Mario Bava (31 July 1914 – 27 April 1980) was an Italian film director, cinematographer, special effects artist, and screenwriter who was known as the “Master of Italian Horror” and the “Master of the Macabre.” His low-budget genre films, distinguished for their distinct visual flare and stunning technological brilliance, contain reoccurring themes and images about the fight between illusion and reality, as well as human nature’s destructive ability. He was a pioneer of Italian genre filmmaking and is considered one of the genre’s most important auteurs.
Bava made his professional feature directing debut with the horror picture Black Sunday, released in 1960, after contributing special effects work and other assistance on movies such as Hercules (1958) and Caltiki – The Immortal Monster (1959). He went on to direct The Girl Who Knew Too Much, Black Sabbath, The Whip and the Body (all in 1963), Blood and Black Lace (1964), Planet of the Vampires (1965), Kill, Baby, Kill (1966), Danger: Diabolik (1968), A Bay of Blood (1971), Baron Blood (1972), Lisa and the Devil (1974), and Rabid Dogs (1974).