Kill, Baby... Kill!

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Mario Bava directs. Antonio Rinaldi behind the camera. Carlo Rustichelli scores. Romana Fortini cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Italy. Dialogue in Italian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 183 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
• 2Shot for just $0.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 360 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 4Directed by Mario Bava, shot by Antonio Rinaldi. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 5Original score by Carlo Rustichelli. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 6Editor Romana Fortini shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 7Giacomo Rossi Stuart and Erika Blanc and Fabienne Dali carry the top of the cast.
• 8Marketing tagline: "Makes you shiver & shake!".
• 9IMDB entry: tt0060794 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography

Antonio Rinaldi

Original score

Carlo Rustichelli

Editing

Romana Fortini

Costume design

Tina Grani

Makeup / hair

Maurizio Giustini

Runtime

83 min · 1h 23m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$50,000

Original language

IT

Certification (US)

PG

IMDB

Kill, Baby... Kill! (1966) ↗

Also by

Mario Bava

• 
  The Odyssey

  1968 · ★ 8.4
• 
  The Odyssey

  1969 · ★ 7.6
• 
  Rabid Dogs

  1995 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Black Sunday

  1960 · ★ 7.4
• 
  Blood and Black Lace

  1964 · ★ 7.3
• 
  Black Sabbath

  1963 · ★ 7.2

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Kill, Baby, Kill! (1966) ORIGINAL TRAILER [HD 1080p]

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  Kill, Baby... Kill! Original Trailer (Mario Bava, 1966)

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Wuchak2018-08-07
  ★ 7/10

  Colorful Italian Gothic/Horror from Mario Bava RELEASED IN 1966 and directed by Mario Bava, "Kill, Baby, Kill" takes place in a Carpathian village in 1907 where Dr. Paul Eswai (Giacomo Rossi-Stuart) arrives to perform an autopsy at the request of the inspector (Piero Lulli). The evidence points to the hamlet being cursed with a mysterious ghost girl that compels those who see her to kill themselves, which the doctor thinks is rubbish; at first anyway. Erika Blanc plays a visiting medical student who assists Eswai while Fabienne Dali appears as the village witch and Giovanna Galletti as a bitter baroness. Luciano Catenacci is on hand as the burgomaster (mayor) and the witch’s lover. The movie has a colorful and haunting Gothic/Horror ambiance, which can be traced to earlier films like the B&W "The City of the Dead" (aka "Horror Hotel") (1960) and, more so, “The Terror” (1963), which was one of Francis Ford Coppola’s early works, although he only directed part of it. Like those flicks, “Kill, Baby, Kill” features mysterious manors, dilapidated churches, ghosts, cobwebs, witches and bell towers in the mold of Hammer flicks of the era, such as the contemporaneous "Dracula, Prince of Darkness" (1966). As far as spooky MOOD goes, “Kill, Baby, Kill” is superb, but the story isn’t as compelling as “The Terror,” except for the last act. Nevertheless, the movie has influenced many artists and their works. Rossi-Stuart makes for a stalwart protagonist in the mold of James Bond (looks-wise) while Erika Blanc and Fabienne Dali work well on the other side of the gender spectrum, both striking in different ways. The title of the film is cheesy and recalls Russ Meyer’s “Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!” from the year before. It was obviously used to give the film a “hip” edge and sell as many tickets as possible. In 1971 it was retitled “Curse of the Living Dead” in the US, which was a 100% improvement. Here are several other sample titles that would be an upgrade, as well as more accurate: “Village of the Laughing Dead”; “Night of the Laughing Dead”; “Child of Vengeance”; “The Ghost at the Window”; “Child Cursed Village”; “Forgotten Daughter”; “Make them Pay”; “Sorceress' Regret”; “Melissa”; and “Melissa’s Curse.” Okay, now for a few joke titles: “Melissa and her Sissa”; “The Graps of Wrath”; “That Damn Ball” and “Ghost Boy in Drag.” That last one is due to the fact that the ghost girl was played by a boy, one-shot actor Valerio Valeri. THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour, 23 minutes and was shot entirely in Rome, Lazio, Italy. WRITERS: Romano Migliorini, Roberto Natale and Bava. GRADE: B

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• FU

  FUL Films

Key crew

• ProducerNando Pisani
• ProducerLuciano Catenacci
• DialogueJohn Davis Hart
• EditorRomana Fortini
• Set DecorationAlessandro Dell'Orco
• Costume DesignTina Grani
• Makeup ArtistMaurizio Giustini
• HairstylistMarisa Laganga
• Assistant DirectorLamberto Bava
• Sound RecordistRomano Pampaloni
• Sound RecordistArmando Tarzia
• SoundGiulio Tagliacozzo
• Camera OperatorSaverio Diamante
• Assistant CameraSalvatore Caruso
• MusicRoman Vlad
• MusicFrancesco De Masi
• MusicAngelo Francesco Lavagnino
• MusicFranco Mannino
• MusicArmando Trovajoli
• Script SupervisorRosalba Scavia
• Production SupervisorNando Pisani
• Production ManagerLuciano Catenacci
• Unit ManagerMario Olivieri

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• ghost

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical (limited)1967-10-08PG· Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Also known as

International titles

• Curse of the DeadGB
• Don't Walk in the ParkUS
• Operation FearUS
• Kill Baby KillUS
• Die toten Augen des Dr. DraculaDE
• O Ciclo do PavorBR
• Curse of the Living DeadUS
• Kill, Baby... Kill! ...Or Be Cursed by the Living DeadUS