Leofwine_draca A sluggish giallo from Mario Bava, largely considered to be one of the director's worst and for good reason: unfortunately, it seems writer Mario di Nardo forgot to populate his story with any likable characters whatsoever, leaving viewing a somewhat hollow experience. The plot is basically yet another variation on the old AND THEN THERE WERE NONE story by Agatha Christie, as a bunch of stuffy, uninteresting, upper-crust types gather together at a remote island villa and find themselves offed one by one by a mysterious murderer. However, fans expecting any of the bloody antics highlighted in Bava's later A BAY OF BLOOD will be sorely disappointed to find that the murders themselves are in short supply; largely off-screen, and with minimal gore and violence.Where the film does succeed is in Bava's effortless style and artistry with the camera and art direction. Packing his movie with (irritating) zooms, dissolves, sweeps, and close-up shots, the film looks good, very good in fact. Although the music has dated badly in the meantime and the fashions have gone out of the window, the visual spectacle is what makes this film work and Bava achieves some of his trademark imaginative imagery, including a beautiful cascade of glass balls leading to a murder victim and some splendidly macabre shots of dead bodies hung up in a meat locker. While it's nice to look at, the fragmented storyline, muddled conclusion and motive for the murders and frankly silly climax (belonging more in THE CABINET OF DR CALIGARI than here) make this a rum deal indeed.Thankfully, with the appearance of some splendid Euro-babes - including the delectable Edwige Fenech and Ira von Furstenberg - Bava makes the effort to pack his film with provocative, naked female flesh on display, the result being that this is one of his sexiest movies. The sight of Fenech cavorting in bright orange underwear is enough to make any man's blood boil. An interesting male cast has also been assembled, with shifty performers like William Berger, Howard Ross and Teodoro Corra lurking about the premises, but the script is so uninteresting that it sucks life from the murder-mystery. Ultimately, the film itself is only worth watching for ardent giallo-lovers who can survive on style and artistry alone; as a film, this is an abject failure, deeply flawed and with little else to recommend it.

morrison-dylan-fan Recently talking about Giallo queen Edwige Fenech on IMDbs Classic Film board,I decided that it was time to watch a Fenech Gialli for the first time.Taking a look at a box set of auteur film maker Mario Bava,I spotted a collaboration that he had made with Fenech,which led to me staying up for the August moon.The plot:Wanting to get a breather from work, Professor Gerry Farrell & his wife Trudy decide to join industrialist George Stark and other couples for a "happening" weekend taking place on a remote island.Shortly after things start to flow,Gerry Farrell begins to suspect that he was not invited so that friends could catch up with him,as each of them start to offer bags of cash in exchange for his now formula of industrial resin.Sticking to his principles,Gerry turns down all of the offers.As the men argue among themselves,Stark's wife Jill decides to go for a walk on the beach.Getting stopped in her tracks,Jill finds out that a fellow guest has been left brutally murdered on the beach.As the bodies start to pile up,the surviving guest become increasingly desperate to get Farrell's new formula by any means possible.View on the film:Getting into the spirit of the "happening",director/editor Mario Bava & cinematographer Antonio Rinaldi dazzle with wah-wah whip- pans that give the partying a frenzied atmosphere. Despite working as a "director for hire" (and being very dismissive about the movie later on)Bava clearly displays an excellent attention to detail for the film,as the blunt murders take place against a whirling psychedelic backdrop,which goes from each of the women wearing lavishly colourful dresses,to the murder scenes being covered in shimmering blood and rolling crystal balls.For the screenplay,writer Mario di Nardo gives the Giallo a satirical Film Noir bite,as Nardo makes all the guests more concerned about getting Farrell's new formula than they are about the bodies stacking up.Digging into the Film Noir root of the Giallo,Nardo fills the weekend guest list with shady femme fatales and smart suited men who would hang anyone out to dry (or in this case on a meat hook!) to get one step ahead in the business world.Whilst the satirical slices give the movie a brittle comedic edge,the casual nature that the characters treat the murders in is sadly reflected in the screenplay,with Nardo paying little attention to building up any clues,and and also treating the murder set pieces in a relaxed manner which withholds any tense atmosphere from them.Looking gorgeous wrapped in eye-catching clothes,the beautiful Edwige Fenech gives a wonderful performance as guest Marie Chaney,whose flirtatious charms are given a femme fatale shine by Fenech,as Chaney tries to wrap all the men around in to giving her what she wants. Joining Fenech, William Berger gives a great performance as Gerry Farrell,with Berger smoothly carrying Farrell's naïve innocence into something more sinister,as the August moon rises.

gavin6942 A small group of people come to an island to relax but soon find themselves trapped on the island with a murderer in their midst.I love that the film features Tunisian-born Maurice Poli, who would go on to appear in Bava's "Baron Blood" and star in "Rabid Dogs". He has a such a good look about him, I would watch him in just about anything. (Unfortunately, it seems that he did not make any English-speaking films, so it may be harder for me to track his stuff down.) Craig Butler called the movie "a confusing and not terribly exciting whodunit... the mundane, run-of-the-mill story and the only-adequate cast keep Dolls from being anything but a mediocre movie." I disagree. While it may not be much of a whodunit, I actually enjoyed the cast and thought it developed into much more than "mediocre".

Claudio Carvalho The wealthy investor George Stark (Teodoro Corrá), his partner Jack Davidson (Howard Ross) and their business friend Nick Chaney (Maurice Poli) invite Professor Fritz Farrell (William Berger) and his wife Trudy Farrell (Ira Furstenberg) to spend a weekend with their wives Jill Stark (Edith Meloni), Peggy Davison (Helena Ronee) and Marie Chaney (Edwige Fenech) in a remote island that belongs to George. Fritz has invented a formula of an industrial resin and the three businessmen wants to convince the scientist to sell it to them for millions of dollar. The host George releases his yacht and crew to stay alone in the island with his wife, guests and the young woman Isabel (Justine Gall). When the houseboy and lover of Marie Jacques (Mauro Bosco) is found dead on the beach, they realize that the phone is out of order, so they can not call the police; they bring the corpse to the refrigerating chamber where meet and food are stocked. Fritz refuses to sell his formula and while on the beach, Isabel surprisingly shoots him on the head; however his body is not found. Then, each guest is murdered and the survivors bring the bodies to the freeze and try to discover who might be the killer."5 Doll for an August Moon" is a weird, flawed and silly black humor comedy of Mario Bava. The development of the key character Isabel is awful and the viewer never knows who she is, what the relationship of her parents and George is and why she is in the island during a business meeting. The plot is inconsistent, like for example, when Peggy is murdered – the situation does not make sense in the end. The final twist is confused and I did not understand the situation: Fritz is accused of killing his associate Dr. Kruger. If that is true, why? Wasn't he an altruist man that did not want to sell the formula but donate is for magnanimous purposes? If he confessed the crime under the influence of Pentothal, why would Isabel bother to bring him to justice? Wouldn't be smarter using the Pentothal to get the number of his bank account? My vote is four.Title (Brazil): Not Available