Line #43 Film/ABayOfBlood


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/B000055ZCA_01_LZZZZZZZ.jpg]]
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3	''A Bay of Blood'', AKA ''Twitch of the Death Nerve'', is a 1971 {{Giallo}} film by Creator/MarioBava. Designed as a comeback film after he lost his distribution deal with American International Pictures, Bava effectively created a film that has served as the blueprint for the Main/{{Slasher\|Movie}} genre of horror, with many of its sequences copied by other horror films (most notably ''[[Film/FridayThe13th1980 Friday the 13th]]'' and ''Film/FridayThe13thPart2'').
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5	The film's plot is a convoluted {{Whodunnit}} as people begin dying left and right during the course of a long weekend at the lakeside home of an elderly heiress. There are multiple murderers at work, as a slew of shady characters (and a quartet of sex-obsessed teens) end up dying in horrific fashion. There is also a surprise ending that will shock you...
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7	----
8	!!This film provides examples of:
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10	* AnyoneCanDie: And does.
11	* AssholeVictim: Pretty much everyone who dies except for [[spoiler: the heiress, the teenagers, and the entomologist and his wife]].
12	* BigBadEnsemble: [[spoiler: Simon, Renata, Albert, Frank, and Laura are all the killers in the main plot, while Count Donati kickstarts the plot by killing his wife in the prologue (then promptly being offed himself).]]
13	* DecoyAntagonist: Count Filippo Donati is introduced as the killer of his own wife, but he is just as quickly killed by [[spoiler:Simon]].
14	* DecoyProtagonist:
15	** The Contessa is the first character to appear, but she ends up with a snapped neck almost immediately after her introduction.
16	** After the Contessa's and Count's death scenes, the film introduces Ventura and Laura. [[spoiler:They turn out to be some of the many antagonists in the movie.]]
17	* DeusExMachina: Just when it looks like [[spoiler:Albert and Renata]] would get away with their crimes, they get [[spoiler:shot by their own kids]].
18	* DubNameChange: The English version alters many of the characters' names to sound more "Anglicized":
19	** Alberto -> Albert
20	** Simone -> Simon
21	** Paolo -> Paul
22	** Franco -> Frank
23	** Louise -> Brunhilde
24	** Sylvie -> Denise
25	** Luca -> Duke
26	** Roberto -> Bobby
27	* DontGoInTheWoods: Or swimming in the bay. Or in the cabin nearby. Or... anywhere, really. Just drive away.
28	* EldritchLocation: Similar to other offerings in [[SlasherMovie the genre]] that the film helped inspire, [[SwampsAreEvil the bay]] and [[DontGoInTheWoods its environs]] seem to have [[GeniusLoci a malevolent, murderous influence]] on people, though this falls into the MaybeMagicMaybeMundane category.
29	* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Renata is glad to have found her father's corpse before the cops because it would mean that her father's reputation wouldn't be besmirched.
30	* EverybodyDidIt: Downplayed, but there are [[spoiler:six]] characters who have committed murders.
31	* EvilVersusEvil: This is what the main conflict over the rights to the bay comes down to: [[spoiler:Ventura and Laura versus Albert and Renata with Simon as the third faction]].
32	* ExtremelyShortTimespan: The majority of the action unfolds over a single day. It is not clear how much time elapses between the Contessa's death and the start of the main action, but it does not seem to be more than a few days.
33	* GardeningVarietyWeapon: [[spoiler:Simon]] uses a billhook as his primary weapon for murdering people.
34	* {{Gorn}}: Comfortably Bava's goriest film which sickened audiences back in the day but is now seen as the forefather of the slasher genre.
35	* GoryDiscretionShot: Averted. The kills are lovingly photographed in detail.
36	* {{Greed}}: [[spoiler: The underlying motivation which kills literally.]]
37	* HeKnowsTooMuch: [[spoiler: The reason the teenagers are killed is because one stumbled upon Donati's body in the bay, and the entomologist and his wife are killed by Albert and Renata because the former saw them kill Frank.]]
38	* HeelFaceDoorSlam: After Simon [[spoiler:kills the secretary for the death of his mother, the heiress]], it's revealed that he [[spoiler:killed all the teenagers for finding Donati's body and made a deal to sell the bay in order to keep it a secret]]. He seems to show some remorse for his part in all this [[spoiler:but is immediately killed by Albert]].
39	* HooksAndCrooks: One character gets killed when a billhook catches her throat.
40	* IJustShotMarvinInTheFace: [[spoiler:Renata and Albert end up being killed when their son shoots them with a double-barreled shotgun, without realizing that they are dead for real]].
41	* ItGetsEasier: At first, [[spoiler:Albert]] is freaked out over his first kill, but he eventually gets over it even taking pride in it.
42	* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: The two boffing kids and [[spoiler: Simon]].
43	* TheKillerBecomesTheKilled: [[spoiler: The Count]], [[spoiler: Simon]], [[spoiler: Frank and his lover]], and [[spoiler:the greedy parents]] in the finale.
44	* MindScrew: It can get confusing for the audience to figure out who did what, but the {{Flashback}}s near the end explain the plot, allowing the audience to finally see the full picture.
45	* OutWithABang: Two of the teenagers end up being skewered while they were doing the deed.
46	* PeekABooCorpse:
47	** [[spoiler:The Count]] to one of the teen girls. [[spoiler:She doesn't last long after it, though.]]
48	** Later combined with MirrorScare when Renata goes to the bathroom, puts on the light and sees the pile of corpses behind her from the mirror.
49	* ThePlace: ''A Bay of Blood''
50	* RedHerring: [[spoiler:Paolo Fossati]] is suggested to be the killer of the teenagers as his wife Anna has trouble locating him after their deaths, and he mysteriously has a new cut on his hand when Anna finally finds him. [[spoiler:It turns out that he is one of the few innocent characters in the movie.]]
51	* SexSignalsDeath: Two kids. Impaled. [[Film/FridayThe13thPart2 But in this one the girl is on top]].
52	* WildCard: [[spoiler:Simon]] is this to [[spoiler:Frank and Laura]] as he throws a wrench into their plans after killing Filippo Donati. [[spoiler:Frank]] does manage to blackmail him into joining their side, but [[spoiler:Simon]] eventually betrays them after figuring out [[spoiler:Frank and Laura]] were involved in the Contessa's murder. Despite this, [[spoiler:Simon]] ends up dying to [[spoiler:Albert]].
53	* TheXOfY: ''A Bay of Blood''
54	* YouthIsWastedOnTheDumb: Some can say this of the four young people who stop [[{{Pun}} for a quick death]].

Context Film / ABayOfBlood