Filter: Hide Spoilers:
Page 1 of 3:[1] [2] [3] [Next]
Index 27 comments in total 

10 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
Good Bava Giallo, 18 July 2005
7/10
Author: Prof-Hieronymos-Grost from Ireland

An industrialist invites some of his friends to his island retreat in order to persuade a chemist (William Berger better known as Django}to sell them his new secret formula for an industrial resin. Of course he doesn't want to sell at any price and this leads to resentment and veiled threats which leads to all on the island being killed off one by one, in this "Ten little Indians" type thriller and of course there is a storm brewing and the phones are down, I think you get the picture….Now how do I review a Bava film without mentioning "Stylish" or "Superb use of Colour"…. I don't think I can really,but I will try…..This films theme is reminiscent of Bava's more famous work Bay of Blood, with its high body count….it has a funky little score too, very 60's…..the film at times tends towards black comedy with the body bags swinging in the freezer, I have to say it made me laugh and as with all Bava films the women are quite nice to look at…in particular Edwige Fenech a lady I have heard a lot about and I can see why….all in all an enjoyable little thriller, not Bava's best work but certainly worth a look

Was the above comment useful to you?

9 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Bava and Edwige: A Winning Combination, 25 January 2005
7/10
Author: bensonmum2 from Tennessee

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

- Plot: (from IMDb) George Stark is a wealthy industrialist who invites five business friends of his to his remote Mediterranean island for a weekend of relaxation and business when he introduces them to Professor Farrell, a brilliant chemist who gives investment ideas to the group. But against Farrell's wishes, the group goes behind each other's back to obtain information on Farrell's chemistry ideas and soon the guests and residents start turning up dead one by one as Stark and Farrell must rally the group together to determine the identity of the killer (or killers) despite nobody trusting anyone.

- Most people I know would list Five Dolls for an August Moon as among their least favorite film that Mario Bava made. Bava himself considered it his worst (I guess Bava never had the misfortune of watching his movie Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs). I, however, do not agree. It has a funky, late 60s/early 70s feel to it that I just love. Everything about the movie is the absolute height of fashion from that period. The clothes, the people, the house, the music, the attitudes, etc. can best be described as "groovy".

- Those who like a lot of gore with their killings may be disappointed by all of the off-screen murders. The aftermath of a couple, however, are fairly gruesome. But those with a morbid sense of humor will get a kick out of watching the bodies pile-up in the freezer. Just imagine the sight of five or six bodies wrapped in plastic being placed on meat hooks one at a time in a freezer while accompanied by some less than appropriate music. I just love it. Another plus for Five Dolls for an August Moon is the presence of Edwige Fenech. Similar to what I stated when writing about The Case of the Bloody Iris, Edwige makes any movie a better movie.

- While this movie may not be for everyone, if you're a fan of Bava, Edwige, or funky 70s movies, you might find something here to enjoy.

Was the above comment useful to you?

9 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
bad taste can be so good, 31 October 2004
8/10
Author: phoenix2rachelsummers from Florida, USA

The late Italian director Mario Bava (1913-1980) made a handful of genuinely great films, like Black Sunday, Lisa and the Devil, and Blood and Black Lace, along with many that almost transcend kitsch, i.e. Diabolik and Black Sabbath, and some that are simply wonderful kitsch. Of the third category, this may be the best example.

A group of rich, decadent swingers in the most tasteless fashions of the time (the year is 1970) cavort about on an island owned by one of them. One guest is a scientist with a formula that could be worth a fortune. When he refuses to sell the formula, everybody on the island starts dying one by one (a la Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians,) the bodies literally piling up in the meat locker, just one example of the hilariously dark humor Bava brings to this dubious premise.

Bava made no bones about this movie being a paycheck job, or of his shame for it - the script was atrocious, the producer refused to let him have any say in the casting, or let Bava use most of his usual crew, and budget cuts forced the director to have almost every murder take place offscreen. But Bava's films always had a misanthropic wit(except Black Sunday, with its clear-cut good versus evil scenario,) and in the case of "Five Dolls For An August Moon," it almost seems like the director's contempt for the project actually made the end result funnier and more brazen than expected. Bava had a technical facility that most money-burning present day directors would kill for, and a complete lack of pretensions to being anything other than a hard-working director for hire. When the chemistry was just right, it could create a glorious bauble (or, less often, something even better.)

Is it good? Well, as the saying goes, how could something so right be so wrong?

Was the above comment useful to you?

9 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
Style over substance, 3 July 2004
8/10
Author: TheatreX from Louisville, KY

Hey now, I don't mind style over subject so much when it comes to certain movies, and not minding that is almost a necessity when it comes to Italian thrillers & horror movies, anyway. This is not an exception in that area. The colors are vivid, it has groovy jazzy Italian pop muzak, it has beautiful (by 1970 standards, anyway) women, groovy clothing styles, and well, not a bunch of plot. It takes place on an isolated island in a big fancy house (with the usual weird Italian furnishings including spinning round beds) and it somehow involves some scientist that is refusing to sell his secrets to the rest of the men on the island that want to give him millions for them. All of a sudden, folks start turning up deceased, and end up in the freezer. I actually had a hard time following who was who, who was WITH who, and who was dead and who wasn't. But it didn't prevent me from still enjoying the ride. It even has somewhat of a twist ending, although it may have been a tad far-fetched. So after reading this, if you're not a fan of Italian movies, you'll probably NOT want to watch it, but that's your loss, I reckon. It's a relatively creepy movie with good atmosphere and that makes up for minimal plot and and the usual nonsensical Italian stuff. At least in MY mind.

Was the above comment useful to you?

6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
An incomprehensible but sporadically beautiful mess, 5 April 1999
Author: Jasper Sharp from London

Art direction and cinematography are as distinctive as any of Bava's other giallo films of the period, but the garbled script to what is essentially little more than a standard body-count movie really lets this one down. After a plodding and talky start, the film disintegrates into a total mess. Bava pulls off the odd visual flourish, but such scenes never gel together. Still, the mesmeric use of zooms, focus pulls, and tracking shots and the stylish use of colour ensures that, from an entirely aesthetic perspective, this film never becomes boring, and as an auteur piece, is well worth a watch. Now, if only I could work out what the hell happened in it...

Was the above comment useful to you?

8 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Weird, Flawed and Silly Black Humor Comedy, 9 July 2009
4/10
Author: Claudio Carvalho from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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

Was the above comment useful to you?

5 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Corny, stylish slasher movie with unique 70s atmosphere, 28 May 1999
Author: Ron Altman from www.cultmovies.info

One of maestro Bava's least known films may actually be his best: A scientist invites several of his friends and business associates to his villa somewhere on a remote island. Once there they try to buy an important formula from him; when they are killed off one by one, everyone suspects everyone else of being the killer. Superbly stylish sets, photography and direction in Bava's quint-essential interpretation of Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians; he turns it into a corny slasher movie. Bava also edited the picture. Wonderful 70s soundtrack by Piero Umiliani. Cinematography by Antonio Rinaldi, who did more films with Bava. English title: FIVE DOLLS FOR AN AUGUST MOON. Bava followed this with the more violent, similarly plotted ANTEFATTO.

Was the above comment useful to you?

2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
My Mario Bava guilty pleasure, 14 December 2008
8/10
Author: deadringer22000 from United States

Being a fan of Bava's flicks and after hearing quite a few bad and average reviews about this one. I decided to keep my expectations low check this one out. What I found out is that I actually liked it. While not up to the standards of Black Sabbath, Black Sunday, Twitch of the Death Nevrve, or Kill, Baby, Kill you can still tell this was done by Bava and that is what I think I liked about it. Bava's visuals and camera work are awesome even if the story is not. The story concerns a bunch of unscrupulous wealthy investors, at one's their summer home, trying to get a professor to sell his groundbreaking new formula by any means necessary. Then someone starts bumping them off one by one. If anyone looking for a great story from a Bava film is missing the point. The story is really secondary to Bava's visuals, weirdness, and black as night humor(in full swing here). The only complaints I can come up with is that the last section of the movie kind of drags and some of the characters are interchangeable. Some others might complain that there really is not any gore and they are right, but that did not bother me. So, in closing if you are a Bava fan see this one, but if you are not skip it or see the other ones' mentioned above.

Was the above comment useful to you?

3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Bava Plus Edwige...What's Not To Like?!?!?!, 6 November 2007
7/10
Author: ferbs54 from United States

One of the few films directed by Italian horror maestro Mario Bava that I hadn't seen, as well as a film starring my latest object of cinematic lust, Edwige Fenech, 1970's "Five Dolls for an August Moon" was one that I eagerly popped into my DVD player at home. And it turns out that it was well worth the wait. In this very interesting giallo, a group of businessmen convenes, with their wives, at an ultramodern beach house on what looks to be a lonely Mediterranean island, with the purpose of convincing a scientist to sell them the formula for his new industrial resin. Before long, though, "Ten Little Indians" style, the group's members start to be killed off one by one, and, in a nice, eerie touch, are kept hanging in plastic wrap in the house's meat locker. The plot here is complex enough without being ultimately impossible to understand or swallow, although one or two points do not withstand logical consideration after the movie is done. Still, Bava's direction is typically stylish, with some memorable set pieces (dig those bouncing marbles!); a chic, jazzy score by Piero Umiliani aids immeasurably in moving things along (what a terrific soundtrack CD this film could have!); and the picture, though not as graphically violent as, say, Bava's "Twitch of the Death Nerve" (1971), still provides some grisly moments. And Edwige? Well, whether doing a frenzied dance number in gold lame bell-bottoms and matching brassiere or strutting around in various states of undress, this luscious Eurobabe does not disappoint. She is easily the hottest of the "five dolls" here; whotta knockout! My thanks to Image Entertainment for this great-looking DVD of a film never released theatrically here in the U.S.

Was the above comment useful to you?

3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
5 Dolls for an August Moon, 29 March 2007
7/10
Author: Scarecrow-88 from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

A wealthy industrialist, George Stark(Teodoro Corrà), invites various couplings to his palatial island beach house with the goal of needling a "scientist", Prof. Farrell(William Berger)into selling a formula that could lead to millions. Several of the men who show up to George's shindig are business acquaintances also desiring to purchase the formula. One by one, the visitors(the wives who came along as well as their husbands)fall to a quiet killer using various methods while others' backs are turned. Playing off the oft-used "Ten Little Indians" concept, someone(..or more than one?)amongst the group is bumping the others off. For macabre humor, director Bava has George store each fallen victim in his freezer wrapped in plastic followed by some music to commemorate being among the death-list. Before long, they are dropping like flies until a mere three or four are squabbling over who is sneaky and slick enough to pull off the killings without being noticed.

That is what Bava toys the viewer with setting up a possible killer, and then subsequently upping the ante by pulling the rug from under us a good three times at the end. For a film Bava was forced into making, the twists that come at the end are quite inspired. I especially enjoyed his pokes at the wealthy..it's kind of a satire on just how greedy, vile, and back-stabbing the upper-class yuppie types can be. The desire for more and more wealth is played to it's zenith at the end. It seems that Bava doesn't give us anyone to care about, providing us with a list of unlikable, selfish cretins to root against. We are perhaps given a character with humanity in the scientist, but, as the film continues, even he is corrupt and exposed. Not violent at all for a psycho thriller/mystery. It features an attractive cast with a bevy of beauties wearing skimpy outfits. I think it comes off better because Bava seems to have contempt for these people which might explain why the scenes in the freezer seem much more absurdly amusing than a normal reaction might extract from the viewer. It's typically stylish, but Bava surprisingly holds back(..this might be considered a weakness from Bava's avid fanbase who like it when Bava lets loose a visual frenzy often making up for the story's lack of bite)allowing the mystery to take center stage.

Was the above comment useful to you?
Page 1 of 3:[1] [2] [3] [Next]

Add another comment

Related Links

Plot summary Plot synopsis Ratings
External reviews Plot keywords Main details
Your user comments Your vote history