A Bay of Blood (1971)

There are numerous movies that almost fit the slasher genre way before Halloween hit the theater. Often Black Christmas is cited as one of the earliest and most influential, while The Abominable Dr. Phibes and its sequel have many elements of this style of film. The true granddaddy of all slasher films, though, would be Mario Bava's 1971 A Bay of Blood . Countess Federica Donati (Isa Miranda) is murdered one night by her husband (Giovanni Nuvoletti), who tries to make it look like suicide. However, just as he is putting the finishing touches on his work, he is dispatched by an unknown killer. With the count's body nowhere to be found and everything looking like suicide the property is set to pass on to an heir, and Renata Donati (Claudine Auger), the daughter of the Count, expects that to be her. She arrives at the property with her husband Alberto (Luigi Pistilli) and their children to stake their claim. Problem is, they learn from fortune teller A...