Girl Bombs Away!

Universally regarded as the worst film Mario Bava ever made, Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs was the less-than-spectacular follow-up to Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine with Fabian stepping in for an absent Frankie Avalon and Vincent Price still running around trying to cause world chaos. As usual with Bava's AIP titles, the film was drastically altered for its American release and, in its final version, appears to have been edited in a blender. Designed as a vehicle for would-be comedians Franco and Ciccio, the Italian version isn't much better but at least boasts a more coherent storyline; however, its teeth-grating music score by Lallo Gori (featuring Franco performing "vocal" duties) makes AIP's decision to scrap the entire soundtrack quite understandable. Taken on its own terms, the American LP is a great "with-it" pop collection alternating songs with instrumentals by the "Mad Doctors" (though Les Baxter is credited with the score on the actual film). Oh yeah, and musical direction comes courtesy of Mike Curb (see The Big Bounce below). As a bonus, you'll also find a homemade 6-minute suite of music from the Italian version; don't expect to listen to it more than once, but at least you'll get an idea of how very different the film's two incarnations really are.