When it
comes to the career and filmography of the great Italian director Mario Bava,
“Hatchet For The Honeymoon” will always be considered a minor effort, but it
has always been a favourite of mine.
There is just something about the film that appeals to me, probably the
perverse nature of the main character, and I think that it is the perfect film
to introduce newcomers to the genius that is Bava. Sure, “Hatchet For The Honeymoon” is not a
classic, but it still contains all of the ingredients within that makes Bava
standout amongst his contemporaries.
“Hatchet
For The Honeymoon” begins with our main character, John, explaining to us that
he has a damaged mind and is the cause of three recent murders; all young
brides on their wedding nights. He is
the boss of bridal fashion company, that was once owned and ran by his mother,
and he is also in a loveless marriage with Mildred; a marriage he dreams of
getting out of. Because all of the money
comes from Mildred, she knows she has power over John, and refuses to give him
the divorce he so desperately wants.
John continues explaining his compulsion to kill by telling us that it
has to do with an image of his now dead mother.
Each time he kills the image gets clearer and John gets closer to
finding out exactly what happened to his mother back when he was a child. At the moment we meet John, the image only
consists of some stairs and a blurred look at his terrified mother while she is
calling her son’s name for help. However
the chances of John ever seeing this image in perfect clarity start to be
threatened when a police inspector starts regularly snooping around John’s
work, after he suspects that the fashion guru may have something to do with the
recent murders.
While
“Hatchet For The Honeymoon” is often described as a “giallo” (and depending on
your definition of the genre, this could indeed be accurate), it is more
perfectly described as a psychological thriller. The whole aim for John is to unlock a
childhood memory that he has deeply repressed within his psyche. As the above synopsis shows, there is no “who
done it?” element here (which is often the case in a “giallo”); we know right
from the start that John is guilty of the crimes he is accused of. The reason why “Hatchet For The Honeymoon” is
often considered minor Bava is probably because, for a thriller, the film is
relatively bloodless and there is also no nudity at all. It also isn’t as atmospheric as his classic
films like “Black Sunday” or “Black Sabbath”, and the whole tone of the film
could be considered light hearted. That
is not to say that the story is being made fun of, it is not, the fact that the
film is narrated by a madman just gives it a more jovial sensibility.
Even
though I have only seen the English “dubbed” version of the film, it is still
easy to see that this is a well acted film.
Stephen Forsyth is perfectly cast as our unstable murderer, and is
easily able to portray the playboy-type man he is when working at the fashion
house. He walks around with style and an
overinflated sense of just how important he really is, that it is kind of a
shock to let him see himself be abused by his overbearing and constantly
nagging wife. She is just horrible to
him, and considering what we know about John, it is surprising that he doesn’t
just snap and kill the woman. Laura
Betti is just delicious in the role of Mildred, it is obvious that she is
having a great time with her character, and in the end she ends up stealing the
movie. Even though her character is so
cold, the performance she gives makes her character quite humorous, in a darkly
black way. During the late 60’s and
early 70’s, it appeared as if every Italian woman was stunningly gorgeous. The feature that always stood out were their
dark eyes, further darkened by make-up and their very long lashes. The girl that fills that bill in “Hatchet For
The Honeymoon” is Dagmar Lassander who plays Helen, a new model to the fashion
house, and she does so very well, but let’s face it, at the end of the day her
character is only included to up the glamour factor. She relates little to the main plot, and really
all that she is required to do is just sit and look pretty.
As with
all Mario Bava films, the maestro’s visual style ultimately becomes the star of
the show, and “Hatchet For The Honeymoon” is another example of the great man
creating a stunningly visual work out of not very much. Bava is credited as his own director of
photography here (which he often was, but was rarely credited for) and his use
of light and particularly of colour is beyond reproach. The film is very stylized and features beautiful
camera moves and framing (although Bava still can’t help himself with the
frequent zooms), and through these simple techniques he is able to build the
film’s quite odd sense of atmosphere.
Because we are dealing with a damaged mind, Bava sometimes blurs his
images to represent the repressed memory of John, and as he learns more, these
images become more focused. He also uses
some smart trickery to pull off the murders to imply they are bloodier than
they actually are. One includes a moment
where he cuts a still frame of a woman’s facial close-up in half, to symbolize
the cleaver going through the poor woman’s head. It is interesting to note that for all the
murder in the film, “Hatchet For The Honeymoon” was only rated “PG” (which was
then called “GP”). The standout sequence
of the film though is one full of suspense and not bloodshed when, after John
has murdered a new victim, the police detective unexpectedly arrives at his
place looking to investigate further. He
claims he heard screaming, to which John explains was the television (playing
at that moment on the television is Bava’s own film, “Black Sabbath”). The detective unconvinced continues grilling
John with questions while the whole time his victim’s hand is hanging above
them over the staircase dripping with blood.
It is an amazingly suspenseful scene, and is the highlight of the entire
film.
What
makes “Hatchet For The Honeymoon” so cool is that about halfway through the
film (beware…here come the spoilers) John finally hacks his wife to death to be
rid of her. However, Mildred is a
student of witchcraft and curses her husband so that her ghost is visible to
everyone but John, creating the effect that she has never died at all and
driving him all the more crazy in the process.
It is a neat little twist that adds an extra something to what could be
just an ordinary slasher.
Overall,
while it is true that “Hatchet For The Honeymoon” is minor Bava, it has been impeccably
made and is entertaining from the beginning right until its end. Bava’s use of colour, light and composition
is once again, the star of his film but he has also been ably supported by his
actors here. While it is not a film
filled with gore or blood, “Hatchet For The Honeymoon” does have a healthy body
count so I am sure horror fans would get something out of a viewing of the
film. Plus it is worth seeing if not
just for the image of Stephen Forsyth dressed in a veil, all made up complete
with red lipstick, as he hacks to death a young bride with a meat cleaver. It is wonderful and perverse stuff.
3.5 Stars.
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