A Bay of Blood, Mario Bava on Greed

Former Miss France and Bond Girl, Claudine Auger, absolutely owns the camera in any film she is in.  In 1971's "A Bay of Blood" (directed by Mario Bava), she will also attempt to own everything else by way of murder.  To be fair, everyone in this film is a homicidal maniac, so what is a little murder among murderers?  Unfortunately, this is an Italian horror film, hence Ms. Auger isn't too beautiful to die horribly.  Will she survive a plethora of seedy characters?  Should she?

Renata's (Auger) step mom, the Countess, is murdered by Renata's dad.  Uh oh, her dad is then instantly murdered, as well.  Now the fun starts.  The Countess owns the bay and everyone wants it so they can make a fortune developing it.  A lawyer (Chris Avram) rushes to the bay with his mistress, the beautiful, but soon to be dead Laura (Anna Maria Rosati).  Renata and her husband, Albert (Luigi Pistilli) also rush to town with a plan of killing everyone they meet who might have claim to the bay. Oh yes, Simon (Claudio Camaso)!  He is the illegitimate son of the Countess, and may be in the will. When Renata confronts Simon, she finds her dad's body in his boat as his face is being eaten by an octopus (a metaphor of what awaits us all?).

As Renata and Albert search for the will, they find the bodies of four youngsters who wandered into the Countess' mansion with the intention of skinny-dipping and pre-marital sex. No time for mourning, Albert and Renata begin their murderous plan, and kill without hesitation or emotion. The lawyer and his mistress have a similar plan, but there's isn't as good as Renata's. As more bodies pile up, or are thrown into the bay, Renata and Albert seem to have an upper-hand on the quest for the bay.  However, when everyone in the film is a murderer...well...you'll see.

Fans of the "Friday the 13th" franchise will see much in this film that inspired some of Jason's kills. The body count is enormous in this film, as it seems to take an Agatha Christie plot and inject it with a lot of steroids.  Will anyone survive to take possession of the bay?  Will Ms. Auger and Ms. Rosati engage in a cat-fight? Did this film also inspire the 1977 Shelley Winters monster classic "Tentacles."?  Fans of Italian horror will love this film, as well as fans of Jason and "Friday the 13th." Enjoy!