Howarth Troy - The Haunted World of Mario Bava

I would like to acknowledge, first and foremost, my adviser on this book, Dr. David Ward, for his tireless support and enthusiasm, and Alwin Dewaele, whose knowledge on the life and films of Mario Bava proved invaluable.

My sincerest thanks go to director Lamberto Bava, son of Mario Bava and long-time assistant to his father, who agreed to contribute to this updated edition; actress Barbara Steele, for being kind enough to spare the time to answer some questions pertaining to her experiences working with Bava on Black Sunday (1960); actor John Saxon, who revealed fascinating information about the film he made under Mario Bavas direction, The Girl Who Knew Too Much/Evil Eye (1962); Luigi Cozzi, the Italian director and fantasy film enthusiast who provided me with a rare, out-of-print interview he conducted with Mario Bava in the early 1970s; Roberto Curti, a native expert on Italian cinema, who translated a number of rare Bava interviews and some pertinent quotes from Riccardo Fredas memoirs in addition to penning an excellent piece on Bavas final, unproduced science-fiction pictures, which is making its English-language debut in this book, as well as an appreciation of Bavas work which is being carried over from the first edition; Alessio Di Rocco, who co-authored the wonderful article on Bavas final films with Roberto and provided some rare pre-production documents; noted author and film historian David Del Valle, who wrote a wonderful piece on Bavas favorite leading man, Cameron Mitchell, for this updated edition David also suggested the use of the Italian poster for Kill, BabyKill! for the cover, painted by Averardo Ciriello, which proved to be a tremendous piece of inspiration; actor Brett Halsey, who was kind enough to share some of his memories of working with Mario Bava when I had the pleasure of meeting him at the Monster Bash in Butler, Pennsylvania in 2011; Ernesto Gastaldi, the distinguished author and screenwriter who penned Bavas The Whip and the Body (1963); producer Alfredo Leone, for kindly allowing me to interview him for the website AV Maniacs; Alberto Pezzotta, who authored the first Italian monograph on Bava; Adrian Luther-Smith, for his expert sub-editing on this books original 2002 manuscript; and Russ Lanier, for his gracious assistance in connecting me with Barbara Steele and in conducting the interview on my behalf. Russ was also invaluable in assisting in the final editing and proof reading, along with my friends Chris Workman and the Maltese twins, Mario and Roderick Gauci. It is the generosity and passion of individuals such as these that make books like this possible. Many others have been of invaluable help to me during the writing (and rewriting) of this book, sometimes by pointing me in the direction of rare materials, or else by simply providing me with the support and encouragement that was needed to keep forging ahead. Foremost among these individuals is Bavas

biographer Tim Lucas, who shared a number of anecdotes with me, several of which have been incorporated into the text and have been acknowledged as such; Lucas massive, award-winning Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark also provided much in the way of insight into Bavas participation in some more obscure credits and again is credited where applicable. Other individuals I wish to credit with special thanks include (in no particular order): Lucas Balbo, Peter Blumenstock, Horace Cordier, Bruce Hallenbeck (if you count yourself as a fan of Hammer Horror and you dont know his name, you have plenty of reading to catch up on!), Guillaume Paul, Matt Gemmell Robertson, Eric McNaughton (of the wonderful magazine We Belong Dead ), Mirek Lipinski (whose Latarnia Fantastique International magazine and Latarnia Forums are a treasure trove of information on Spanish horror), Francesco Simeoni (of Arrow Video in the U.K.), Steven Smith (if there is a bigger fan of the Italian pepla genre, I have yet to meet him), Ellen Vass Sanderson, Jonny Redman, Henrik Hemlin, Mark Thompson Ashworth, Douglas and Thomas Bowers, Jeff Pruchnic, Jared Burnworth, Francis Brewster, Mitch Davis, Kenneth Eriksen, Julian Grainger, David Holt, Henrik Larsen, Marc Morris, Jesper Moerch, Tim Murphy, Jason Slater, Dr. Richard Strojan, Anthony Baggaley, Sean Timarco Baggaley, Thomas Wagner and the late Christopher Sven Dietrich. Special thanks are also due to Harvey Fenton, who first published this book through FAB Press in the U.K. in 2002; and Gary J. Svehla, who agreed to give the book a new life and allowed me to make corrections and enabled me to achieve my dream of delivering a tighter, and hopefully better, overall study of Bavas work. Garys unflagging support of this project, matched only by the latitude he allowed me in revising the book to my own standards, is appreciated. Last but not least, I would also like to thank my parents, Gary and Diane Howarth, who may not share my enthusiasm for Bavas work, but who do support me in everything I do.

Photographs and illustrations are the copyright of their respective holders and are reproduced here in the spirit of publicity. Marcus Brooks (of the U.K. Peter Cushing Appreciation Society), David Del Valle and Andrea Rossi kindly donated many of the images utilized in this book. Andrea provided some personal photographs of locations used by Bava in his films as they appear today, while the author purchased others from the extensive Lucas Balbo Archives. I also received more than a little help from the fine folks at Le Cinma de Genre Italien. Russ Lanier also provided some very fine images to accompany his interview with Barbara Steele. Frame grabs from various Blu-ray releases were graciously provided by Ian Jane of the website Rock! Shock! Pop! (wwwrockshockpop.com).