Watch Five Dolls for an August Moon For Free

Best movie of this year hands down!

the audience applauded

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

George Stark (Teodoro Corrà), a wealthy industrialist, invites several business friends and their partners to his island retreat for the weekend, with the intention of convincing scientist Gerry Farrell (William Berger) to sell his secret formula for a new industrial resin. Philanthropist Gerry isn't interested in making a deal, intending instead to make his invention public, a fact that forces one or more of the guests to turn to murder.The general consensus seems to be that this is one of director Mario Bava's weakest efforts (even Bava himself was reportedly not fond of the film, being contractually obliged to direct); I can't really comment much on that since I've seen too few of his films to compare, but what I can say is that, even though I found the twists and turns of this Italian variation of Agatha Christie's Ten little Indians virtually impossible to fathom (especially the twist ending), there were still enough positives to make it worth a go.As with many a giallo, the female cast are very easy on the eye, with genre regular Edwige Fenech stripping off whenever possible as always. There are numerous murders, and although they all occur off-screen (we get to see just the aftermath), the hanging up of the steadily growing number bodies in a meat locker is wonderfully macabre and darkly amusing. The jazzy score is super cool, perfectly complementing the wonderful '60s/'70s architecture and decor of the island's house. And despite Bava's purported disinterest, there is still an unmistakable sense of style, with effective uses of whip-pans and rapid zooms, and at least one stunning scene worthy of a genius, wherein a display of glass balls roll down a spiral staircase, along the floor, and into a bathtub where a woman has committed suicide.All said and done, if this is his worst, I really must check out his best.

A sluggish giallo from Mario Bava, largely considered to be one of the director's worst and for good reason: unfortunately, it seems writer Mario di Nardo forgot to populate his story with any likable characters whatsoever, leaving viewing a somewhat hollow experience. The plot is basically yet another variation on the old AND THEN THERE WERE NONE story by Agatha Christie, as a bunch of stuffy, uninteresting, upper-crust types gather together at a remote island villa and find themselves offed one by one by a mysterious murderer. However, fans expecting any of the bloody antics highlighted in Bava's later A BAY OF BLOOD will be sorely disappointed to find that the murders themselves are in short supply; largely off-screen, and with minimal gore and violence.Where the film does succeed is in Bava's effortless style and artistry with the camera and art direction. Packing his movie with (irritating) zooms, dissolves, sweeps, and close-up shots, the film looks good, very good in fact. Although the music has dated badly in the meantime and the fashions have gone out of the window, the visual spectacle is what makes this film work and Bava achieves some of his trademark imaginative imagery, including a beautiful cascade of glass balls leading to a murder victim and some splendidly macabre shots of dead bodies hung up in a meat locker. While it's nice to look at, the fragmented storyline, muddled conclusion and motive for the murders and frankly silly climax (belonging more in THE CABINET OF DR CALIGARI than here) make this a rum deal indeed.Thankfully, with the appearance of some splendid Euro-babes - including the delectable Edwige Fenech and Ira von Furstenberg - Bava makes the effort to pack his film with provocative, naked female flesh on display, the result being that this is one of his sexiest movies. The sight of Fenech cavorting in bright orange underwear is enough to make any man's blood boil. An interesting male cast has also been assembled, with shifty performers like William Berger, Howard Ross and Teodoro Corra lurking about the premises, but the script is so uninteresting that it sucks life from the murder-mystery. Ultimately, the film itself is only worth watching for ardent giallo-lovers who can survive on style and artistry alone; as a film, this is an abject failure, deeply flawed and with little else to recommend it.

"Five Dolls For an August Moon" is a tedious proto-slasher with giallo touches. It features the typical cast of older, debonair gentlemen with their young bimbos conducting affairs with whoever else - one in a lesbian tryst, for an even more giallo-type sense of trashiness (the slasher genre was too conservative for lesbianism).Anyway, the characters are all utterly charmless and distant. Slashers generally went with obnoxious teenage stereotypes; gialli use bloodless rich people. Either way, it's impossible to care about them.There is also no real attempt at suspense. The movie doesn't even try to make you care about what's going on; it's like looking at a series of photos of the location that occasionally have dead people in them.There is no on-screen violence that I remember, no nudity except for one scene with Edwige Fenech (who is wasted here) where you might have to squint, and no real reason to watch that I can think of, unless you are a Bava completist.

The wealthy investor George Stark (Teodoro Corrá), his partner Jack Davidson (Howard Ross) and their business friend Nick Chaney (Maurice Poli) invite Professor Fritz Farrell (William Berger) and his wife Trudy Farrell (Ira Furstenberg) to spend a weekend with their wives Jill Stark (Edith Meloni), Peggy Davison (Helena Ronee) and Marie Chaney (Edwige Fenech) in a remote island that belongs to George. Fritz has invented a formula of an industrial resin and the three businessmen wants to convince the scientist to sell it to them for millions of dollar. The host George releases his yacht and crew to stay alone in the island with his wife, guests and the young woman Isabel (Justine Gall). When the houseboy and lover of Marie Jacques (Mauro Bosco) is found dead on the beach, they realize that the phone is out of order, so they can not call the police; they bring the corpse to the refrigerating chamber where meet and food are stocked. Fritz refuses to sell his formula and while on the beach, Isabel surprisingly shoots him on the head; however his body is not found. Then, each guest is murdered and the survivors bring the bodies to the freeze and try to discover who might be the killer."5 Doll for an August Moon" is a weird, flawed and silly black humor comedy of Mario Bava. The development of the key character Isabel is awful and the viewer never knows who she is, what the relationship of her parents and George is and why she is in the island during a business meeting. The plot is inconsistent, like for example, when Peggy is murdered – the situation does not make sense in the end. The final twist is confused and I did not understand the situation: Fritz is accused of killing his associate Dr. Kruger. If that is true, why? Wasn't he an altruist man that did not want to sell the formula but donate is for magnanimous purposes? If he confessed the crime under the influence of Pentothal, why would Isabel bother to bring him to justice? Wouldn't be smarter using the Pentothal to get the number of his bank account? My vote is four.Title (Brazil): Not Available