BADass SINema Unearthed - Blu-ray 4K UHD Review

Who’d have thought that vikings in ridiculous costumes could be this endearing?!  Certainly no one I know . . . especially if you just gradually tune in and out of this western-inspired adventure.  Throw in some shoot-outs (by way of knives) and a showdown in the sunset and you have director Mario Bava’s nod to the Western genre, which isn’t a bad thing at all.

And, yet, there is so much more the director is working with as themes of love and loss come into play throughout this film as one viking finds himself working to protect the gorgeous Queen Karin and her son, Moki. . . who, due to his own less than heroic ways in the past, might just be his own son.  Awkward!

Directed by Mario Bava (Planet of Vampires) in less than a week, Knives Of The Avenger is essentially a Sword and Sandal film by way of Shane, the western which defined a whole lot of filmmakers when it comes to expressing the lone hero set to defend a callous sun-bleached world.

But Bava makes this film sing.  He really does.   

And, really, Knives Of The Avenger works far more often than it should considering that Bava was brought in to fix the film after most of it had been filmed.  Did he go the easy route?  Not at all.  Bava rewrote, reshot, and re-worked the story of a mysterious knife-throwing viking warrior who agrees to protect a woman and her young son from the clutches of an evil regent bent on claiming the title of king . . . and the young woman for himself.

Some suggest this is Bava at his most emotional and evocative.  It’s hard to argue otherwise as Ator (Cameron Mitchell) totally redeems himself of his past crimes against both man and woman as he becomes a father figure to another man’s son.  The sentimentality in this flick sneaks up on the viewer and simply leaves its audience speechless.

It’s the same reaction when you watch Elissa Pichelli grace the screen in her role, too.  Her presence is a smoldering one which inspires  

Everything cooks here, but you really have to overlook the costume choices here, including the ridiculous idea of bleaching Mitchell’s hair!  Pay no attention to the dressing and concentrate more on the story and you have an action adventure flick that took Bava six days to shoot after he took over its production.

It truly is amazing.

For a lot of Bava’s fans, Knives Of The Avenger hasn’t been appreciated due to its presentation warts.  With its inclusion here in Shout Factory’s The Mario Bava Collection, it can and should be appreciated.

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

With her husband the King missing at sea and presumed dead, Queen Karin goes into hiding with her young son Moki to escape being forced into marriage with Hagen, a general of the King's army and now a bloodthirsty pretender to the throne. Wary of strangers, she turns a beggar away from her cottage, but upon hearing her cries for help, the stranger returns and saves her from being assaulted by two men – with two well-thrown knives! The blademaster Rurik (Cameron Mitchell) is allowed to stay, and he takes the boy under his wing, teaching him the arts of survival. In time, he recognizes Karin as the woman he seduced years ago on her wedding night in retaliation for Hagen's murder of his own wife and son. Realizing that Moki might be his own son, Rurik now has a family to defend – and another to avenge – as Hagen and his soldiers converge on their hiding place!

VIDEO

The film is presented with a 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer using an aspect ratio of 1.66:1.  The ambitious scale of Bava's 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, with the blacks proving extremely solid, and the level of accuracy ensuring that this gothic masterpiece is visually absorbing throughout.

AUDIO

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

Supplements:

Commentary:

• None

Special Features:

Well, this one still gets no commentary love, which is unfortunate considering its history.

Knives of the Avenger (2.35:1, 84 MINUTES):

• Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio Mono With English SDH Subtitles
• Trailer
• Still Gallery

	Movie
	Video
	Audio
	Extras
Composite 4K UHD Grade

Knives of the Avenger (1966)

MPAA Rating: Not rated.
Runtime: 85 mins
Director: Mario Bava
Writer: Alberto Liberati; Gene Luotto
Cast: Cameron Mitchell; Fausto Tozzi; Giacomo Rossi Stuart
Genre: Adventure
Tagline: One man's burning ambition for total vengeance
Memorable Movie Quote: 
Theatrical Distributor: World Entertainment Corp.
Official Site: https://shoutfactory.com/products/the-mario-bava-collection-limited-deluxe-edition#
Release Date: January, 1968
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: July 31, 2025
Synopsis: A mysterious, knife-throwing Viking warrior protects a young peasant woman and her son from the clutches of a evil regent bent on claiming the title of King and the woman for himself.