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Black
Sunday
directed by Mario Bava
distributed by Image Entertainment
[DVD]
BLACK SUNDAY is a film
that aches with nostalgia. It is also a significant entry in horror
genre as well as film history itself. I can remember being 7 years
old and you had to be 12 to see it in 1960. Looking back, I'm not
sure I could have handled it even at 12. The nude portrait of Barbara
Steele that hangs in the castle alone would probably have sent me
to the Catholic confessional. How strange to remember all the crossed
wires induced by the ripening sado-masochism of those times - I thought
it was just my own twisted boy-mind.
Now we can see BLACK SUNDAY in a European print
that was clearly a British issue, dubbed as with the American print.
This means more gore and a few extra scenes of narrative. Gone, however,
is the lush Les Baxter score and it is difficult not to miss that
"White House" logo (or whatever it was) that marked an American International
Pictures release. Even stranger, the movie is now called MASK OF SATAN
(from LA MASCHERA DEL DEMONIO, director Mario Bava's original title)
on the title card. Still, this particular print grows on you.
If you've never seen this picture, the plot involves
the centuries-later return of a witch (or maybe a vampire, it's somewhat
muddled) who was burned at the stake. Also back is her demonic lover,
who apparently only got the Mask of Satan, an iron maiden-like spiked
mask put on the face and slammed home with a mallet. The witch, Barbara
Steele, also gets the Mask, and the wounds it gives her are central
to the haunting images of this film (bugs crawl out of them, for one.
This is the beginning of Barbara Steele's reign as Queen of Horror.
She is an actress with a unique beauty and intelligence, known primarily
for her large and wide-set eyes. The American movie posters say it
all with a comic book style drawing of her: brunette, with stark raving
eyes like a Goth Keane painting. I'm jonesing for that poster. Also
recognizable is leading man John Richardson, known later for his Hammer
entries SHE (with Ursula Andress) and ONE MILLION YEARS, B.C. (with
Raquel Welch). For an obscure leading man, he did pretty well.
The greatest interest, to me, is the addition of
a commentary by Video Watchdog's editor-publisher Tim Lucas. Lucas
knows his Bava and certainly knows this film - it 's one of the best
commentaries I've heard, rife with anecdotal detail and mise-en-scene
perception. I had already been aware that Bava produced some remarkable
and inventive shots (he was his own cameraman), but without the sound
his style completely comes to life. Lucas makes sure you miss nothing.
The movie is an atmospheric black and white, with Bava as a sort of
horror Welles/Fuller, and I don't make those comparisons lightly.
I will not pretend that some of the leaden dubbing and confused, plodding
story line can't make B tedious, but stepping out of these aspects
with Lucas, one can see what makes this film so remarkable. Inventive
dollies, cranes and lighting are everywhere: a magnificent 360 degree
pan in Steele's crypt; a dizzying cork screw down on the vampirized
Baron in bed; an almost Kurosawa/THRONE OF BLOOD-like image of Steele's
ghostly reflection appearing in a pond at night. Lucas further enlightens
us on how certain chilling effects were achieved out of bargain basement
solutions.
Whether it's your first time or a re-visit, check
it out. Further Bava material is in the works, but I'm really hoping
for PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES and his ghosted CALTIKI.
Marc Olmsted
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