Mario Bava is known widely as the grandmaster of Euro-Horror. Sadly I'm not as familiar with his work as I should be and I am ashamed to admit it. But one of the Bava films that I am quite familiar with is the 1960 film BLACK SUNDAY. It's not his first film but it is damn near. And what a film to have as your first real movie.
I've said it before but I have to reiterate it here. There is something about old black and white films that lend a sort of gritty authenticity to the horror genre that I find frighteningly appealing. If your subject matter is bizarre and spooky it is all the more effective. Black Sunday falls into this category very well and is particularly striking in its visuals.
The film opens with the execution of two people who have been branded as witches. Iron maiden like masks are hammered onto their faces and then they are burned at the stake. One of the witches utters one last curse before dying, a vow of revenge and resurrection. Fast forward two hundred years later as two medical doctors are traveling through the countryside when their carriage breaks a wheel. While awaiting repairs they wander through some nearby ruins and stumble across the resting places of the two long dead witches. One doctor accidentally wounds himself and bleeds on one of the corpses.
As they leave they encounter a woman named Katia (who looks identical to the female witch). As they leave the blood of the doctor resurrects the witch! She summons her fellow witch from the grave and the two of them terrorize the descendants of those who murdered them. These are no ordinary witches either, they have fangs and suck the blood of human beings. The woman Katia is taken by the witch and it up to the doctors to save her from these vampire witches.
The film feels like a classic horror film from the 1930's 1940's. Even the story plays out like a classic horror film. But this film plainly tells the viewer the connection between Satan and these monsters. Practical gore effects and make up effects place this film ahead of the others. You actually see the eyes regrown in the sunken eye-sockets of the witch. You see the mask hammered onto her face and the fountain of blood pouring out. It's everything I've wanted to see in a classic horror movie. This movie is excellent and worth taking a view. One of the best horror films to come out of Europe.
Overall Ranking: 10 out of 10
Nude-O-Meter: 0 out of 10
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