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5
Dolls For An August Moon
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5
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5 |
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10
= Highest Rating |
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Three
couples are invited to spend the weekend at the
posh private island of wealthy industrialist George
Stark. Among them are research scientist Professor
Farrell and his wife Trudy. Farrell has perfected
a new formula for an industrial resin which Stark
and his other male guests, Jack Davidson and Nick
Chaney, are extremely keen to buy the rights to.
Offers of $1 Million from each of the three businessmen
is made to the professor, who turns them down
flat — the scientist genuinely seems not to be
interested in money. Tempers flare as the dog-eat-dog
capitalists vie separately or in tandem to win
Farrell's favor. Meanwhile the men's wives indulge
their own agendas, to include a fling with Stark's
houseboy and an implied lesbian relationship.
Then the houseboy turns up murdered, stabbed to
death. Trapped on the island — Stark's yacht has
been taken to the mainland by the crew and the
radiotelephone is out — the amoral sophistos continue
to play head games with each other as one by one
they're picked off by the unknown killer. When
Professor Farrell is believed shot and washed
out to sea, the businessmen circle about his wife
like vultures in their continuing attempts to
obtain the prized formula. Trudy, however, is
playing her own angles.
An offbeat reworking of Agatha
Christie's Ten Little Indians, 5
Dolls For An August Moon is famed Italian
director Mario Bava's most uncharacteristic film.
Bava (Black Sunday,
The Whip And The Body)
reportedly hated the script and took the job strictly
for the money, signing the contract within 48
hours of the commencement of shooting! It's a
testament to Bava's skills as a visualist that
the film looks as stylish and snappy as it does,
considering its director had virtually no time
to prepare. He offers up a number of interesting
tableaux, as when sexy Edwige Fenech (Case
Of The Bloody Iris) gyrates uninhibitedly
to Piero Umiliani's deliriously kitschy go-go
tune "Danza Jazz Moon" (Shake it,
baby! Yeah!); of special note is the scene
in which a cascade of translucent plastic spheres
bounces down a spiral staircase only to roll into
a bathtub containing a victim. Compelling visual
moments like these kept me watching despite the
weak, confusing screenplay, which wobbles unsteadily
from moments of black comedy to the expected whodunit/thriller
conventions. The presence of one important character
(Isabel, played by Justine Gall) isn't really
explained — who is this person? What is her relation
to the Starks and the other jetsetter couples?
— and there's a major plot hole that just doesn't
make any sense. (The killer confesses to a murder
which is clearly impossible for him/her
to have committed.) The film's title is utterly
meaningless, too. Or did I miss something?
So, while left scratching my
head on a few points of the story I was still
intrigued enough by Bava's setups and camera tricks
to stick with it. Gorehounds will be disappointed
that the film isn't really that bloody; Horndogs
should note that, aside from a few very brief
flashes of skin by the delectable Fenech, it's
not chock full o' naked gals, either. (Bava would
go much farther with his 1971 proto-slasher Twitch
Of The Death Nerve.) Fans of the Italian maestro's
other works will definitely want to see it, and
should, if only for it being so different from
the more well-known films.
Actually, for the first 10
minutes of Dolls
I could've sworn I was viewing a Jess Franco flick
rather than something helmed by Bava. Zoom-a-zoom-ZOOM!
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The
Image DVD is an above par entry in the company's
Mario Bava Collection, despite the lack of
audio commentary by Bava scholar Tim Lucas. While
the 1.85:1 letterboxed print used for the transfer
contains some damage and certain scenes look a bit
washed out, visual quality is generally good. Three
separate audio tracks are provided: English mono,
Italian mono (with optional subtitles), and Isolated
Music/Effects. Given the movie's funky, quintessentially
'70s acid lounge score, the latter would certainly
be more enjoyable had it been in stereo. The Italian
dialog track is markedly superior to the English
one, which is plagued by occasional static.
Extras
include: filmographies of Bava, Edwige Fenech, and
composer Piero Umilani; a good-sized photo/poster
gallery; and trailers for the Bava-Image titles
Black Sunday, The Girl Who
Knew Too Much, Black
Sabbath, Twitch
Of The Death Nerve, Baron
Blood and The House
Of Exorcism. As mentioned, there's no Tim
Lucas audio commentary here but he does contribute
insightful liner notes and an onscreen text bio
of Bava.
12/07/02 |
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UPDATE
The Image DVD went OOP in 2006 and is now selling
for $40 and up.
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