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"So they learn to be bad." That's how "Bay of Blood" by Mario Bava should have been called. Once you get a bit familiar with the film, and especially after seeing the ending, you'll understand...
This 1971 film is one of the most successful works by the master craftsman Bava, pivotal for numerous branches of American horror cinema and beyond.
The underlying design lines of the film are essentially two but actually absolutely interdependent. Relying on a simple and functional script to the events to present an atypical and bizarre series of murders. Linked to this prerogative (but not only...), is the absolute artistic freedom of the director, who returns after years to sign the photography of the work.
The story, as mentioned, is very simple. The owner dispute over a bay triggers a series of murders, not all necessarily linked to this purpose. From here, a bit of superficial morality, which, however, is not developed. That's it.
Were it not for the fact that the film conveys a manifest unease, and a fatalism, one might say, misanthropic, not without note and value.
On the shocking and crazy "chain reaction" of bloodshed, stands the same pitiless but gloomy bay, an immaterial protagonist, not even too unaware of the events and the madness, we could say capitalist, threatening to involve it. In a way, it's as if it were the governor and hopeful for the river of blood unleashed because of it. A natural presence, seemingly helpless, as nature usually is. All this is visually rendered by the master, with numerous panoramic views of the bay, all strictly (as the entire film, moreover...) in natural light. Disturbing and merciless concerning the events.
Amplifying the film is also the soundtrack written by Stelvio Cipriani, of which the bay theme (a tribal piece with somber and murky congas, rightly orchestrated and jazzed...), and the death theme, with a vaguely Puccinian flavor, are of decent quality.
Talking about the murders is certainly the least interesting aspect (even though one might reasonably think otherwise...), but just know they are all terribly raw, real, and ruthless, not at all pathetic or grotesque.
From a cinema craftsman, an extremely important film for horror cinema, and a genuine and quality film. A small gem.
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