BLOOD AND BLACK LACE

Some brutal murders shock models and fashion designers at a prestigious fashion atelier. Six women are killed, one after the other, all in atrocious ways. While Inspector Silvestri investigates, the diary of one of the murdered girls is found, which seems to contain very compromising revelations. What is the link between all the murders? In addition to the great merit of having inaugurated the Italian Gothic genre with "La Maschera Del Demonio," Mario Bava also has the no less important merit of having directed this "Sei Donne per l'Assassino," which is considered the first giallo with horror elements in Italian cinema. With this film, Bava for the first time puts the figure of the killer in the foreground: a disturbing character dressed in black, diabolical, omnipresent but faceless, who massacres and terrifies his victims (all women) in the most atrocious ways. They are strangled, slashed with a glove covered in spikes (which anticipates the claws of Freddy Krueger in "Nightmare"), drowned, and pushed with their faces over a glowing stove (anticipating, in this case, one of the most famous murders in "Profondo Rosso"). The director emphasizes the brutality of the crimes: the sound during the killer's attacks is at its peak, and the "repertoire" of atrocities staged is absolutely impressive. A film full of suspense that highlights from the opening credits - in which the actors are introduced as if they were mannequins - that all the main characters in the story are nothing more than pawns in a macabre game, of which nothing can be intuited until the final showdown. In many respects, "Sei Donne per l'Assassino" remains an unsurpassed work in its genre and is undoubtedly a film that must be seen by all enthusiasts. Trivia: the original title of the film was supposed to be "L'Atelier della Morte" but before distributing it, the production decided to change it to the more appealing "Sei Donne per l'Assassino." The sound effect for the sequence in which the poor model's face is burned was created by Bava using the sound of a slice of meat on a griddle.