Black Sunday

What a great opening scene! A sexy seventeeth century witch named Asa is burned at the stake by her brother, who hammers a mask with long spikes onto her face.  But not before Asa puts a curse on his descendants that will stretch over centuries.  Director Mario Bava  creates a crazily vivid scene of fire and cloaked figures, with actress Barbara Steele shouting as her (temporary) fate is sealed. A forboding narrator discusses Asa and Javuto's (her lover, also burned at the stake) Satanic possession.   For an old horror pic like 1960's BLACK SUNDAY, is there anywhere to go but down after this?

Actually, the movie remains a good solid chiller to its conclusion.  Bava makes optimal use of every single location, including a great old castle in Arsoli, near Rome, Italy.  His studio shots are no less effective.  I especially liked the crypt in which Asa's decaying shell lies, her tomb under a clear sheet of glass with a large cross hanging over it lest the old witch tries to resurrect. The power of Christ would compel her to stay supine.  Drs. Kruvajan and Gorobec discover the tomb on their way to a medical conference, after their carriage wheel snaps off while taking an ill advised shortcut.  Kruvajan cuts himself and a drop of blood lands on the old corpse.  Hmmm.

Meanwhile, at that castle, Katia (also Steele) and her family act quite anxious.  When Javuto, freshly back from the dead, shows up all hell breaks loose.  Will Asa be far behind to wreak her own havoc? To make good on her curse?  To inhabit the body of a young lass like Katia?

BLACK SUNDAY, heavily influential and praised by directors like Tim Burton, is an interesting hybrid of 1930s creature features and a more modern sensibility.  There is some surprising violence and gore, and a few truly startling images.  Bava's cinematography is stunning, especially on Blu-ray.   Parts of the movie - especially the masks and those scenes with secret panels in castle walls - reminded me of an especially eerie episode of Scooby Doo, though of course this movie predates that show.

I saw the dubbed version, which has one of my favorite horror film lines ever:

"Look! A freshly dug grave!"

Was that in the original Italian language version?  I sure hope so.  Likewise for the heavy piano and strings of the score.