Black Sabbath Full Movie Details (1963)
Release Date: 1963
Genre: Compilation of Shorts
Director: Mario Bava
Screenwriter: Alberto Bevilacqua, Aleksei Tolstoy, F.G. Snyder, Ivan Chekhov, Marcello Fondato, Mario Bava
Black Sabbath (1963) Rating:
Ryan= 7 / 10;
Black Sabbath (1963) Synopsis:
A compilation of three horror tales around the themes of 1) a maniac killer, 2) vampires and 3) evil spirits.
Black Sabbath (1963) Review:
Black Sunday is one of the most famous realizations of Mario Bava and for me one of his most entertaining movie.
The three stories are very different but have all in common that they are really dark and do not end well. The atmosphere in all of them is extremely heavy because all three stories happen in gloomy places and are filled with creepy characters. Those who love gothic horror are in for a treat here, for the decors, but also the costumes and even the dialogues, are beautifully dark! A perfect mix of romantic and horror cinema.
I found the short to get increasingly better, which is always the best way to go for a compilation so as not to bore the audience. The first story is simple yet efficient, featuring a killer who keeps calling her victim, reminding a lot of the 1974’s slasher Black Christmas. The phone calls, the person watching behind the shutters, the clock ticking, everything is here to produce a dreadful suspense. The second short is about a stranger who finds refuge in a sinister family whose members are infected and transform into Wurdulaks, a complicated name for creatures that are in fact vampires. I liked the last story the best, maybe the one that remains the scariest today, mainly thanks to the superb work done around the sound effects, be it the fly, the drop dripping, or the dying music…
Overall this masterpiece may lack a bit of surprise, but creates a wonderfully dark atmosphere that largely compensates for its lack of originality.
Black Sabbath (1963) Cast:
| Cast overview: | |||
 | Michèle Mercier | … | Rosy (segment “Il telefono”) |
 | Lidia Alfonsi | … | Mary (segment “Il telefono”) (as Lydia Alfonsi) |
 | Boris Karloff | … | Gorca (segment “I Wurdalak”) |
 | Mark Damon | … | Vladimir D’Urfe (segment “I Wurdalak”) |
 | Susy Andersen | … | Sdenka (segment “I Wurdalak”) |
 | Massimo Righi | … | Pietro (segment “I Wurdalak”) |
| Rika Dialyna | … | Maria (segment “I Wurdalak”) (as Rica Dialina) |
| Glauco Onorato | … | Giorgio (segment “I Wurdalak”) |
 | Jacqueline Pierreux | … | Helen Chester (segment “La goccia d’acqua”) |
| Milly | … | The Maid (segment “La goccia d’acqua”) (as Milly Monti) |
 | Harriet Medin | … | Neighbor (segment “La goccia d’acqua”) |
 | Gustavo De Nardo | … | Police Inspector (segment “La goccia d’acqua”) |
