BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Cissy Évelyne It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Wyatt There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

rdoyle29 I have always felt like I'm missing something with this film. I know that sounds like I don't like it, but I do. I don't LOVE it though, and so many people seem to dearly love it that I feel like there's something I'm not getting. I think part of it is that although it's a beautiful looking film, it has never looked as good as it can look on VHS and DVD. Watching the Arrow Blu-Ray has made it a lot clearer to me just how stunning many of the visuals are. In the end though, I'm just not that enamored with the story. I like the first half hour and then my interest always fades.

trishaade "Black Sunday" is one of my all time favorite horror movies - definitely in my top 10. Considered to be a cult classic, it undeniably deserves that honor. The story concerns a witch/vampire who is executed (quite the nasty little scene for the '60s) who vows revenge on the descendants of her persecutors. Due to a mishap, she gets the opportunity to do just that 200 years later and goes after folks with a vengeance, especially her descendant Katia.This film was my introduction to Barbara Steele who plays duel roles as both the vampire/witch and her contemporary counterpart. The fact that she is able to play two characters - one embodying evil, the other innocence - and play them both very well gives you an idea of her range. One of the things I've loved about her from the very beginning is that she uses her whole body to express herself in the parts that she plays. It is quite effective. One thing to keep in mind if you haven't seen it is that the film was originally done in Italian, so the English version is dubbed. For me personally, I was so mesmerized that I really didn't notice. It was also shot in black and white and made in 1960, so you are not going to see the over the top special effects and the fast pace that are so common in horror these days. For the time it was made, I thought the little gore the movie has, the effects and the makeup were quite well done.From what I understand, "Black Sunday* was banned in Great Britain for a while and some versions of it are censored - I apparently had the good luck to see a mostly uncensored version (without the "special" relationship between Asa and her brother). Try to find one of those if you can.The film slows down just a bit in the middle as the family and some folks in town realize something is amiss. Even so, it is truly worth the watch. It is unbelievably eerie and beautifully shot - if nothing else, it should be seen for those reasons alone. Is this movie going to keep you up at night or make you keep your lights on for a couple days? Probably not if you are watching current horror. It is, however, an excellent movie for it's time and unquestionably a must see for fans of classic Gothic horror. I absolutely loved it.

LeonLouisRicci Controversial, Banned, Censored, Cut, Dubbed, and Ultimately Unstoppable, the Directorial Debut Film from Cinematographer Mario Bava was as Influential as Hammer and Corman.ARGUABLY, Bava's Best Film, although there are others that are just as Good. The Auteur is Well Known for His Expressionistic use of Color and here He Works in Black and White. But the Director is so Adept at Camera Flourishes and Utilizing Uncanny Set Designs that Little of Bava's Touch is Missing.It's a Violent, Sadistic, Gothic Masterpiece of Modern Horror with Images so Dark that Light Fights a Losing Battle to Emerge. The Sets and Scenes Drip with Anemic Atmospheric Displays that seem to have the Inanimate in as Much Pain as the Living Struggling to Find the Life-Force.This is a Breakout Film for Bava and Barbara Steele. The Dual Role of the Vampire/Witch is a Part that Steele was Born, or Reborn, to Inhabit. Her Odd Beautifully Angled Face, Bulging Eyes, and Overall Mysterious and Otherworldly Form Fills the Frame that Bava Presents and the two Feel Incredibly Inseparable.An Unforgettable Film even when Viewed Today. Essential in the Gothic/Horror Canon.

BA_Harrison When Dr. Thomas Kruvajan (Andrea Checchi) is attacked by a giant rubber bat while exploring an old crypt with his assistant Dr. Andre Gorobec (John Richardson), he accidentally smashes the stone cross positioned over the coffin of vampiric witch Asa Vajda (Barbara Steele); to make matters worse, he removes the mask covering her face, cutting himself in the process (silly old doctor). With the cross destroyed, the mask gone, and the doctor's blood dripping into the coffin, Asa is resurrected, and, with the help of fellow vamp Javuto (Arturo Dominici), she wreaks revenge on the ancestors of those who sentenced her to death.The opening scene to Mario Bava's Black Sunday AKA The Mask of Satan delivers one of the most potent images in the history of Italian horror cinema: a spiked, metal devil mask being hammered onto the face of vampiric witch Asa Vajda (squelch!). Unfortunately, so shocking and brutal is this scene that, as impressive as Bava's beautiful black and white cinematography is throughout the rest of his film, there is nothing to rival Asa's brutal execution in terms of sheer horror, making everything that follows something of a let-down.This feeling of disappointment isn't helped by the hoary old Gothic horror nonsense that unfolds, which is loaded with tired genre clichés (creaky old doors, stormy weather, cobweb covered tombs, hidden passageways, villagers armed with pitchforks and torches) and which suffers from a script packed with verbose dialogue that is frequently laughable (example: "What is my life? Sadness and grief. Something that destroys itself day by day and no-one can rebuild it. Here is the very image of my life. Look at it… it is being consumed hour by hour like this garden, abandoned to a purposeless existence."). Inspired use of light and shadow and acute visual lyricism can only excuse so much.