'The Red Sign of Madness') is a 1970 giallo film directed by Mario Bava and starring Stephen Forsyth, Dagmar Lassander, Laura Betti, and Femi Benussi.

It was not released until a year after it was completed, and was largely ignored by both critics and audiences, remaining one of Bava's most obscure films even after his work achieved cult popularity.

John lives in a spacious villa outside Paris, where he manages a bridal dress factory belonging to his deceased mother and financially supported by his wife Mildred.

Whenever he hears that one of the models working at the dress factory is to be married, he hacks her to death with a meat cleaver while she is wearing her bridal gown, burns the body in the furnace of his greenhouse, and uses the ashes as fertilizer.

Inspector Russell frequently drops by to question John about the six models who have disappeared from his bridal salon, but with a lack of hard evidence, cannot arrest him.

She blocks the blow, but the initial surge finally restores John's memory: as a young boy, upset by his mother's remarrying, he killed her and his stepfather with a cleaver.

Hatchet for the Honeymoon was initiated by Spanish producer Manuel Caño, who interested director Mario Bava in Santiago Moncada's script.

[emphasis in original][2]Bava wanted to work with Betti immediately, but Moncada's script had no role remotely suitable for her, so he came up with the subplot involving Mildred Harrington in order to cast her.

[2] Having been promised she would be the female lead, and having met the producers' requirement that she lose 25 pounds before filming, Dagmar Lassander was incensed when she saw that the revised script sidelined her character in favor of Betti.

[2] Principal photography took place from September to October 1968 primarily in Barcelona, under the working title Un'accetta per la luna di miele (literally "A hatchet for the honeymoon").

The cast and director both described the villa's atmosphere as oppressive, with armed guards constantly present to ensure they did not shoot on the upstairs floors or damage the furnishings.

[2] Caño decided to set the story in Paris, so a second unit led by Bava's assistant director and son Lamberto was sent there to capture some exterior scenes.

[4] Hatchet for the Honeymoon was released in Italy as Il rosso segno della follia on 2 June 1970 and in Spain as Un hacha para la luna del miel on 14 September 1970, with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer handling its distribution in these regions.

"[7] In a retrospective review, AllMovie called it "not the best of Mario Bava's work", but "a must see for those who love the genre and admire stylish horror films.