Black Sunday

Black Sunday
by Mario Bava

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DVD details

Actor: Barbara Steele, John Richardson
Director: Mario Bava
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 86 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-10-23
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay

DVD Reviews of Black Sunday

DVD Review: Best horror ever!
Summary: 5 Stars

Sure it's a bit campy, but if you are into arty Italian films and old horror movies, this is one of the best movies ever. Despite its bad effects by today's standards, Black Sunday, or La Maschera Del Demonio as I prefer ("The Mask of the Demon"), is pretty nailbiting. I would enjoy it even more if this version had the original Italian language audio track, but it is still excellent in English. I have to admit that I tend to like any movie Barbara Steele is in, even the dreadfully bad ones, but I think that this movie is fantastic regardless of her.

DVD Review: Great british horror!
Summary: 3 Stars

Movie lived up to it's expectations.....a must for any movie collector who appreciates black and white along with horror.

DVD Review: On par with your average Hammer movie
Summary: 2 Stars

Princess Asa (Barbara Steele), a witch executed 200 years earlier, returns from the grave and tries to possess the body of one of her descendents, Katia (also played by Barbara Steele).

I recently read an article in which "Black Sunday" was described as the "Citizen Kane" of horror films. After watching it, I think a more appropriate comparison would be with your average Hammer Horror movie. The acting is wooden, the script downright laughable, and the dubbing is un-synced. Add to that the fact that, with Barbara Steele playing duel roles, the film becomes quite confusing at times.

Much of "Black Sunday's" reputation is based on its supposedly great cinematography, but I wasn't all that impressed. Yes, the cinematography was above average, but is was nowhere near as good as what you would find in most Dario Argento movies, in particular "Suspiria", one of the most beautifully shot horror movies ever. Besides, it doesn't matter how pretty the movie is, if the story is bad, then it's going to be difficult to sit through. Good cinematography can only keep you entertained for so long, and after the initial novelty has worn off, this is a pretty boring film that I had to struggle to stay awake through.

DVD Review: Those Eyes...
Summary: 5 Stars

I absolutely love Barbara Steele! She is THE queen of horror without any doubt. Here we have Ms. Steele in a dual role as the innocent princess Katia, and as the purely wicked, back-from-the-dead witch, princess Asa! This is heaven! BLACK SUNDAY (aka: The Mask Of Satan) is Mario Bava's first movie, and it's loaded w/ dark, demonic atmosphere. There are other characters in this film, but they are mere scenery. Barbara Steele dominates the entire show! I've watched her for years, and nothing tops her performance in SUNDAY. When the resurrected Asa first opens those beautifully bulging eyes, she is a wonder to behold! Highly-highly recommended...

DVD Review: Dubbed Version.
Summary: 1 Stars

I hate watching dubbed movies. I would much rather watch a film with sub-titles than hear some goofball voice-overs. The only thing worse is Black Sabbath (the film) because it was shot in English, then dubbed in Italian!!!

Description of Black Sunday

Studio: Starz/sphe Release Date: 10/23/2007 Run time: 87 minutes Rating: Nr

The reigning masterpiece of Italian horror cinema, Mario Bava's Black Sunday remains one of the most stylishly photographed of all horror films, ranking with any other black-and-white film of lasting repute. This was the master cameraman's official directorial debut, and his striking compositions are the work of a genuine artist in peak form. Loosely adapted from a story by Nikolai Gogol, this chilling vampire tale begins in 17th-century Moldavia, where the evil Princess Asa (Barbara Steele) is executed for witchcraft and vampirism, along with her brother Javutich (Arturo Dominici). Two centuries later, a pair of traveling doctors discover Asa's crypt and inadvertently revive the evil princess, whose scheme of vampiric revenge is aimed at her own identical descendant Princess Katia, an innocent beauty (also played by Steele) whose lifeblood will ensure Asa's immortality.

Influenced by Universal's classic horror films of the '30s and British Hammer films of the late '50s, Black Sunday (released in Italy as The Mask of Satan) is a dark fairy tale, with horror queen Steele as the definitive embodiment of erotic horror. With shocking violence (tame by today's standards) and visual emphasis on tombs, secret passages, ominous castles, and unseen forces, the film offers a wealth of memorable imagery and inventive technique. Redubbed, rescored, and harshly edited for its American release in 1961, Black Sunday is presented on DVD in the original English-language director's cut of The Mask of Satan, never before available in the U.S. The perfect movie to watch on a dark and stormy night, this timeless classic is the Citizen Kane of horror films, entirely worthy of its lofty reputation. --Jeff Shannon

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