A Bay of Blood

Well, this was certainly unique. Not necessarily GOOD, but unique. Giallo has two key elements: a mystery and lots of murder. A Bay Of Blood goes overboard on both of those. Mind you, this movie came out in 1971, 7 years before Halloween made slashers a thing, and 9 before Friday the 13th made the gore the focus, and yet it out-violences both of them, and many of the 80's gorier movies. The kills in this movie are definitely not stripped by the MPAA of any of their visceral nature; blood flows like rivers here. Impalements, decapitations, throat slits, and all of it has bright red blood pouring out like an open fire hydrant. It's almost comical, but I do love the fact that they didn't hold back at all. As for the whodunit element, this may be the first ever who-DIDN'T-do-it, as I think there are no less than six people responsible for murders committed in this movie (one by accident, but still). And that's a problem, as keeping track of who is working with who, who is double-crossing and who is being double-crossed, and all the motivations is no easy feat. I felt like I needed a flow chart. I'll give it points for being different than other slasher or giallo movies in that it doesn't rely on one killer, but the tangled web of characters here is so confusing, it keeps any suspense or intensity from building, because I'm too busy trying to keep the threads straight in my head. And that isn't helped by the fact that this movie has a SEVERE pacing problem. The main plot concerns who will inherit this bay from a wealthy old woman who was murdered but made to look like a suicide. But for a good 15-20 minutes, this plotline not only stops, but is dropped entirely for four teenagers coming to the bay because they heard about the murders on the news and want to party there. The story has to go wait in catering so this runtime padding can happen and the movie can get fulfill a body count of 13 (this would be significant if the number had any significance within the movie itself) and get some nudity in there. It may be an inspiration for many, many slasher movies in the 80's -- literally, two kills from Friday The 13th Part II are directly inspired by, or even ripped off from, this movie -- but the pacing and the unbelievably convoluted plot are anchors this movie can't shake off. If you want carnage, it'll definitely scratch the itch. If you want a good movie around your bloodshed, this might be a little too much plot for your liking.