A BAY OF BLOOD

An elderly countess living in a quiet bay is killed by a shady individual whose face is not seen. A few moments later, the man is also killed by another person, hidden from us. The bay, is wildly desired by a couple of people, particularly by an architect, a local fisherman, and other families sharing the same obsession to buy the property. It will be precisely the extreme zeal for the struggle of who wins the bay, that will unleash a crazy whirlwind of atrocious murders. Let those who can save themselves... We are facing the most savage and bloody work directed by the Italian master of horror-gothic Mario Bava. A group of entrepreneurs and common people, morbidly desiring to acquire a massive bay, will unleash a real massacre, showcasing the emblem of human ferocity. "Whoever kills is killed, no one is innocent, everyone has a sense of guilt, therefore everyone dies". Mario Bava, after directing valuable films, including "Operation Fear" and "The Three Faces of Fear", directs a valuable cinematic example. With this film, the Sanremo director launched the sub-genre - "Slasher-movie" - first staged with the supreme "Blood and Black Lace" and later copied by American horror films (the "Friday the 13th" series among others). "Reazione a catena" was also a source of inspiration for Dario Argento, who directed, exactly four years later, his masterpiece and founder of the thriller/psychological genre "Deep Red". "Bay of blood", title attributed in the USA, is filled with murders: 13 in total, committed in the most atrocious and imaginative ways seen at the time. On the occasion of the miraculous murders, Bava proposes original innovations: the camera first lingers to frame the dying person; in the background, it reveals the author of the massacre who, consequently is killed by another person whose identity is not revealed. The epilogue of the film demonstrates and at the same time denies the rule of the strongest wins, as the bay remains a playground for children. The technical aspect reflects the talent of the director; a curious detail is the blur effect: the zoom highlights an important detail, changes of focus are glimpsed, and the element that seems to be the sun is none other than the eye of the killer while he observes the future victim. The film fundamentally focuses on nature, proposes natural lights and frequent twilight visuals that surround the bay. The cast includes excellent actors. It is worth mentioning both the laudable performance of Luigi Pistilli as Alberto, and the impeccable script by screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti. Inexplicably undervalued and even a victim of the home video market, as it has been unavailable for several years on VHS, "Reazione a catena", whose subtitle in the Italian version was "Ecology of Crime", is a milestone of the slasher-movie, of which it was one of the greatest pioneers.