are also top-notch, and the soundtrack though disposable, works. And Jurek is one ugly f*kin vampire in true form! Recommended only for completists.

COMING SOON

It's been a bit of a wait, but two obscure gialli are soon to be released: Riccardo Freda's Murder Obsession, a personal favorite of mine, and Lamberto Bava's surprisingly entertaining Body Puzzle. It's been far too long since any new Italian horror or gialli films have been released, what with the demise of so many independent labels, so now's your chance to snap 'em up! And not to sound preachy, but BUY these titles, so as to ensure future releases. It only makes sense!

THE OGRE aka Demons 3

(Lamberto Bava, 1988)

Buyer beware: this title has nothing at all to do with Bava's Demons films. That aside, it's an atmospheric, if at times tedious, viewing experience. Bava heaps on the cobwebs and shadows here, and the soundtrack by Simon Boswell helps give a little substance to an otherwise simplistic story that lacks most of the violence and mean-spiritedness that define the bulk of Bava's work.

Cheryl (Virginia Bryant) has been plagued since childhood by nightmares of being stalked by a humanoid beast through a moldering cellar. Her nightmares prove lucrative, as she becomes a best-selling horror author. She, her husband Tom (Paolo Malco), and son Bob take a trip to stay at a rented villa so she can complete her latest novel. Shock and surprise; it's the same villa from her childhood dreams!

After exploring the cellar and finding in it the teddy bear she abandoned there in her nightmare, Cheryl becomes convinced that the villa is cursed, the ogre is real, and that she and her family are in danger. Tom believes this to be a product of her imagination and repressed sexual desires (of course!). So, we are back to a familiar question: is there really an ogre, or is Cheryl going bonkers?

Despite a brief scene of frontal nudity, The Ogre is a strictly made-for-TV affair. It contains little blood, few scares, and almost no violence. In a horror film, one or more of these elements should always be present. Also, the storyline and several of the set pieces are lifted from numerous other films, most notably the underwater scene that was taken directly from father Mario Bava's contribution to Dario Argento's Inferno.

As previously expressed, The Ogre does play up the Gothic horror angle fairly well. There are a few genuinely creepy aspects, The Ogre himself being the creepiest of the lot. I'd leave this title for a rainy day, as Lamberto has better to offer. Buy it here.

A BLADE IN THE DARK

(Lamberto Bava, 1983)

Though originally intended to be a four-part giallo miniseries for Italian television, A Blade In The Dark was deemed too violent and never aired. The content was re-edited and released as a feature film, and enjoyed modest success during the VHS boom of the early 80s, though most of the violence was actually removed from the VHS version.

The film opens on 3 boys, one of whom is dared to fetch a tennis ball from a dark basement. Shortly after disappearing into the shadows his shriek fills the air, and a bloody tennis ball is thrown at the other two kids! The opening scene sets the tone for the entire film: tenebrous and menacing, occasionally bloody, and filled with unintentionally hilarious dialogue, dubbing, and acting.

We learn the opening is actually a scene from a new horror movie directed by the slightly mannish Sandra (Anny Papa), who has enlisted the aid of her composer friend Bruno (Andrea Occhipinti) to score the film. She rents him a large, secluded villa where he is to remain and compose so as to not be distracted. Poor Bruno is only there for a night when a strange woman named Katia jumps out of a hall closet, flirts with him, then seemingly disappears. We learn she is actually in the villa to meet the former tenant, Linda, a slightly unbalanced woman who proceeds to slice Katia up with a box cutter in the basement while Bruno plays piano above.

While playing back his recording, Bruno discovers a snippet of dialogue between Katia and Linda. He discovers spots of blood in the yard, and becomes convinced something terrible has happened to Katia, though he cannot find her body. He is also surprised that night by the appearance of his girlfriend Julia, who claims to have taken time off from her theater production to visit him. The next day another surprise visitor stops in to distract him, this time Katia's concerned room mate Angela. She tells Bruno that she and Katia were friends of Linda's, and used to visit her frequently. Bruno invites her to use the pool as often as she likes, then leaves the villa to meet Sandra. Guess who Linda targets next?

The rest of the film follows Bruno as he sleuths about the villa trying to find the corpses of the missing girls and clues about Linda. It's not long before Sandra reveals that her film was inspired by Linda herself, and the key to her identity is in the final reel. Linda, however, has no intention of letting anyone see the final reel.

A Blade In The Dark is by no means a perfect film. Viewers will no doubt cringe at the appallingly bad dialogue and overdubbing, the result, it seems, of hasty translation and editing. To truly enjoy the film, most would have to test the limits of their willingness to suspend disbelief, as most scenes are incredibly unrealistic in terms of logic and plausibility. ABITD is also quite talky with the violent scenes occurring about every 30 minutes, though Bava mentions this was intended as it is a TV movie. One the plus side, the film does boast Bava's usual visual flair, great lighting, a good dose of sleaze, a badass electronic score by Guido and Maurizio De Angelis, and one of the most violent murder scenes to grace the annals of Italian horror. Oh yes, and Michele Soavi (director of Stagefright and The Church) has an acting role here as well. Recommended more for giallo enthusiasts than horror fans in general. Buy it here.