Born in Italy on July 31, 1914, legendary horror director Mario Bava was the son of Eugenio Bava, a respected cinematographer who specialized in special effects photography in Italian silent pictures. After a failed attempt as an artist, Bava followed in his father’s footsteps, working his way up to cameraman status by the late 1930s. In 1956, he got his first shot at directing a feature while lensing Lust of the Vampire when director Riccado Freda walked off the picture. Bava stepped in and rescued the production, adding some special effects techniques he learned from his father. Lust of the Vampire, now regarded as the first true Italian horror film, benefited from Bava’s keen sense of visuals, creating an eerie mood and atmosphere in what could have been a run-of-the-mill film. He also made his mark on the peplum genre when he served as cinematographer for Hercules (1957; with Steve Reeves and Sylva Koscina). He moved up to assistant director status in the late 1950s in the films Hercules Unchained (1959; with Steve Reeves and Sylva Koscina), Giant of Marathon (1959; with Steve Reeves), and Son of Samson (1960; with Mark Forest). He directed Hercules in the Haunted World (1961; with Reg Park and Christopher Lee), one of the best films in the genre in which he married horror and peplum to great effect.
While Bava directed many types of films, including comedies, westerns, and peplums, horror is where his greatest talent lay. He directed an extraordinary number of now-cult classic films, which in low-budget circles are second to none. His first credited performance as director came in Black Sunday (1960; with Barbara Steele), which established not only his career but Steele’s as well.
While one might expect a successful director to have no problems in finding funds to make films, this was not the case with Mario Bava. For example, the production of Kill Baby, Kill (1966; with Giacomo Rossi-Stuart and Erika Blanc) ran out of money after two weeks. Bava and his cast worked for no pay afterward to get the film in the can. By the mid 1970s, Bava’s luck had run out; the 1973 horror thriller Lisa and the Devil wasn’t picked up for distribution until 1975, when it was recut and retitled The House of Exorcism (1975; with Telly Savalas, Elke Sommer, and Sylva Koscina). In addition, his crime thriller Rabid Dogs (1974; with Lea Lander), aka Kidnapped, was not released until seventeen years after his death due to lack of funds. Bava’s last theatrical release was Beyond the Door II (1977), which was scripted by his son, Lamberto, who later became a director with many horror films to his credit. Mario Bava passed away on April 25, 1980, from a heart attack at the age of 65. Bava was survived by his son, Lamberto.
Bava’s horror flicks have withstood the test of time, even as contemporary horror films continue to push the envelope on violence and gore. His films have paved the way for other Italian directors who specialized in horror films, including Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci. And Bava’s efforts continue to influence such directors as Quentin Tarantino, Tim Burton, and George Romero.
