HATCHET FOR THE HONEYMOON (1969)
(aka. "Rosso segno della follia")

Starring: Femi Benussi, Laura Betti, Stephen Forsyth, Dagmar Lassander, Silvia Lienas, Veronica Llimera, Antonia Mas. Written by Mario Bava, Santiago Moncada, Mario Musy. Directed by Mario Bava. Italy/Spain. 83 minutes.

While it may not live up to bava's old masterpieces like Black Sunday and Kill, Baby... Kill! , the master still managed to do himself proud with this one. Hatchet for the Honeymoon is the story of John Harrington (Forsyth), the deranged heir to a crumbling fashion empire who goes about hacking young brides (or, if they're not available, fashion models posing in bridal gowns) to ribbons with a small meat cleaver. He tells us in voice-over while looking at his own reflection in the mirror while shaving: "No one would think to look at me that I am completely insane."

There is a modicum of method in this chap's madness though - as a child he witnessed a traumatic incident that his fragile mind, as a defense mechanism, shut out and won't allow him to recall in its entirety. With each successive slaying he catches another glimpse of the incident that shattered his sanity, adding another piece to the mnemonic puzzle of why he became a human Quizinart in the first place. And is if his life weren't tough enough for the poor fella, he's married to ice princess Mildred (Betti) who constantly razes him for not being able to perform sexually and, on top of that, staunchly refuses to give him a divorce.

In the hands of a less talented team of writers and director, Hatchet would have been your typical, run of the mill mad slasher movie and misogynist's wet dream. However, the maestro here fashioned an effective thriller that is alternately creepy, wryly humoruous and (as is the case with ALL of Bava's work) visually intoxicating. The plot takes a surprising (but welcome) turn midway when our hero finally works up the gumption to put his insufferable bitch wife to the blade and disposes of her corpse in a hothouse incinerator which, as he informs nosy police inspector Russell (Jesus Puente) he uses exclusively for burning leaves. But the bitch STILL won't leave him alone! She reappears as a ghost to haunt and harrass him. And no, she's not a figment of his warped imagination because everybody can see her but him (at first), standing or sitting beside him swathed in a black dress and looking generally witchy.

Hatchet is a must for Mario Bava fans (it has all the ingenious camera work and painterly use of color to evoke mood typical of his work), but even those who are new to the master's work will likely be entertained by it. This isn't top or bottom rank Bava, but rests somewhere comfortably in-between.

*** Three Bridal Gowns Full of Maggots Out of Four

* Dead meat, ripe n' reeking.
** Moribund, but showing a slight flicker of life.
*** Good n' healthy.
**** Brimming with vitality.