I'm in the middle of listening to the Alfredo Leone commentary on House of Exorcism and he repeatedly refers to Bava's unwillingness to shoot nudity, which I don't understand as there isn't nearly as much nudity in Bava's work as there is in that of some of his contemporaries and certainly not as much as in that of those who immediately follow him, but 5 Dolls for an August Moon has some, as well as Four Times That Night, which Leone continually notes that he himself took part on.

I'm assuming there's something specific to the character of the nudity added or how he felt it specifically altered Lisa and the Devil at work here, but it's frankly difficult not to feel like he's insane while listening to him say it over and over.

I was also puzzled by that comment given that Bay of Blood (filmed before Lisa) has loads of nudity.

Can Tim L shed any light (or should I wait for my copy of his massive tome for the answer?)

Bava was uncomfortable with nudity on the set, as was confirmed for me by several people. I believe it had more to do with disliking to present nudity in a sexual context than with nudity alone; he preferred to suggest nudity without actually showing anything. He wasn't a "leave nothing to the imagination" sort of filmmaker. It's a complicated matter, so beyond that, I should let my book do my speaking for me.

I had, as it went, assumed it was something like that, but I appreciate the reply and look forward to hopefully learning more from the book.

Thanks!

"Bava and nudity"

two of my favorite subjects.

:D

I always wondered if Bava meant the Sylva Koscina/Gabriele Tinti encounter in LISA AND THE DEVIL to consist only of the kiss standing up, their reflections in the cigarette case mirror, and the voyeur. Something seems off about the pacing of the other shots in that scene like Bava shot the topless of shot of Koscina and left it to the editor and the producer as to how long they wanted to show it.