Blood and Black Lace

At an Italian fashion house, a group of models finds themselves stalked by a mysterious masked killer.

Blood and Black Lace (Sei donne per l’assassino) is a very stylish thriller from director Mario Bava. Bava’s use of color and shapes gives the film a very arresting visual style that’s evident from the opening frames and runs through every aspect of the film. From the killer’s costume to the sets and lighting, Bava paints a vivid picture with every shot.

While Blood and Black Lace may be visually splendid, it’s not perfect. The acting is universally flat, with the various models failing to differentiate themselves from one another. The script doesn’t help, painting them all as pretty much the same character, and to top it all off there’s some fairly atrocious dubbing.

But, ultimately, Blood and Black Lace is a triumph of style over substance, as the mystery is strong enough to keep you interested for the film’s brief 84-minute running time, and Bava’s wonderful visual compositions do the rest.