Hatchet for the Honeymoon [VHS]

Hatchet For The Honeymoon is a 1969 Italian horror film that is valuable for its campy nature. We had a great time laughing at the situations, acting, and costuming for the film. If you are looking for a great candidate for a Mystery Science Theater 3000 experience one evening with your friends, this is a PRIME candidate. The quality of the film is to be expected for this age and barely known film, but the blu ray gives great boldness to the color. Enjoy!

Mario Bava was a real genius: given the sparsest resources, he made nasty little movies that look like delirious fashion shoots. This one takes horror history from the past and writes it for the future: mother-issues, castration anxiety, mannequins, mediums, serial killing, and fabulous POV shots. A+!

[Hatchet For The Honeymoon - 1969 - Widescreen - English - 88 minutes] The HD blu ray treatment of this film is certainly worth the upgrade for all Mario Bava aficianados - the picture quality is superb, the colors rich and vibrant, the contrast uncanny for a film this old. Over and over again while I was watching I had to remark to myself how gorgeous it was, unlike a lot of other blu ray flicks I 'upgraded' lately. The audio, however, is a slightly different story - it appears that with each new reel of film, there's an abundance of snap, crackle, and popping and some hiss for around 20 seconds before it clears up. After that, it's fine. A minor distraction, but worth the trade for the video brilliance offered.Not technically a gaillo, due to the fact that we know the killer's identity within three minutes as he gives an internal monologue declaring his psychological dilemma and love for killing women, this is still Bava working full throttle, though not necessarily paving new roads with this film. It's very different from his 'Bay of Blood', from the following year which, along with Sergio Martino's 'Torso', ushered in the slasher film about six years before John Carpenter's 'Halloween'. This is more like his other 60's film's, psychological horror without the gothic feel, yet the goth elements are evident everywhere - the lead's wife is a spiritualist, the elaborate castle manor they live in, the creepy mannequins that dreadfully dominate and dictate his desire to kill, and the childhood murder that haunts him currently, puzzle pieces of which he still can't come to grips with all play out with elaborate visual splendor, as Bava also plays cinematographer as well as director.Stephen Forsyth is excellent as the stylish, good-looking psychopath married to a shrew of a woman (Laura Betti) who won't grant him a divorce, as she holds the financial pursestrings, and makes his life more hellish than it already is considering all the emotional baggage he's burdened with. Dagmar Lassander is always a treat to watch, and was popular in around a half-dozen gailli and trailblazing Euro-exploitation films ('The Frightened Woman', 'Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion' and 'Black Emmanuelle' come to mind), and there are a few other comely Eurobabes to keep your attention riveted to the sumptuous visuals as Bava does his thing, which is, for me, always fascinating to watch. And the cat-and-mouse game with the police inspector (Jesus Puente) adds to the fun, though we've seen it done before, by both Bava and his contemporaries. Of which he had few.Another entertaining example of a genre created by this master of the macabre, 'Hatchet' may be slight on gruesome gore and arterial bloodspatter, but is a classic example of the 'less is more' old-school psychological horror prevalent back in the 60's. Bava would turn this genre around and reinvent it again with his next adventurous film, but here he plays it safe. Assuming that the serial-killing of new brides and being haunted by a ghost is your idea of safe. 4 stars.

Great flick.

In real life, director Mario Bava had a troubled marriage. It was reflected in his "Hatchet for the Honeymoon," a kaleidoscopic, modern gothic horror. John Harrington's entire life revolves around the stabbing death of his mom on her wedding night. As a little boy, he witnessed the murder but can't remember who committed it. Now he is an adult who manages his mom's fashion salon where beautiful women model wedding apparel. John is tormented by his nagging wife; he obviously married her to financially support his salon. His quest to remember what happened the night of his mom's murder has driven him insane. John murders young women on their wedding nights. With each murder, he is brought one step closer to remembering who killed his mom. Eventually, he kills his wife who returns from the grave to ensure that he never marries anyone else. He can never be free of her. As with all of Mario Bava's movies, "Hatchet for the Honeymoon" is beautifully filmed with his trademark use of bright reds and blues. It has a dreamlike, hallucinatory effect on the viewer. This film is not a giallo, as some claim, but a gothic ghost story that is set in the swinging, "groovy" sixties. It is entertaining, but is not one of my favorite Bava movies. It is not as suspenseful as Bava's other gothic horror films such as "Kill, Baby . . .Kill," "Black Sunday," or "Baron Blood." Within the Image DVD case, there is a booklet of interesting liner notes provided by Tim Lucas, a Mario Bava biographer. The DVD itself has extras including a poster gallery and a Mario Bava filmography and biography. "Hatchet for the Honeymoon" is recommended for Bava enthusiasts as well as fans of gothic horror. It is not for fans of Italian gialli. You may want to rent this film before purchasing.

arrived fast and looks great.

The movie is superb---vintage Bava!!!

This review refers to the Redemption Blu-ray.First, the image quality is excellent, with no more than very minor print damage occasionally visible.The movie itself is an Italian-Spanish coproduction. It’s main selling point is the bevy of lovely actresses including one of my favorites, Femi Benussi.For me, part of the charm and fun of watching these movies is a degree of awkward English dubbing and this movie provides plenty of that.Of course this was directed by Mario Bava so it is a must for his fans as well.Good fun & recommended!

A nice little romantic movie.....then the horror!

Be aware that the Italian language version of this film no longer exists - explained in the commentary - and that the presence of English audio only is made explicit on the (2021) 88 Films product page. Excellent picture and sound quality in this version.

John Harrington ((Stephen Forsyth) ist Chef eines Hauses für Brautmoden, untergebracht in einem wunderbaren Haus, verheiratet mit Mildred (Laura Betti), die Kapital in das Geschäft eingebracht hat, und ein Mörder, wie er uns schon zu Beginn des Filmes erzählt: Drei Frauen im letzten Jahr gibt er zu, und er kann mit seiner Paranoia gut leben, wie er selber konstatiert. Diese resultiert aus einem Kindheitstrauma, er hört auch jetzt noch immer wieder Schritte und eine Stimme, die verzweifelt seinen Namen ruft. Durch die Morde mit einem Schlachterbeil hofft er, seine Erinnerung an dieses Ereignis wiederzuerlangen, mit jeder Tat komme er ihr ein wenig näher.Wenn er allerdings behauptet, eine Psychose zu haben, dann wird er sich im Laufe des Filmes noch wundern, seine Ehefrau, die auf keinen Fall in eine von ihm gewünschte Scheidung einwilligen will, verfolgt ihn, kehrt überraschend von einer Reise zurück, sie hat diese gar nicht angetreten, weil sie ihn nie so lange alleinelassen könne.Auch sie muss weg, aber wenn er meinte, vor ihr Ruhe zu haben, wird er eines Besseren belehrt, und bald weiß er nicht mehr, ob er sie überhaupt erfolgreich beseitigt hat, die Tasche mit ihrer Asche landet auf geheimnisvolle Weise wieder im Haus, obwohl er sie in ein Gewässer versenkt hatte, die Polizei verdächtigt ihn, und er entgeht nur um Blutstropfens Breite der Enttarnung, ein Köder wird ihm aber zum Verhängnis, und jetzt ist er wirklich völlig irre.Mario Bavas Giallo erschien 1970, der Regisseur stand auch selber hinter der Kamera, deshalb und wegen des beeindruckenden Drehs in der Villa des Diktators Franco ist ein 'Psycho-Gallo entstanden, dessen Bildgewalt und -genialität allenfalls noch von "Das Parfüm der Dame in Schwarz" übertroffen wird, bei dem der Einsatz von Primärfarben als Kontrastpunkte und der fantastische Einsatz von Spiegeln mich noch etwas mehr begeistert haben.Wunderbar die Kameraführung in der Villa mit erlesenstem Interieur mit viel warmem Holz, die Treppe zur ersten Etage, die noch eine wichtige Rolle spielen wird, das Refugium von John, ein Raum, in dem alle bisher gefertigten Brautkleider des Hauses an Schaufensterpuppen zu bewundern sind.Faszinierend eine Szene in seinem Kinderzimmer, wo noch alles Spielzeug aufbewahrt ist, sämtliche Spieluhren oder andere mit Federzug sich bewegenden Figuren tanzen, rattern und klingeln zugleich, und auch gleichzeitig, Johns baldiges Ende symbolisierend, werden sie langsamer, werden stumm und bewegungslos.Mit John fürchten wir um Enttarnung, als er Polizeibesuch hat und Blutstropfen aus der ersten Etage auf den Teppich im Parterre landen, ein Blick des Polizisten auf eine Glastischplatte hätte gereicht, in zu überführen.Großartig auch die Darsteller mit dem attraktiven Stephen Forsyth, ungeliebter aber an ihm klebender Ehefrau Laura Betti und Dagmar Lassander, höchst attraktiv und ebenfalls gut spielend als mögliches nächstes Opfer der Mordserie, später war sie eher in Soft-Sexfilmchen zu sehen, z.B. an der Seite der diesbezüglich bekannteren Gloria Guida.Aufgrund der spannenden Handlung, des originellen, wenn auch nicht völlig unvorhersehbaren Endes mit Entlarvung des Mörders von Johns Mutter, insbesondere aber der großartigen Kulisse und der genialen Kameraführung von Mario Bava gehört diese wenig bekannte PERLE des Giallo unbedingt in den Player und die Sammlung von Liebhabern dieses Genres.Doc Halliday

This movie would appeal those fans of Mario Bava, but also those looking for good and stylized giallos. The camera use, the high frequency of close ups, the use of dark backgrounds to highlight the main points are extremely well achieved. Viewers already familiar with Dario Argento and Italian giallos in general should recognize this film contributes to make Mario Bava as one main father of this cinematographic style. Regarding the story, we have the main character played by actor Stephen Fosyth who is haunted by his blurred memories about the death of his mother, when he was a kid. New details come to his mind whenever he murders women, so this drives him keep going. The victims are chosen from models working on his wedding fashion business. Overall, a good (not to die) story and a better cinematographic job.Technically, this digital transfer by Anchor Bay is simply the best one would get in DVD quality. Previously, I owned a region 1, Double Feature presentation by Madacy, which I already put it in my trash container upon viewing this Anchor Bay release. The Anchor Bay release comes in a nice widescreen format and crisp clear DVD transfer. The audio is very clear, dubbed English. No subtitles are provided.

I just loved this Blu-ray...I really recommend it to Mario Bava fans or lovers of giallo in general...