Four Times that Night (1972)

- Quante volte... quella notte
A different type of Bava, 13 February 2005

Four Times that Night is the story of what happened during Tina and John's first date. According to Tina, John tried to rape her and she barely escaped with her innocence intact. According to John, Tina was an insatiable wild woman he couldn't get away from. According to John's voyeuristic doorman, while John was in the bedroom having "homosexual sex", Tina was having her own lesbian encounter. So, just what did happen?

Mario Bava wasn't afraid to try different genres. He directed Gothic horrors (Black Sunday), gialli (Blood and Black Lace), sword & sandal movies (Hercules in the Haunted World), westerns (Roy Colt and Winchester Jack), spy movies (Danger Diabolik), science fiction (Planet of the Vampires), and so on. But Four Times that Night is his only "sex comedy". Bava called it his "blue movie". While it may have represented a departure for Bava, you can clearly see his trademark style all over the movie. Everything from the bright, rich colors to the camera zooms screams Bava.

While I enjoyed the movie, it's far from being my favorite thing that Bava ever made. It is interesting to see how different people's perceptions are given the same set of events. In the fourth segment of the film, we get to see what really happened. And, as is often the case, reality can't match the sensationalism that our imaginations can dream up.

Much of my enjoyment in the movie comes from the casting of John and Tina. Bret Halsey and Daniela Giordano are simply perfect in their roles. They are very believable even in the most absurd situations.

7/10