BADass SINema Unearthed - Blu-ray 4K UHD Review

I mean, truly there are 3 stars in this plastic-wrapped corpse collection of a whodunnit if only for the vibrant crash-zoom opening which features Edwige Fenech dancing in her golden bra as if at a European Go-Go with a vibrant energy few women can match. 

It’s an opening that few men can forget.

Honestly, there had to be a blip somewhere along Mario Bava’s career, right?  And, yes, everything you’ve ever read about 5 Dolls For An August Moon is correct.  It’s wild, wacky, and weird.  It’s also one of the director’s most visual of efforts as all things Victorian give way to an unlikely acid trip on yet another film he was brought in on after the production started.

It’s Bava taking on Agatha Christie and adding in all sorts of swinging late ‘60s flair, including a unique jazz soundtrack by Piero Umiliani which is some of the strangest tunes for an art house giallo flick.

And yet, thanks to Bava’s touch, it all sorta works to create this strange experience as a group of people - all on a sort of freak-out of their own making - on a desolate island become targets for a killer, who may or may not be associated with a chemist who has created a new chemical process for industrial resin that all the guests are eager for him to sell.

But who is killing all the guests and why?  Stick around through some personal drama (as each guest - William Berger , Ira Fürstenberg, Howard Ross, Teodoro Corrà, and Feneche - has their own dilemma) and you’ll find out.  Truthfully, 5 Dolls For An August Moon might be Bava’s turn at revitalizing Agatha Christie, but it remains sorta lifeless as a whole lot of style and pop art prettiness fly at the screen.

There’s also a lot of flesh on display as the women strip, roll around in the sand, and shake their asses while all sorts of color and stylish paintings whiz by.  That’s the true marvel of the movie: the style is quite exciting, especially as the killings become more and more grisly. 

Bava ultimately wins the audience over by never blinking from the bloodletting.  Sure, there’s a carnival approach to the whole production but - when it comes to murder - there’s few who do it better . . . or more memorable.

For a lot of Bava’s fans, 5 Dolls For An August Moon hasn’t been appreciated due to its narrative noodling.  With its inclusion here in Shout Factory’s The Mario Bava Collection, it can and should be appreciated for what it is: gold lame giallo.

Shout Factory Exclusive / Limited Deluxe Edition / Blu-ray - 2,500 copies

Home Video Distributor: Shout Factory
Available on Blu-ray - July 31, 2025
Screen Formats: 1.66:1
Subtitles: English SDH
Video: MPEG-4 AVC
Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; Twelve-disc set
Region Encoding: blu-ray locked to Region A

George Stark, a wealthy industrialist and playboy, gathers a group of bourgeois friends at his isolated island beach house for the weekend. His guest of honor is Gerry Farrell, a brilliant chemist who has discovered a remarkable new formula. Farrell doesn't care to discuss business, but the businessmen in attendance are determined to talk money – in the millions. Each of them angers the others with secret bids and back-alley deals, spawning an atmosphere of distrust, further exacerbated by the sexual intrigue in the air between the men and their various wives and mistresses. Suspicions turn into alarm when the guests begin to turn up dead, one by one!

VIDEO

The film is presented with a 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer using an aspect ratio of 1.85:1.  The ambitious scale of Bava's stylish atmospherics is represented in absorbing style with an image that is surprisingly clean given the age of the film, without any over-processing lending the picture an artificial appearance.  Certainly, despite the clarity of the presentation, the film is still allowed to breathe and retains a level of grain that ensures an authentic and credible appearance.  Even dark scenes are rarely problematic!

AUDIO

The audio is presented in a solid English DTS-HD Master Audio English With English SDH Subtitles.

Supplements:

Commentary:

• There are a couple of good ones included.

Special Features:

I think fans are going to dig the celebration of the movie with the 2 commentaries included here, especially the one with Tracy Letts.

FIVE DOLLS FOR AN AUGUST MOON (1.85:1, 81 MINUTES):

• Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio Mono With English SDH Subtitles, Italian DTS-HD Master Audio Mono With English Subtitles
• NEW Audio Commentary With Actor And Writer Tracy Letts
• NEW Audio Commentary With Film Critics Bill Bria And Ashley Coffin
• Trailer
• Still Gallery

	Movie
	Video
	Audio
	Extras
Composite 4K UHD Grade

Five Dolls for an August Moon (1970)

MPAA Rating: Not rated.
Runtime: 82 mins
Director: Mario Bava
Writer: Mario di Nardo; Mario Bava
Cast: William Berger; Ira von Fürstenberg; Edwige Fenech
Genre: Thriller
Tagline: Island of Terror.
Memorable Movie Quote: "I'm not a man of thought. I'm a man of action."
Theatrical Distributor: American International Pictures
Official Site: https://shoutfactory.com/products/the-mario-bava-collection-limited-deluxe-edition#
Release Date: 
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: July 31, 2025
Synopsis: An industrialist invites his colleagues to his private island so they can exploit a resin formula invented by one of the guests, but a killer within the group disrupts the proceedings.