In this post, we will look at an early Giallo movie, “Blood and Black Lace” (BBL). BBL is directed by Mario Bava, the ‘Master of the Macabre,’ one of the most well-known directors of the Giallo genre. The setting for this movie is Christian Houte Culture, a fashion house overdecorated with ornaments and filled with beautiful female models. The fashion house is managed by two individuals: Countess Christina (Eva Bartok) and Massimo (Cameron Mitchell). Marco, a nosy dress designer, also works at the fashion house.

A violent killer, clad in a fedora hat and trench coat, is targeting the models. Isabella, one of the models, walking through the fashion house’s compound grounds, is his first victim. Franco, an antique shop owner, cocaine addict, and philanderer who was Isabella’s former lover, is now dating Nicole, another model from the fashion house. Nicole, who is in possession of Isabella’s diary, promises Silvestri (Thomas Reiner), the police official investigating the case, that she will hand it to him. Unfortunately, she too is violently murdered at Franco’s antique shop, in typical Giallo fashion, in a gruesome scene peppered with colorful lighting. Her friend and colleague, Peggy, who stole the diary from Nicole, becomes the killer’s next casualty after the killer takes his time to torture her for the diary.

Silvestri suspects that the murderer is a serial killer and is one of the men who work at the fashion house. He holds all these men in custody as potential suspects. However, even with the men held at the station, another model meets her violent doom. So, is the killer one of the women? The rest of the plot answers this question. BBL is an enjoyable watch and has some great eye candy. Packing gore, sets with gaudy decor, and absurd multicolored lighting in some of the most unexpected places, along with an interesting whodunit plot, BBL makes its mark as a quintessential Giallo movie. The movie is a good one-time watch.

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