Originally titled 'Six Women for the Killer', this Mario Bava film is often cited as the movie that pioneered the giallo horror subgenre with a plot that places more emphasis on gruesome murders than catching a killer. Full of creepy tracking shots and with eerie sound effects frequently favoured over background music, the film certainly succeeds in depicting a handful of memorable murders and stalking sequences. There is a particularly effective part where one victim to-be is chased around an antique dealer's place where every nook and cranny is lit up in varying neon shades of blue, pink and purple. The opening murder is effective too. The plot, characters and acting here leaves a lot to be desired though with the story coming to a near stand-still in between the murders. Thomas Reiner makes for one of the dullest police detectives of all time, though to be fair, the cast are hardly saddled with the sort of dialogue that could have made their characters come alive. Of course, many will be quick to point out that narratives are always a secondary consideration in gialli, but when one considers what Dario Argento was able of achieve in years to come with films like 'Suspiria' and 'Tenebrae' that managed to wrestle good performances and a decent plot into the giallo formula, it is hard not to mentally compare and contrast. Certainly, if viewed with minimal expectations, there is a lot to like about 'Blood and Black Lace'; it is simply hard not to expect something more revolutionary from a film that kick-started an iconic movie trend.

This was undeniably a major influence on the Gaillo style of film and probably also on the later "body count" serial killer films.

In this film, a serial killer wearing a hose mask kills women brutally and viciously. The film sets up many likely candidates and well keeps one guessing and guessing. Great stuff!

Bava's color visuals also stand out and apart as usual. This is simply gorgeous to view.

When the model Isabella (Francesca Ungaro) is murdered by a masked killer, the models of the fashion house managed by Contessa Cristina Como (Eva Bartok) and her lover Max Marian (Cameron Mitchell) are shaken with the crime. The model Nicole (Ariana Gorini) finds Isabella's diary and late night she borrows the car of her friend Peggy Peyton (Mary Arden) and heads to the shop of her boyfriend Frank Sacalo (Dante DiPaolo) to meet him. However, the masked killer follows Nicole and kills her expecting to find the journal. But Peggy had stolen the diary to destroy pages that compromises her and she is also murdered by the killer. Meanwhile Inspector Silvester (Thomas Reiner) has a list of suspects that includes Frank, who blackmails Marquis Richard Morell (Franco Ressel) to give the necessary alibi to him. Who might be the killer and why the diary is so important to him?

"Sei donne per l'assassino", a.k.a. "Blood and Black Lace" is a giallo film directed by Mario Bava and one of his best movies. The colors, shadows and stylish camera-work give the perfect environment to the gruesome murders. The plot is standard with a masked killer that the police believe that is a sexual maniac stalking and killing beautiful women. The conclusion gives a good explanation to the mystery and the plot is well-resolved. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

Note: On 01 March 2017 I saw this film again. Note: On 07 June 2020 I saw this film again.

Title (Brazil):"Seis Mulheres Para o Assassino" ("Six Women for a Killer")