Mario Bava Video | Clips from Films Directed and Interviews

Mario Bava (31 July 1914 – 25 April 1980) was an Italian director, screenwriter, and cinematographer remembered as one of the greatest names from the "golden age" of Italian horror films. Mario Bava was born in San Remo, Liguria, Italy. The son of Eugenio Bava, a sculptor who became a pioneer of special effects photography and subsequently one of the great cameramen of Italian silent pictures, Mario Bava's first ambition was to become a painter. Unable to turn out paintings at a profitable rate, he went into his father's business, working as an assistant to other Italian cinematographers... MORE

Mario Bava (31 July 1914 – 25 April 1980) was an Italian director, screenwriter, and cinematographer remembered as one of the greatest names from the "golden age" of Italian horror films. Mario Bava was born in San Remo, Liguria, Italy. The son of Eugenio Bava, a sculptor who became a pioneer of special effects photography and subsequently one of the great cameramen of Italian silent pictures, Mario Bava's first ambition was to become a painter. Unable to turn out paintings at a profitable rate, he went into his father's business, working as an assistant to other Italian cinematographers like Massimo Terzano, while also offering assistance to his father who headed the special effects department at Benito Mussolini's film factory, the Istituto LUCE. Bava became a cinematographer in his own right in 1939, shooting two short films with Roberto Rossellini. He made his feature debut in the early 1940s. Bava's camerawork was an instrumental factor in developing the screen personas of such stars of the period as Gina Lollobrigida, Steve Reeves and Aldo Fabrizi. Bava completed filming I Vampiri (aka The Devil's Commandment) for director Riccardo Freda in 1956, now referred to as the first LESS