Isabella (Francesca Ungaro), one of the lovely young models at a fashion house, meets a gruesome demise in this films' opening minutes. When her former co-workers rifle through her belongings, a diary is discovered. And many characters are mighty anxious to find out what Isabella might have written in there. Meanwhile, people continue to be murdered, and there's no shortage of suspects.
"Blood and Black Lace" was an early example of that beloved Italian genre of murder mysteries known as "Gialli", and as such, it's pretty good of its kind. Some viewers could find it a little hard to stomach, because it's rather brutal. Our murderer employs various methods, but always displays a certain sadism. The story & screenplay (by Marcello Fondato, in collaboration with director Mario Bava and Giuseppe Barilla) are not great, but they are reasonably involving and do try to keep you on your toes. The real drawing card, as with any film by Bava, is his visual style. His creation of images, and the colorful lighting and props, rank right up there with the best of his work. Things begin on an effectively ominous note, with a close-up on a sign that comes loose due to a heavy storm. As Bava well knows, dark and stormy nights are a classic trope of the entire horror genre.
The acting is generally acceptable, with American actor Cameron Mitchell in the lead. Standing out among this cast are the sultry Eva Bartok as the Contessa, and Dante DiPaolo as drug-addicted Frank Sacalo. Other familiar faces include Luciano Pigozzi (the Italian Peter Lorre), Lea Lander ("Rabid Dogs"), and Harriet Medin ("The Whip and the Body"). As fans of the Giallo come to expect, much of the female cast is strikingly sexy and used to full advantage.
Some Bava fans regard this as his true masterpiece.
Seven out of 10.
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