TWITCH
OF THE DEATH NERVE (1971)Director: Mario Bava
Image Entertainment
TWITCH
OF THE DEATH NERVE (1971)Mario Bava spearheaded the "body count" genre with 1964's BLOOD AND BLACK LACE, dabbled in it again in 1970's FIVE DOLLS FOR AN AUGUST MOON, and then came full circle with this innovative, groundbreaking achievement. Known under more alternative titles than any other Bava effort (THE ECOLOGY OF THE MURDER, CARNAGE, BAY OF BLOOD, etc.), with its inventive and gross depictions of murder, TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVE is one of the most innovative splatter films of all time.
In the hauntingly atmospheric opening, an elderly countess in a wheelchair roams around her lonely abode on a very rainy night. She is ingeniously hung to death from the seat of her wheelchair, and her assailant is quickly identified onscreen. Then in a quick turn, someone else stabs him to death. It turns out that he was the countess' husband, and his body is now missing.
It seems that the countess owns a large, remote bay that she refused to sell, and her murder culminates with the gluttonous efforts of the greedy people who want a piece of the pie, especially a couple played by red-haired beauty Claudine Auger (THUNDERBALL) and Luigi Pistilli (FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE). What ensues is one murder after the other and when a quartet of partying youngsters drop buy, they're slaughtered courtesy of Carlo Rambaldi's amazingly gross effects. The scantily clad Brigitte Skay has her throat gauged with a machete while running for her life, and a frizzy haired guy gets the same machete down the middle of his face in the film's most unsettling incident. Another couple is jointly harpooned while making love.
TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVE has an unconventional plot and the framework unwraps to allow nearly all of the film's unlikable main characters to be murder suspects (as several of them are openly revealed to be early on). Although it has most of the usual great Bava characteristics, this effort thrives on effective, gory murders most of which were later aped in a number of slasher films of the early 80s (most notably FRIDAY THE 13TH PART II). The film was even re-released by its American distributor, Hallmark (who made it a drive-in smash), as a sequel to Wes Craven's LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT!
A budget DVD company, Simitar, previously released the film under the "Bay of Blood" title (also the title on the credits of this disc), but avoid that one at all costs and buy Image's official release. Image provides a new widescreen (1.78.1) 16x9 transfer that looks great, with stunning color. There is some minor print damage, but the transfer is full of beautiful detail never before witnessed in any other video edition of this title. Unfortunately, the mono sound doesn't do the fine picture justice, and the limitations are all too apparent. At times, voices (especially characters talking from far away or offscreen) are very low, or brought to a high pitch of annoying distortion, so be ready with your volume control.
The disc does offer a number of extras, including an unusual trailer for the film under the title CARNAGE, trailers for other releases in the Image/Bava collection, a photo/still gallery, a Bava filmography and biography, and a special "Murder Menu" that easily lets you access each of the 13 murders at hand. Tim Lucas writes the liner notes, which include some interesting quotes from Bava and Laura Bette, who plays the film's tarot card-reading kook. (George R. Reis)