Black Sunday (1960)

Mario Bava was one of the cornerstones of Italian cinema working as cinematographer for the post World War II Roman film Industry shooting a lot of the sword and sandals footage for the made in Italy films that were enjoyed the world over. 

Bava's father Eugenio was a cinematographer and artist and Mario followed in his footsteps, his artistic ability and natural eye giving him an atmospheric style that helped establish the modern approach to filmmaking.  When he became a director, Bava specialized in the horror genre, stating that in filmmaking, lighting was 70% of the effectiveness, essential for creation of the atmosphere. When you see his work, you will notice the painterly approach he took to creating atmosphere.  His work still stands out from most other horror pictures to this day.

Black Sunday was his first credited job as director, although he had worked as a second unit and clean-up director for some previous Italian works including directing Esther and the King under the supervision of Hollywood director Raoul Walsh who received credit.

Black Sunday is in black and white but still gives a good idea of the artistic eye Bava brought to the horror genre with the twisted trees, ruined crypts, and shadowy passages of his palatial sets.  The title is actually Mask of Satan and says so in the credits but the packaging is labeled Black Sunday and should be sought under that name if you want a DVD.

The movie stars a pair of Americans, Barbara Steele and John Richardson with a supporting cast of Italian actors and of course spoken language of Italian with it dubbed into English for the American version.  The story is about a princess who was a vampire and her brother who was her adherent, or as the commentator states in the Italian version he was her lover, although the English language version does not hint at this. And no wonder, since it was 1960 but that may be why Bava is so popular and beloved by horror fans.  The lady of course is beautiful as they all are in these Italian features and she uses her seductive powers at least once to claim a victim later in the movie. 

The commentator, Tim Lucas, actually does a good job as commentaries go pointing out quite a few pertinent points.  Bava it can be seen followed the classic Universal visual style established in Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Mummy in this his debut feature film. 

The film opens with Steele as a woman accused of witchcraft and going to be purged by burning at the stake. The judge is a man of prominent family while her assistant (or lover) is also her brother.  She is not going to be only burned but she is going to have the Mask of Satan put on her face, the long spikes inside will pin it to her head as the spikes are driven down by the big mallet wielded by the executioner.  This is done and the bodies are consigned to the flames but a sudden rainstorm puts the fires out.  Two centuries elapse.

A couple doctors are passing thru the Balkans when their carriage throws a wheel and they dismount exploring while the driver fixes the wheel.  They find a ruined crypt with the masked figure lying under a Greek cross.  Certainly you know they will not disturb the corpse - but they do and unleash some bad juju that haunts them for the remainder of their drastically shortened natural lives.  Another princess shows up and she is a real person who is the spitting image of the witch from 200 years before although the doctors don't know that she is also a descendent of the old judge so you can guess what is coming.  She takes them in the castle to meet her father and the see an old portrait of the girl - really the witch - and her minion/lover whom they have also seen in the crypt.  There are secret passages and lots of sneaking around by the ghouls and nothing good comes to the two doctors who have invaded the haunted territory.  I'll leave it to you to see the rest for yourself so I don't spoil it for you.

The Anchor Bay DVD is presented in 1.66:1 format in black and white and running 96 minutes. There is a full length commentary by Tim Lucas that is worth going through the second time you watch the film. 

Black Sunday has been a influential horror film that has spawned a lot of imitators. The dialog and acting are only so good but for a B picture it is memorable for the great atmosphere.

Also by Mario Bava, Boris Karloff in Black Sabbath.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening