Black Sunday (aka Mask of Satan)
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Barbara Steele. Oh, Barbara Steele. Your eyes pierce my very soul. Your glorious rack tears at your blouse, longing to be free. Wait….

Sorry fellow Bums. I got a little distracted and off the subject right there. Today I am giving you my thoughts on Mario Bava’s Black Sunday (aka Mask of Satan). A splendidly gothic old fashion horror movie, which I might be inclined to call a classic on par with some of the best from Universal and Hammer. I might, that is.

Long ago a group of villagers capture a woman who is considered a witch. With her husband already killed by the mob, it is her turn. Before the mask of Satan (a metal mask with spikes that is hammered to ones face, hence the title of the movie) is forcefully put on her, she curses her family for doing this. After the mask is placed they hoist her up to be burned at the stake. On the clear night it begins to rain, putting out the flames. The power of Satan is strong I guess, and since the villagers cannot complete the ritual they decide to bury her with a cross reflecting on her.

Like any horror movie, the cross keeps this blood sucking witch (they mention vampires) at bay in her grave. Two decades or centuries later (a long time, okay) a professor and his assistant are headed to some convention and decide to stay the night at the cursed village. When their carriage breaks down they get out exploring the surroundings. As they enter a crypt they see the casket of the fabled witch, whose curse still haunts the locals. Of course they think of all this as rubbish and look around some more. When the carriage driver asks for help on the broken carriage, the professor’s assistant goes off to help leaving behind the professor. Out of nowhere a giant rubber bat begins to attack him. As he swings his cane around to kill it, he shatters the cross keeping the witch down and cuts his hand. With the bat dead they decide to head back to the carriage. Of course now the cross is destroyed and a few drops of the professor’s blood drips on to the corpse, which can’t be good. On their way out they run into a princess. What is this? The princess looks identical to the witch. Of course this means that they are related. Like many of these old movies, the assistant and the princess fall madly in love upon first glance.

With the blood now giving life to the witch, she calls upon her dead husband to wreck havoc on her family bloodline and bring her back to life. Once the witch gets her hands on the princess she can suck all the life force from her and take her place. Remember, they do look exactly alike. It is up to the professor’s assistant and the local priest to stop the witch and her undead husband from exacting their revenge.

With the direction and mood that Bava brings to the table with his direction, Black Sunday is one hell of a black and white oldie. The first few minutes alone with our exotic Babara Steele getting the mask hammered to her face was somewhat of a surprise. Mind you this is an older movie. Normally, scenes like this wouldn’t be shown to such an effective nature. If you are a fan of classic movies where the love birds look longingly into each other’s eyes, the evil villains has elaborate speeches and there is a happy ending, then pick this one up. If you haven’t seen this then you owe yourself a watch of it. While there are a few moments where the story is off from the continuity, I still enjoyed the hell out of Black Sunday and its gothic greatness. Easy 4 can buy for your every day viewer.

Added:  Monday, May 14, 2007

Language: eng[ Did you find this review helpful?  Yes  No ]
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