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Four Times That Night ReviewsBava has some fun 
Italian director Mario Bava (1914-1980) is one of the giants of the horror film genre. Bava's big break into the field came with his 1960 black and white classic "Black Sunday" starring Barbara Steele. This was only the beginning, as Bava churned out a mix of gruesome shockers and non-horror films over the next seventeen years; his films always promised great style mixed with scenes of murder and mayhem. Perhaps Mario's biggest contribution to the horror genre was his 1972 picture "Twitch of the Death Nerve," also known as "Bay of Blood." It doesn't take too long to realize "Friday the 13th" shamelessly cribbed from this slasher bloodbath. At least two of the murders in the film appear almost unchanged in the first installment of the Jason Voorhees franchise. That's right-Mario Bava gave birth to the modern slasher film. But he also dabbled in non-horror films with the immensely entertaining peplum classic, "Hercules in the Haunted World" and this film, the slightly racy romantic comedy "Four Times That Night." After watching his contributions to the sword and sandal, horror, and romantic comedy genres, I have to express further admiration for this amazing filmmaker; he could make an entertaining motion picture no matter what the subject. "Four Times That Night" is an interesting film about how different people perceive the same event in different ways. It all starts when Tina (Daniela Giordano) meets a suave ladies man named Gianni (Brett Halsey) while walking her dog. Uncomfortable with the attention she's receiving from this guy in a fancy sports car, Tina runs off through the park only to discover Gianni is following her. After some small talk, she agrees to go out on a date with him. Gianni comes to her house to pick her up and the two head out for a night on the town. Then the fun begins, as we see the end result of the date. Tina returns home very late with her dress torn while Gianni has some suspicious looking scratches on his face. A case of someone not keeping his hands to himself, perhaps? Maybe, but maybe not. Bava has great fun as he shows the viewer what happened from four different perspectives. Even at the end of the film, we're not entirely sure whether to believe the "real" account of what happened. Can we only rely on the perceptions of those individuals involved in the events? Tina's account of the evening predictably defines events from a woman's perspective. She explains to her mother that Gianni was an animal who took her dancing, filled her with drink, and then took her back to his bachelor pad with decidedly unwholesome expectations. Her dress was torn as she tried to escape from his apartment, and the scratches on his face came about from the same event. Is this the right explanation for the story? Well, Tina did come home late. Perhaps she's only making up an elaborate excuse to explain away her tardiness to a concerned mother. Gianni sees things quite differently. In his version of events, Tina is a woman of voracious appetites. He could barely keep her out on the dance floor for a minute before she started pestering him to take her to his place. Once there, she used her wily charms to seduce our hero. Gianni's version emphasizes his masculine ability to attract women. The security guard working at Gianni's apartment building tells a different story, a story filled with salacious info about Gianni, Tina, and another couple who arrived at the apartment. He was able to see the events, he explains, because he was doing his job and only happened to see through the apartment window. The final explanation is a funny one, from a psychologist at the end of the film who tries to prove how perceptions are often faulty. This account shows, in mundane detail, how events really unfolded. "Four Times That Night." Four different accounts of the same date between a man and a woman. Thankfully, Bava pulls it all off with great humor and a generous portion of ridiculousness. Even more thankfully, he used Daniela Giordano in the role of Tina. This Italian actress is gorgeous, one of the best looking starlets I have ever seen in an Italian film. Keep your eyes on her and "Four Times That Night" will be an entertaining experience indeed. There's not much more to say about the movie except to mention the hilarious décor in Gianni's apartment as well as the hyper psychedelic club where the two go to drink and dance. Did you think the 1970's had its wacky outfits and furniture? Check this place out. Wow. My eyes hurt after watching this movie. It's all done in great fun, though. Bava adeptly handles the changing storylines and even inserts a little dose of farce and slapstick into the mix. The DVD version of the film doesn't have many extras beyond a Bava biography-standard for any film in the Bava Collection-along with a filmography, some stills, and a widescreen picture transfer. The quality of the feature varies significantly; I saw significant streaks and grain present in the first twenty minutes or so before the picture improved. But what can you expect? "Four Times That Night" is a non-horror Bava film, and thus is not as interesting to his modern day fans as "Black Sunday" or "Twitch of the Death Nerve." I, however, enjoyed this movie. Perhaps you will too if you look beyond this director's proclivity for shrieks and look at his work as a whole.
John and Tina meet while Tina is walking her dog. They go out on a date which turns into a disaster when Tina reurns home with a ripped up dress and John with scratched on the forehead. What follows are three different perspectives from John, Tina, and John's doorman who spied on them, on what actually happened, followed by a fourth perspective by a psychiatrist on what could have happened (it's up to the viewer to make up their minds). This subtitled DVD comes with Mario Bava's biography and filmography, good liner notes from Tim Lucas, and a photo and poster gallery. Recommended.
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