Dr. Paul Eswai (Giacomo Rossi Stuart) arrives at the village of Karmingam, at the request of Inspector Kruger (Piero Lulli), to perform an autopsy on a young woman, Irena Hollander (Mirella Pamphili), who mysteriously fell to her death. Kruger sends Monica Schuftan (Erika Blanc), a young medical student, to witness the autopsy. Monica had just returned to the village to visit the graves of her parents. Monica was born in the village but was sent away when she was a baby.
During the autopsy Paul finds that a coin had been placed in her heart to ward off evil thereby letting Irena’s soul rest in peace. Paul learns that the village witch, Ruth (Fabienne Dali) has been placing coins in the hearts of people who have been killed by what the villagers believe is the malevolent spirit of a young girl, Melissa Graps (Valerio Valeri), who died twenty years ago.
Seven-year-old Melissa was the daughter of the local Baroness Graps (Giovanna Galletti). Melissa died in an accident when she was run over by a horse being ridden by one of the villagers. The Baroness blamed the entire village for her death. No one goes to the Graps house for fear of the evil there. Kruger decides that he must see the Baroness and find a logical explanation for what is happening. Kruger is later found dead from a bullet wound to the head. Paul knows that no spirit was responsible for his murder. Paul goes to see the Baroness and sees Melissa’s spirit.
As Paul investigates the ghostly happenings, he learns that Monica wasn’t the Schuftans’ daughter but was in fact the Baroness’ youngest daughter. The Schuftans were servants of the Graps’. After Melissa died, they took Monica, then a baby, away from the estate for safety. Now that she has returned, Melissa’s spirit focuses trying to destroy Monica.
“Kill Baby Kill” AKA “Operazione paura” or “Operation Fear” was released in 1966 and was directed by Mario Bava. It is an Italian gothic supernatural horror film.
There is nothing like a Mario Bava horror story. Bava was also involved in the writing of the screenplay as well as the cinematography and matte paintings and some of the special effects. His eye for color and form was innovative. He was a major contributor to bringing Italian horror and giallo to the forefront of cinema. His talent made horror an art form. When it comes to Mario Bava, atmosphere is one of the main characters. He has a way of taking elements from German Expressionism, solidifying them and plying everything with deep rich color.
Despite the movie’s crappy name, both American and Italian, the movie is a fun little horror fest, not because it’s scary, there’s very little blood or even real suspense. The draw here is not the story but the setting. The ancient Italian cities used for the film look very much like those found in the Carpathian Mountains, thus giving the film its gothic vibe.
The ghost child, Melissa Graps, was played by a young boy. He was billed as Valerio Valeri.