Black Sunday (1961)

Thanks for the memories!

One of my all time favorites.

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Black Sunday is a very significant film in several ways. For one thing, it is the key movie that got the Italian Gothic horror sub-genre underway. Secondly, it cemented actress Barbara Steele's reputation as one of the queens of the horror genre. Thirdly, and most importantly, it was the film that truly announced director Mario Bava to the world and was the first in a long line of extremely good directorial efforts which established him as an undisputed king of Italian genre cinema.In the 1600's a witch is executed brutally by having a mask of Satan nailed into her face, two hundred years later she is resurrected and vows revenge on the descendants of the family who killed her. It is in truth a very rudimentary plot of the kind that could be found in many other supernatural horror films. But what makes this one stand out from the crowd is the visual eloquence that Bava brings. He had been chiefly a cinematographer up to this point in his career and it certainly shows, with some beautiful fluid camera-work, great lighting and well composed framing. It does have to be said though that this was one of only a couple of films that he directed which were black-and-white; this doesn't prevent him from composing great imagery but because he went on to become such a master of colour, it does have to be said that it does lack this hugely important factor which defined his subsequent work so greatly. Aside from Bava's eye, this one does benefit considerably from having Steele at its disposal and this is certainly one of the films which utilises her best in that she gets to play a dual-role of the witch and an innocent heroine. She convinces fully in both modes and adds a lot of class in front of the lens.Unlike quite a few people, I wouldn't put this one in the upper bracket of Bava's output. I think the over-familiarity of the plot ensures it doesn't stand out as much as other bolder, more original films in his later filmography. But it is still very well done for this kind of thing and certainly is a key entry in the Gothic horror boom of the 50's / 60's.

Black Sunday (1960)*** 1/2 (out of 4) Mario Bava's classic features Barbara Steele in the role of a witch who is put to a violent death but before that she places a curse on the people killing her. Flash forward two hundred years as the witch is released from her tomb and sets off for vengeance.BLACK Sunday, also known as THE MASK OF Satan, has been released in various versions over the years but once you see it uncut you'll understand why it was cut! I say that because the film was quite shocking for 1960 and it's easy to see why so many people were terrified of it when it was released so seeing the uncut version would have probably led to some real nightmares. This Bava classic can be enjoyed today in its uncut version and it's certainly a beautiful film to look at with some of the most iconic images in horror history.Of course, the most famous image happens at the start of the picture when Steele gets a large spiked mask hammered into her face. Even after all these years there's no doubt that this sequence still packs a nice little punch. What I've always loved most about the picture is its incredibly dark atmosphere that Bava paints with some masterful cinematography and of course his use of shadow and fog. As you watch this movie you can't help but feel as if you're actually in the real locations and that you're surrounded by the various evil forces that are at play.It also doesn't hurt that you've got some very good performances throughout the film with of course Steele leading the way. Her look perfectly captures the evilness of the main character but she also does a fine job in her other role. The two characters are so different yet the actress perfectly pulls them off. The film also benefits from a strong music score, which helps push that atmosphere. BLACK Sunday has been copied many times over the years but it's yet to be matched.

When Dr. Thomas Kruvajan (Andrea Checchi) is attacked by a giant rubber bat while exploring an old crypt with his assistant Dr. Andre Gorobec (John Richardson), he accidentally smashes the stone cross positioned over the coffin of vampiric witch Asa Vajda (Barbara Steele); to make matters worse, he removes the mask covering her face, cutting himself in the process (silly old doctor). With the cross destroyed, the mask gone, and the doctor's blood dripping into the coffin, Asa is resurrected, and, with the help of fellow vamp Javuto (Arturo Dominici), she wreaks revenge on the ancestors of those who sentenced her to death.The opening scene to Mario Bava's Black Sunday AKA The Mask of Satan delivers one of the most potent images in the history of Italian horror cinema: a spiked, metal devil mask being hammered onto the face of vampiric witch Asa Vajda (squelch!). Unfortunately, so shocking and brutal is this scene that, as impressive as Bava's beautiful black and white cinematography is throughout the rest of his film, there is nothing to rival Asa's brutal execution in terms of sheer horror, making everything that follows something of a let-down.This feeling of disappointment isn't helped by the hoary old Gothic horror nonsense that unfolds, which is loaded with tired genre clichés (creaky old doors, stormy weather, cobweb covered tombs, hidden passageways, villagers armed with pitchforks and torches) and which suffers from a script packed with verbose dialogue that is frequently laughable (example: "What is my life? Sadness and grief. Something that destroys itself day by day and no-one can rebuild it. Here is the very image of my life. Look at it… it is being consumed hour by hour like this garden, abandoned to a purposeless existence."). Inspired use of light and shadow and acute visual lyricism can only excuse so much.

While this was not the first of Barbara Steele's films, it is the one that made her, thanks to the work of Mario Bava.This was Bava's first feature film. He has done some shorts and documentaries, and has finished some films others started, but this was his from start to finish.His career as a cinematographer served him well as he also did the cinematography on this film. It was that that really makes the film.The music and sound effects also add immensely to the atmosphere. A brilliant film. Steele was fantastic.