Hatchet for the Honeymoon

Hatchet for the Honeymoon (Italian: Il rosso segno della follia / The Red Mark of Madness; also known as Blood Brides and An Axe for the Honeymoon) is a 1970 Italian giallo film directed by Mario Bava and starring Stephen Forsyth, Dagmar Lassander, Laura Betti, and Femi Benussi.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Critical reaction 4 References 5 External links

Plot
The film is about a series of murders committed by a good looking but impotent man who owns a bridal shop. Alienated from his wife because of his failure to consummate the marriage, he kills women dressed in his bridal gowns. He disposes of the bodies in an incinerator. The police suspect him, but have no evidence. After he eventually kills his shrewish but wealthy wife, her ghost appears and informs him that she will never leave his side - and will be visible to everyone but him. At a nightclub he tries to pick up a woman, but she rejects him when she sees his wife's ghost by his side.

Attracted to one woman, Helen, he tries to resist her, but eventually takes her to his bridal room. While there, his inner struggle comes to a head, and it is revealed that in childhood he murdered his own mother to stop her from marrying again. Helen fights him off, and the police enter. As he is taken away, his wife's ghost reappears and tells him that now she will only be seen by him, and they will be together forever.

Cast
Stephen Forsyth - John Harrington Dagmar Lassander - Helen Wood Laura Betti - Mildred Harrington Jesus Puente - Inspector Russell Femi Benussi - Alice Norton Antonia Mas - Louise Alan Collins as Vences Gerard Tichy - Dr. Kalleway

Critical reaction
AllMovie called it "not the best of Mario Bava's work", but "a must see for those who love the genre and admire stylish horror films."[1]

Although the film does not have enough reviews for a Rotten Tomatoes rating, the site records two positive and two negative reviews from critics.[2]

Tim Lucas, author of the critical biography Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark, calls Hatchet For the Honeymoon "Mario Bava's most personal horror movie" and states "Time has shown the film, initially misunderstood and considered one of Bava's lesser works, to be startlingly prescient, pointing the way for Mary Harron's film of Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho in particular."[3]