at filming a sequence of a surreal, psy- chological, frightening nature. Predict- ably, the sequence reveals a definite knack for this kind of thing, but what is most startling is the extent to which it prophesies many shots and themes that would later resurface in Bava’s own work as a director. The images of Pecorino popping out of the ground are very reminiscent of the reviving dead in the last reel of Ercole al centro della terra/Hercules in the Haunted World, and indeed the moment in which he hops onto Peppe’s back and rides him like a devil indicates that Bava had al- ready read Nikolai Gogol’s story “Viy,” which would later become the basis of his directorial debut, La maschera del demonio/Black Sunday. Most amazing of all is the way the sequence sets up shots only to rip away the illusions of cinema that produced them, often with only the slightest, slyest movement of the camera, making this the earliest ex- ample in Bava’s work of perhaps the major theme of his directorial oeuvre: the wisdom of not trusting in what we can see with our own eyes. As such, the sequence is very much a dry run for the famous, Pirandello-like ending of his 1963 omnibus feature I tre volti della paura/Black Sabbath. The series’ third and final entry, Papà diventa Mamma, is more successful as comedy than its immediate predeces- sor, though still not up to the high stan- dards of the original La famiglia Passaguai. Here, Peppe—now working as a clothier—returns home after a very hard day, only to be dragged by his fam- ily, against his will, to an evening per- formance by the great hypnotist Bhorma (Luigi Pavese again!). After Bhorma demonstrates his talent by transforming a tall, skinny man into a boxer, a radio announcer into a man with speech impediments, and a hu- morless fellow (Alfredo Rizzo, the future star of L’ultima preda del vampiro/The Playgirls and the Vampire, 1960) into a man with a chronic laugh, Margherita beseeches the turbanned entertainer to do something to change her husband. When Peppe can describe himself only as a “padre de famiglia” (“the father of a family”), Bhorma tells him that he will then become a “madre di famiglia.” Af- ter planting this suggestion in Peppe’s subconscious, Bhoma falls off the stage and descends into a deep coma. What follows is a dramatic tour de force for
