Ian West’s review published on Letterboxd:
And Then There Were None! Bava takes Edwige Fenech and his signature aesthetic to a Mediterranean island where a pretty convoluted Agatha Christie giallo plot begins
Opens with a jazzy upbeat score and many quick zooms on ❤️Queen Edwige❤️ dancing for the group (and the camera) in all of her big haired glory... it’s pretty much like... the best thing ever? There’s some fine cinematography, lavishly posh rooms in our retreat setting, and a supremely convoluted plot involving a highly sought after experimental/game changing chemical. This doesn’t go as hard in the violence department, the majority of the deaths take place off screen and the blood levels are not very high as Five Dolls tends to focus more on its mystery and it’s style—which I liked.
Five Dolls for an August Moon (besides having a great title!) is very much influenced by pulpy Agatha Christie style stories and I love that, I love the “friends headed to a remote island with a murderer” setup (gave this an extra half star just for that!), and no matter how convoluted the mystery may get I gobble this sort of thing right up.
I was craving some Bava this morning and ended up actually liking this more than I remembered—Not top tier Bava, but enjoyable never the less.