Five Dolls for an August Moon (1970)

That was an excellent one.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

George Stark (Teodoro Corrà), a wealthy industrialist, invites several business friends and their partners to his island retreat for the weekend, with the intention of convincing scientist Gerry Farrell (William Berger) to sell his secret formula for a new industrial resin. Philanthropist Gerry isn't interested in making a deal, intending instead to make his invention public, a fact that forces one or more of the guests to turn to murder.The general consensus seems to be that this is one of director Mario Bava's weakest efforts (even Bava himself was reportedly not fond of the film, being contractually obliged to direct); I can't really comment much on that since I've seen too few of his films to compare, but what I can say is that, even though I found the twists and turns of this Italian variation of Agatha Christie's Ten little Indians virtually impossible to fathom (especially the twist ending), there were still enough positives to make it worth a go.As with many a giallo, the female cast are very easy on the eye, with genre regular Edwige Fenech stripping off whenever possible as always. There are numerous murders, and although they all occur off-screen (we get to see just the aftermath), the hanging up of the steadily growing number bodies in a meat locker is wonderfully macabre and darkly amusing. The jazzy score is super cool, perfectly complementing the wonderful '60s/'70s architecture and decor of the island's house. And despite Bava's purported disinterest, there is still an unmistakable sense of style, with effective uses of whip-pans and rapid zooms, and at least one stunning scene worthy of a genius, wherein a display of glass balls roll down a spiral staircase, along the floor, and into a bathtub where a woman has committed suicide.All said and done, if this is his worst, I really must check out his best.

Recently talking about Giallo queen Edwige Fenech on IMDbs Classic Film board,I decided that it was time to watch a Fenech Gialli for the first time.Taking a look at a box set of auteur film maker Mario Bava,I spotted a collaboration that he had made with Fenech,which led to me staying up for the August moon.The plot:Wanting to get a breather from work, Professor Gerry Farrell & his wife Trudy decide to join industrialist George Stark and other couples for a "happening" weekend taking place on a remote island.Shortly after things start to flow,Gerry Farrell begins to suspect that he was not invited so that friends could catch up with him,as each of them start to offer bags of cash in exchange for his now formula of industrial resin.Sticking to his principles,Gerry turns down all of the offers.As the men argue among themselves,Stark's wife Jill decides to go for a walk on the beach.Getting stopped in her tracks,Jill finds out that a fellow guest has been left brutally murdered on the beach.As the bodies start to pile up,the surviving guest become increasingly desperate to get Farrell's new formula by any means possible.View on the film:Getting into the spirit of the "happening",director/editor Mario Bava & cinematographer Antonio Rinaldi dazzle with wah-wah whip- pans that give the partying a frenzied atmosphere. Despite working as a "director for hire" (and being very dismissive about the movie later on)Bava clearly displays an excellent attention to detail for the film,as the blunt murders take place against a whirling psychedelic backdrop,which goes from each of the women wearing lavishly colourful dresses,to the murder scenes being covered in shimmering blood and rolling crystal balls.For the screenplay,writer Mario di Nardo gives the Giallo a satirical Film Noir bite,as Nardo makes all the guests more concerned about getting Farrell's new formula than they are about the bodies stacking up.Digging into the Film Noir root of the Giallo,Nardo fills the weekend guest list with shady femme fatales and smart suited men who would hang anyone out to dry (or in this case on a meat hook!) to get one step ahead in the business world.Whilst the satirical slices give the movie a brittle comedic edge,the casual nature that the characters treat the murders in is sadly reflected in the screenplay,with Nardo paying little attention to building up any clues,and and also treating the murder set pieces in a relaxed manner which withholds any tense atmosphere from them.Looking gorgeous wrapped in eye-catching clothes,the beautiful Edwige Fenech gives a wonderful performance as guest Marie Chaney,whose flirtatious charms are given a femme fatale shine by Fenech,as Chaney tries to wrap all the men around in to giving her what she wants. Joining Fenech, William Berger gives a great performance as Gerry Farrell,with Berger smoothly carrying Farrell's naïve innocence into something more sinister,as the August moon rises.

Here's a "5 Dolls" movie-quote that I think sums up my opinion of director Mario Bava in a nutshell - "I can't figure out if you're dangerous, or just stupid!".... Yep. That about says it all! From where I was sitting, "5 Dolls" (from 1970) was one of those moronic movies that contains more "WTF!?" moments in it than you can count on your (and your friends') fingers & toes.This film tried its damnedest to be so cool, so hip, and so sexy. And yet through all of its wasted effort it inevitably defeated itself on these all-important points and, as a result, nearly choked on its own spittle.Even though the 10 actors featured in this lame, Italian, Murder/Mystery were, on the whole, a pretty good-looking bunch, their overall performances were astoundingly flat and painfully self-conscious. And the gauntlet of emotions that they attempted to emote were hollow beyond any reasonable tolerance.Besides all of that, these actors (for the most part) always looked so ridiculously posed. There was nothing natural about their behaviour. For most of the time it seemed so annoyingly forced.And it was because of this "pain-in-the-neck" business that I couldn't have cared less about what happened to any of the characters in this picture. In fact - When, one-by-one, they were being murdered by a mysterious psycho, I got nothing but joy to see each and every one of them get offed.With all of that said - Let's face it, this film's failures were all director Mario Bava's own damn fault. I mean, Bava was such a clueless, "doofus-of-a-film-maker" that he had absolutely no talent for creating genuine horror or sustaining (in the truest sense of the word) even the slightest bit of suspense.On top of all of this, I think "5 Dolls" musical score sucked to the 10th power. From start to finish it was an irksome, grate-on-your-nerves mess of whiny organ music that didn't fit the situation or set the mood for a tale whose focus was supposed to be on the horror of multiple murders.

This plays out less like a giallo film and more like a simple murder mystery, or, to be unkind, an adult Scooby Doo episode that mated with Gilligan's Island.A group of acquaintances are staying together in a lovely villa while the men-folk discuss business. The business at hand involves a professor's new formula for an industrial resin that has the potential to make someone a lot of money. Several of the guys offer the professor million dollar checks for the formula, but he's not ready to sell out just yet. So, naturally, someone is just going to have to DIE! So, the only boat on the shore seems to have been set adrift, leaving the "friends and lovers" to figure out whodunit, and how to get home.If I recall, all of the death scenes are off-camera, and Bava is having some fun with music scores and dark comedy. As the bodies pile up, the still-living decide to wrap the corpses in plastic and hang each of them in the meat locker next to a massive slab of beef to swing to and fro on hooks to a strange musical ditty that seems to be the "Meat Locker Theme." There is some blood, but it's tame, and you'll probably realize by the way these people treat each other, even supposed spouses and lovers, that none of these jerks deserves to make it back alive. The worst aspect of the film is the unbelievability with which the remaining cast carries on their daily routines on the island knowing there is a killer among them. They barely act upset when someone dies. Oh, there may be some tears, but they get over it real quick! I enjoyed how Bava set up so many of the scenes from the exact same camera points in the house or on the beaches, but had different action taking place. I wouldn't recommend this for giallo fans, but if you like Italian thrillers or just Mario Bava in general, search this one out.