Cheap Hatchet for the Honeymoon (Video) (Mario Bava) Price

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Customer Reviews of Hatchet for the Honeymoon

probably the best this movie will ever look
Bava's intriguing and original twist on the Italian giallo (a genre he had pretty much invented with Evil Eye and Blood and Black Lace) with an empathic view towards the killer (who is never hidden like in other thrillers but revealled right at the start). However, this is not a harrowing portrait of perversity like Henry:Portrait of a Serial Killer or even Psycho. Bava's colourful compositions and beautiful cinematography give the proceedings a decidedly playful appeal - and his surreal flashbacks whenever the killer strikes avoids the use of on-screen gore. His use of voice-overs in the opening is inspired, as our 'hero' ponders his madness, what drives him to kill, etc. All this is delivered with a suitible ironic european flavour that non-Bava fans may be rather baffled by.

It's a shame that 'Hatchet' didn't receive the sort of dvd treatment 'Black Sunday' or 'Lisa & the Devil' got from Image, but it's a solid addition to any collection of Bava's work or fans of early Italian horror. The image quality looks reasonable enough, but the sound quality is rather distracting, although perfectly audible. Of course there aren't any extras.

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Flawed but still interesting
While by no means the best Bava movie(my vote is for Black Sabbath) nor the worst(Lisa and the Devil) Hachet for the Honeymoon is an essential purchase or at least viewing for fans of his. Its about a wealthy fashion designer who feels he must commit murder to regain a supressed memory of who killed his mother on her wedding night. Bava shows his black-as-night sense of humor("How sad, another bride killed, sad. But fortunately, she paid for her wedding dress in advance.") and also bings some style into the mix(the 1st murder, the victim's face reflected in the hatchet blade, and the persistant ghost). However, being that Hatchet is baddly dated, a predictable ending, and slow first half really mar interest for one of Bava's more underrated works. Gore hounds should look elsewhere as well because Hatchet is PG rated. The dvd transfer is average and not very special.

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Hatchets & Lingerie & Wedding Veils, OH MY!
Mario Bava's Hatchet For The Honeymoon tells the story of a unhappily married, very disturbed, young wedding dress & lingerie designer with a "killer" Oedipus complex, not to mention a MAJOR SEXUAL fetish for women mannequins, wearing wedding veils, & hacking up young brides with a smallish meat cleaver. Let alone his passion for his toy train set & his boyhood bedroom, untouched all these years.

The young man is COMPELLED to keep killing so that he may recollect what terrible and horrible things happened to him while a young boy. Great flashback scenes while the main character is a tad stuck in his childhood throughout the movie. That is precisely WHY you feel compassion for the killer.

The BEST part of this film isn't really the plot nor the acting although they are fine and stand on their individual merits alone. However, it is the directing & cinematograpy that really stands out in this gem! The movie is highly vivid and shot in a beautiful, fluid, cinematic style while systematically building the eventual outcome and great ending of the film.

If you like Bava's work or just like Italian horror in general, you will be pleased with this film. Happy Watching!