Twitch Of The Death Nerve/Fun Facts

From The Grindhouse Cinema Database

< Twitch Of The Death Nerve
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  • This was actually shot on a piece of private property with few trees, but because of Bava's camera work it appears to have been shot in a large, wooded area.
  • When Christopher Lee first saw this movie he was reportedly so disgusted at the level of violence he left the theater in protest.
  • Mario Bava deeply regretted filming the scene where a bug is pinned alive.
  • One of the re-release titles for this film was "The Last House on the Left Part II", even though this film has nothing to do with Wes Craven's The Last House on the Left (1972). In fact it was made a year earlier than "Last House".
  • Reportedly has more alternate titles that any other movie.
  • Due to the film's low budget the tracking shots were done with a child's toy wagon.
  • The film not only had numerous release titles, but also had several working titles throughout the production. Among them were 'The Stench of Flesh', 'Thus Do We Live To Be Evil', and 'That Will Teach Them To Be Bad'. The title was finally settled on as Reazione a catena (meaning Chain Reaction) for its original release.
  • The origin of the film was Mario Bava's desire to work with actress Laura Betti again. Betti had previously appeared in Bava's Rosso segno della follia, Il (1970) and the two had gotten along so well that they concocted the premise of this film for another project together.
  • The shooting locations didn't have woods so director Bava created the 'woods' in the film by setting up tree branches to pass through the camera shots. According to actress Laura Betti the trickery would look so silly during shooting that the cast and crew would often laugh hysterically.
  • Due to the film's low budget, most of the locations in the film belonged to director Mario Bava or members of the crew. The interiors of Countless Federica's home was shot at a favorite villa of director Bava and the interiors of Frank Ventura's country house were shot at a summer home of the producer.
  • The films low budget resulted in Mario Bava being his own cinematographer and had to utilize a simple child's wagon for the film's many tracking shots.
  • To ensure the utmost realism in depicting the thirteen different murders, Bava insisted that Carlo Rambaldi be hired to provide the special makeup effects.
  • The 1971 Avoriaz Film Festival jurors awarded the film the Best Makeup and Special Effects Award. Rambaldi's effects work also earned the film a "Special Mention" Award at the prestigious Sitges Festival in 1971
  • This movie had its premiere at the 1971 Avoriaz Film Festival.
  • In America, the film was marketed as "The Second Film Rated 'V' for Violence!" during its first release.
  • Often considered Bava's most influential film, and considered the film that started the Slasher Craze, which is still popular to this day. Fans of the genre consider this the grandfather of the modern slasher film.
  • In 2005, the magazine Total Film named this one of the 50 greatest horror films of all time.
  • Mario Bava's personal favorite of all the films he made.
  • Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) takes two murders from this film, almost shot for shot. The locations of both films look similar.
  • One promotional gimmick was that every ticket holder was required to pass through The Final Warning Station, where a theater worker warned you face to face that this may be the last 'shock' film you will ever want to see.
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