June marks Italian Heritage Month in Vancouver, which means we are making plans for Italian Day on the Drive (Sunday, June 8). In celebration of one of our favorite annual neighborhood events, our Friday Late Night Movie series continues on June 7 with a 60th Anniversary screening of iconic Italian filmmaker Mario Bava‘s landmark work of stylish horror, BLOOD AND BLACK LACE.

Before Dario Argento’s DEEP RED, there was Bava’s BLOOD AND BLACK LACE. At the Cristiana Haute Couture fashion house, models and their boyfriends excel at the art of backstabbing, blackmail, and snorting cocaine. That is, until a faceless maniac embarks on a mission of death! After the one-two punch of BLACK SUNDAY and BLACK SABBATH, Mario Bava unleashed BLOOD AND BLACK LACE — the movie that perfected the ultra-violent sub-genre that would come to be known as “giallo.”

With a mood that mashes together the elegance of a quiet rain on a summer night with the luridness of a trashy paperback, it’s no wonder why Martin Scorsese once referred to this movie as, “an incredible moment for cinema.” With Cameron Mitchell, Eva Bartok.

“Few gialli are as visually accomplished as this, which marks a high bar for the genre that wasn’t matched, much less exceeded, until the release of Dario Argento’s DEEP RED.” (IndieWire)

“It is such a lysergic collision of high art and low that its very outmodedness has now become a paradoxical part of its timeless appeal – and from such heady heights, the only way could be down for the slasher genre that Bava’s film helped model.” (Little White Lies)

“This is a true original, a portrait of murder in oils.” (Eye for Film)

Friday, June 7
Doors 10:30 pm | Movie 11:00 pm *Start time subject to change. Please arrive on time.
Advance tickets HERE

Late Night Date Night! Bring a friend, date, or fellow giallo-loving film nerd and get two-for-one entry HERE!

BLOOD AND BLACK LACE “6 donne per l’assassino” (Mario Bava, 1954 / 88 mins / NR) A masked, shadowy killer brutally murders the models of a scandalous fashion house in Rome.

*Must be 18+ for entry. Must be 19+ w/ID for bar service.
*Rio Theatre Groupons and passes OK for any single film only. Please redeem at the door.
*We recommend purchasing your tickets in advance at www.riotheatretickets.ca. If a screening or live event is not sold out, the remaining tickets will be available for in-person purchase at the Rio Theatre’s Box Office prior to showtime (subject to availability).
*Our box office is typically open 30 minutes before showtime. All seating is General Admission; please arrive 20-30 minutes prior to showtime to ensure great seats, and time for treats at concession.
*If you are looking to redeem either a Rio Theatre gift certificate or Groupon to any regular Rio Theatre screening: You can either email us in advance <[email protected]> and give us a “heads up,” or do it at the box office prior to showtime. (We seat 400+ people and our regular screenings are rarely at capacity – you should not have issues being admitted.)

*All Rio Theatre tickets are final sale.