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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 in17th-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 queenSteele 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 ... Read more

Reviews (58)

Classic Goth Guignol
The incredibly photogenic original Goth queen, Barbara Steele, couldn't have asked for a better film debut than this atmospheric black-and-white classic by famed director Mario Bava. She gets to play both the innocent and beautiful ingenue Katya, and Katya's evil twin ancestor, the diabolical witch, Asa.

Steele's performance is half the reason to watch this conventional black magic/ghost/vampire tale, the other half being Bava's cinematography and skillful direction. This is an especially violent film, opening on the execution of Asa and her evil manservant, Javuto, by the nailing of spiked devil masks to their faces (the original title of the film was Mask of Satan). The visuals in this, and all other, scenes in the film are archetypally perfect. The actual framing and composition of each shot is beautifully done, throughout. The scenery is lush, the makeups unsettling - especially the resurrected Asa, with the holes in her face from the mask - and many of the effects are equally disturbing, especially one in which Asa's naked ribcage is exposed.

European horror cinema of the 1960s was the best the genre ever produced, and this was one of its premiere features. Highly recommended not only for horror fans, but for serious film students as well.

Dark, gothic, evil fun
Let me start by saying Barbara Steele is just plain weird looking. She is not unattractive. She is just...disturbing. Maybe that is why she fits so well into the role of an ancient witch condemned to death, a horrible iron mask nailed to her face.

Time passes and some travellers wander into her crypt despite their coach driver's warning. And of course they manage to break the wards and symbols that keep her from returning to life.

Black Sunday features great set design and an oppressively dark mood that oozes evil and menace in every scene. Apparently the film is available in two versions. I think I got the bad one. One version is heavily edited but features voicework by the original actors in english and better overall sound quality. I bought the extended version which unfortunately has some pretty bad voice acting.

Buy Black Sunday if you like classic horror movies such as the old Universal monster films, but wish that they didn't pull their punches so much. I would have given Black Sunday 5 stars, but the voice acting in my version is going to cost it a star. Still, most people suggest this version (the full version) over the shorter version, so the choice comes down to your own preference.

The heavenly totality of Asa Vadya's eyes
(...)

This is certainly a minor stylistic masterpiece. It creates atmosphere that is thick, foreboding, and claustrophobic. The story, however, is not worthy of such a lush, lavish treatment. It just doesn't possess any emotional depth. The whole film is Barbara Steele's eyes. They possess power that the film as a whole simply does not. The fog the film is enveloped in is not pervasive enough to mask the bitter emptiness of the tale being conveyed. It is difficult to criticize the film on its cinematic qualities. Nevertheless, the story does not mesmerize, tantalize or excite beyond those moments when Asa is moaning in her blood ecstasy. Indeed, my grandest (futile) wish was for Asa to slaughter them all and then to hit the road looking for more victims to prey upon.

Barbara Steele weeps, shrieks, sighs, faints, screams, moans, gasps, and is undeniably fascinating to watch. She is far more interesting as Asa. As Katia, she is a cipher. She's drained of life and hysterical to boot. Asa has activated her will (if the undead can even be said to possess a will--the will of Satan?). Katia is receptive, helpless and boring. She's just a lonely princess longing for her prince (yawn). It isn't Ms. Steele's fault--the character is simply dismal. She's the "good" girl--she doesn't have to do anything, except mope about in a perfectly awful hairdo. The rest of the cast are perfectly plastic--save for Arturo Dominici as Javutich. He's a fine match for Ms. Steele and wondefully terrible. He has presence that the others lack.

Still, the film is simply gorgeous. The story might not be my glass of Absinthe, but the film is still visually stunning. It lacks emotion and depth--but it makes up for it somewhat in the sheer power of its images. Obvious films that clearly map out the binary opposites at play are just not that intriguing. When you know from the start that virtue will win and evil will be destroyed, it kind of takes the thrill out of the whole thing.

BRAVO BAVA AND STEELE
If you are a true horror connoseur of great horror films, BLACK SUNDAY or THE MASK OF SATAN, belongs in your repertoire of those films which defined what "horror" movies should be about.
Mario Bava's first film is full of eloquent imagery, darkly atmospheric sets and lighting, and an almost palpable sense of doom. Barbara Steele, who went on with Hazel Court, to be the true scream queens of the sixties, is perfect in the dual role of the witch and her descendant; Bava knew that Steele's beauty is not of the usual kind and he used his lens to soften some of her harshness, but yet to ignite those gorgeous eyes. Steele also knew how to handle the camera, how to peer not only into the eyes of her fellow actors, but into your eyes as well.
John Richardson's boyish handsomeness is a perfect contrast to Steele's dark beauty. (Only complaint about DVD is the obvious dubbing, with "radio dj" voices that at times lessened the impact of the movie). The silent stagecoach ride is as many readers have commented one of the eeriest scenes captured on celluloid.
This is a frightening movie, way ahead of its time, and maintains a crude brilliance that is still penetrating today.

Bava Lives!
BLACK SUNDAY (aka THE MASK OF SATAN) marks the directorial debut of prolific horror director Mario Bava, and what a debut! The story, a Gothic masterpiece about vampirism being an extension of Satan worship, is quite interesting. Barbara Steel, the first horror starlet, or scream queen, is amazingly beautiful and quite good as the evil Princess Asa, who curses her family after being condemned as a witch, and Princess Katia, her ancestor. A chairjumper every five minutes! It lulls you asleep and then slaps you awake with the next scary moment. True suspense is being built up as the plot goes along nice and slow (even under an hour and a half!) The whole film is gorgeous and really showed me that a black-and-white movie can be just as scary and cringe-inducing as one in bright color.
Yes, Mario Bava is the founding father of Italian horror as we know it! Not only is he a great director, but he is an excellent cameraman and special effects artist, just to name a few other things he did in his movies. Thanks to Bava, we have masterpieces from other great directors as Dario Argento (SUSPIRIA, DEEP RED, TENEBRE, INFERNO), Lucio Fulci (DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING, ZOMBIE, THE BEYOND), and even Mario's own son Lamberto (MACABRE, A BLADE IN THE DARK, DEMONS 1 & 2). Hell, even the Bavas helped Argento on occasion (Mario directed that awesome underwater sequence in INFERNO, and Lamberto was assistant director on that and TENEBRE). So remember, when you think about how awesome Italian horror movies were back in the day and all the masterpieces that came out of that country, remember Mario Bava. And watch BLACK SUNDAY and all of his other movies! ... Read more

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The hungry, haunted eyes of the voluptuous Daliah Lavi dominateMario Bava's kinky little ghost story. Set in a cavernous castle on alonely coast, it looks like something out of Roger Corman's Edgar AllenPoe thrillers, at least at first. Christopher Lee is the bad sheep prodigal son who returns to the family manor. A sexual sadist whose proclivitiesbrought about the death of a young girl and sent him into exile, heimmediately lures his brother's wife (Lavi) into his sadistic games uponhis return. There's no shortage of suspects when he's found dead, a daggerplunged into his neck (the same one his former lover killed herself with),but when he returns as a gray-faced ghost Bava pushes the gothicconventions and repressed sexual desires into delirious territory. It's one of the most psychologically compelling scripts in Bava's filmography, wrackedwith mad passions and haunted with guilt, and he pushes the emotionalhysteria to the limits with lush style, surreal color, and gorgeous, oftenperverse imagery. The film was drastically cut and renamed What! for its U.S. release. VCI's edition is not only completely uncut but masteredfrom a gorgeous, color drenched print, restoring Bava's rich play ofcrimson red and cerulean blue.

The DVD features both English and Italian language soundtracks (neither ofwhich feature Lee's voice, though the English track better matches theimages) with optional subtitles, a sharp, informative commentary track byBava historian Tim Lucas, and two cut scenes hidden as "Easter Eggs." Toaccess these, go to the Special Features menu, move the cursor to "PlayAmerican Titles," and push the left arrow button. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Superb Gothic Horror
Delirious! Part whodunit, part ghost story and perhaps one of the finest Gothic tales of the sixties. "La Frusta E il Corpo" is a very beautiful romantic horror movie. Don't miss it. The atmosphere is unique, the film is like a painting, the photography and the scenery are exceptional, the music is stirring, and the acting is very good. (Christopher Lee is haunting and the handsome Daliah Lavi reminds me at Barbara Steele) At least as good as the Hammer Film Productions! I am very happy that nearly all the work of maestro Mario Bava is now available on DVD and I can only hope that it will be possible to buy other great Italian classics such as "La Danza Macabra" and "I Lunghi Capelli de la Morte" from Antonio Margheriti on DVD in the future too.

Mario Bava's Gothic S&M romance......
Kurt Menliff (Christopher Lee) returns to his ancestral castle after being banished by his father some years before. He finds that his lover Nevenka (Daliah Lavi) has married his brother. However, it is not long before they resume their previous S&M relationship and Kurt is mysteriously murdered. Is Nevenka being haunted by his ghost or is it al in her mind? You'll have to watch it to find out.

"The whip and the body" is unlike many of the horror films made in the 1960s. However it is typical of Bava's horror movies in that the lines between good and evil are somewhat blurred. There are no "good" characters in this movie. They are either weak, cruel, hypocritical. The heroine is not the typical virginal innocent of most horror movies, in fact the virtuous romantic "leads" of this film are only background characters. The main focus is on the relationship between Kurt and Nevenka. We are encouraged to sympathise with them. This is what makes the film so daring. The whipping scenes are pretty explicit (especially for 1963) but it is the fact that Bava treats this relationship like a "normal" love story (therefore not condemning the participants) that makes the film so unique among horror films of the period. Regardless of this, the film is worth watching for the startling use of colour and cinematography alone. Some scenes almost resemble a 19th century Romantic painting. If you are a horror fan or even a film buff (and definately if you are a fan of Lee or Lavi) see this film!

Bava at his best
They certainly don't make pictures like this anymore. This is an unique combination of ghost story and SM-romance, capturing the sensibility of the gothic novel, unmatched by any other cinematic attempt that I'm aware of. Christopher Lee is the mystical brother who returns to the family mansion, where everybody despices him, making him responsible for the suicide of a servant girl - the knife is kept in a showcase as a holy relic. Only Nevenka (Daliah Lavi), once his fiancé, now his sister-in-law seems confused about her feelings towards him. He is soon found murdered and the movie becomes a kind of whodunit, since everybody would have perfectly adequate reasons to get rid of him (the lumbering servant even looks like Peter Lorre). Soon he comes back from the grave to haunt Nevenkas bedchamber. Daliah Lavi has the same kind of fragile, pale beauty as Barbara Steele (who was initially offered the part), which makes her well suited for this kind of aesthetic. This is how one could imagine what Poe's Ligeia would look like.
This is really not to be missed by any lover of the gothic genre and the restored DVD looks quite good.

An unknown masterpiece
A true gem that gets better and better with every viewing, Whip And The Body is an extremely sophisticated piece of work. Visually mesmerizing, totaly ahead of it's time as far as the plot goes, this is Bava at it's very best. Whip And The Body is recommended to all serious movie lovers so don't get frightened by the italian gothic horror label the movie carries, this is grand cinema, the work of a genius that needs way more recognition.

Don't let the title fool you. It's not what you're thinking.
The writing in this film establishes an excellent mood and atmosphere that's well sustained throughout despite other potential literary shortcomings depending on the individual tastes of the viewer. Lee as usual is delighfully eerie and menacing. The sound, color and clarity are excellent. The ending was disappointing for some reason that I cannot quite articulate, but overall a worthy addition to my growing dvd gothic collection. ... Read more

Reviews (20)

A Spy/Caper Classic
What is with some of these reviewers? Don't they get it? How can you compare this movie to Austin Powers or to Rambo or Ninjas? Who knew what a ninja was in 1966? This is a cool, classic, campy 60's caper movie. Who cares what Diabolik really is? He's cool as hell! That outfit. That Jag. Think of all the other 60's spy-isms that are present...The secret hideaway, the trippy spy-rock (great Ennio Morricone music) the bizarre sets, the psychedelic atmosphere. This movie's influence is all over (i.e. fellow gen x-ers - remember the video game SPY HUNTER?). This flick is right up there with Ipcress File, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger and The Pink Panther as a classic of the brezzy/cool 60's spy/caper genre.

This movie is so bad it's terrific!
Danger: Diabolik is one of those rare movies where situations and characters are so completely ludicrous that you'll end up in the emergency room being treated for cracked ribs and torn abdominal muscles from excessive gleeful laughter.Never mind the movie's presentation on MST3K; on its own Danger: Diabolik is wonderfully entertaining because it tricks your brain into thinking of ways to deride it, and I happen to love films that can do that. One notable cast member is Adolfo Celi, whom James Bond fans will recognize from Thunderball, but he appears here sans eyepatch and speaking with a less-than-amusing voice. Though on this outing while he's not throwing his fellow criminals into shark-infested pools he does have the inclination to drop those who disagree with him through a trap door on his aircraft, thus increasing fuel efficiency and lightening the workload for his ditzy, shapely flight attendant... One of the movie's greatest assets is its soundtrack. It's pure 60's. Listening to it is like taking a trip in a time machine and arriving in some world whose inhabitants did everything they could to brighten it up without all the comforts, gadgets and insights available to today's world. Totally awesome, man! This videotape is recorded in EP mode, so your tracking may need adjusting in order to maintain Stereo-lock. And sadly, it's in pan-and-scan format, so you can't get a really good look at Diabolik's underground lair with its rotating bed, seperate showers, gold-testing workshop, and its many painstakingly-crafted artificial stalactites dripping from the roof of the cavern like the tears of mirth from audience eyes. First-time viewers are in for a treat; repeat viewers will likely end up in the hospital again...

Im a Mister Bava Lova,Mario Bava Superstar!!
Danger:Diabolik is based on the same Comics wich was very cool and Mario bava was the right man for a real action movie on Danger:Diabolik!
The Moviesets he created is so small but they looked like they cost lot of hundredthousand dollars, but the cost in real was maybe 1000 Dollar!??!
Its a great superhero movie with the typically colourimpression of Mario Bava, the master of Italian Cinema and the creator of the Giallo Thrillers.
Danger:Diabolik got some spectaculary and stunning action scenes,good looking chicks and a nice and cute superhero.
Im so happy that this movie was released on DVD!
Are you too?
Buy and you will be!!

Total enjoyment
Once upon a time films were made with low budgets and heaps of imagination, and this is one of them. Though given a whopping $3M by the ego-maniac Dino de Laurentis (King Kong the atrocious remake) the genius Mario Bava brought this 60s beauty in at $400K. Even converted into today's hard currency it would be hard to conceive of a modern day director either struggling out of bed for such a miniscule sum, or ever bringing a film in under budget. Instead Bava treats the eye and the mind to a dazzling psychedelic modernist fantasy.
There seems to be a common notion that many directors of the past were somehow more stupid than the giant intellects of the cinema of today and that they had no comprehension of what they were doing. Bava knew exactly what he was making with this movie version of a popular European comic and that was to make a film that was fun.
Pitted against a world of old stilted politics, bumbling police and chalk-stripe-suited Mafia villains Diabolik, a cool ultra-thief with an underground lair to be envied by Dr No and every other evil genius, outwits his pursuers time and time again with a manic laugh, a delicious girl-friend and his 'n' hers Jaguar E-Types.
This film is a two-hour trip; the score is superb and the images have a vivid organic feel unachievable with today's over-processed CGI FX. If you love the visuals of Barbarella you'll love this. Bava, though, has a more cynical view of the world and in one scene presents us with a nightclub where villains ply the "innocent" hippies with drugs making them dance in hysterically funny ways that is just as an incisive critique of that era as it would be of some rave scenes today. Some things just don't change.
Sure if you want to adopt the brave stance of the post-modernist and assume the sophisticated position of The One Who Laughs At Bad Old Films then you'll get some kind of kick out of this. But you won't get anything like the kick you will by just relaxing into the brilliantly-lit mad world of Mario Bava where nothing is quite what it appears and baddies win - almost.

CHEESY, But from another time!
I really enjoyed this movie! The effects are very dated, but watching it transported me to another time! You can see how different things where just 30 years ago! ... Read more

Amazon.com

Italian horror master Mario Bava brought his considerable skills to bear on this hypnotic genre hybrid, creating one of the most eerily atmospheric science fiction films ever made. A spaceship is lured to a mysterious planet, where members of its crew are slaughtered, and their bodies possessed by a near-extinct alien race--a minimalist plot, to be sure, but in the hands of Bava and cinematographer Antonio Rinaldi, Planet of the Vampires (the best-known of this film's many titles) is a near-masterpiece of style over substance. The simplest sets and backdrops are composed with a perfect eye for perspective and color, with sensible spaceship design and memorable costumes that look like they sprang from the futuristic fantasies of an S&M biker gang. Performances are secondary but effectively low-key, serving to enhance Bava's painterly use of matte work and miniatures. With a surprise twist ending, POTV is an essential addition to anyone's sci-fi collection. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (33)

This planet is a mixed bag
After watching it, I have to ask why he chose to do it in the first place. It doesn't seem as if Bava were particularly inspired when he shot Planet of the Vampires. As a science fiction film, it's not very visionary-I don't see any speculation on his part about anything at all about the future, except that we will have mastered space travel.
As a horror film, it succeeds even less-there is almost little or no gore. Not that I'm a gore monger (actually I am!), but if you don't create the necessary amount of tension, which this film fails to do, then you have to rely on other means of capturing viewer interest, these being either special effects or violent gore laden scenes.
As a sci-fi/horror film . . .well, it just isn't.
So, what the hey is the film? I read that Bava used the same set design that he had for his Hercules movie (which actually succeeded in being both cheesier and creepier); he could not have been that particularly motivated to do this film. Yet it does have scenes of brilliance. I've yet to encounter a Bava movie that didn't have at least two excellent scenes that blew me away. One of these was when our erstwhile astronauts explored the interior of the alien's ship. I also dug the lighting-the deep reds and blues that have become such staples in many of Bava's films.
Is it worth a DVD purchase? Yes, ...

awesome italian sci fi/horror flick -- reminds me of Alien
This is a great old sci fi/horror flick by that master Mario Bava. This movie starts out with two ships in orbit around a planet. You are treated to some really cool electronic sound effects/music and the best technobabble I have ever heard -- Star Trek has nothing on these guys. The ships are sucked in to the planet at 60 G's -- only the heroic captain is able to withstand that kind of force. The movie goes on to deal with what they encounter on the surface as they search for the other ship.

The special effects are a bit cheesy by today's standard, but not bad for a film of its time. They are not overused to ill effect either. The overall atmosphere of the film is properly chilling.

Some of the visuals, plot elements, and even music remind so much of Alien. I have to suspect that Ridley Scott has seen this movie at least once.

I rate this film excellent and highly recommend it!

SAURDAY MATINEE
Classic B movie! Did you like Creature Double Feature, or Elvira... you will love this! Don't forget the 6 pack.

Influential science fiction/horror/suspense film
The dialog borders on the absurd; the optical effects aren't up to par even for a 60's science fiction film; the actors frequently give zombies a good name. Yet, despite its major drawbacks, Planet of the Vampires stands as an influential film. When making Alien Ridley Scott took his cue from this imaginative but low budget film. The alien planet, spacecraft and many of the more atmospheric sequences clearly were an influence on Scott's highly praised horror film (it's stretching it to call Alien a science fiction film). It's also clear that POTV had impact on director Tobe Hooper's Lifeforce.

So will you enjoy this movie? That depends on how forgiving you are. Mario Bava's direction and the cinematography are quite imaginative and the atmospheric production design make this a triumph of style over substance. Because this was shot in Rome (with a mixture of American and Italian actors), the acting and dubbing adds an odd quality to the film. Barry Sullivan's frequently detached performance isn't one of his best but given that his director and almost all the crew didn't speak English, It's understandable.

Bava's direction and the inspired production design make this a very influential minor film classic. It's clear seeing the film again after some years, that Bava was trying to create an atmospheric Forbidden Planet and he suceeds for the most part. While Planet of the Vampires lacks the intelligent script and lively performances from that classic film, its imaginative cinematography engage the viewer in a way that FP couldn't. Again, if you can forgive the movie's shortcomings and the minimalist screenplay, you'll enjoy this film.

A couple bits of trivia about the film: the story is basically an atmospheric variation on Invasion of the Body Snatchers; Planet of the Vampires had at least three or four different titles (some of them within the United States itself); Star Trek: The Next Generation borrowed (or it was just one of those ideas in the air)the concept of POTV for an episode entitled Power Play from season 5.

The transfer is crisp and the colors vivid. I haven't seen a print this good since College. The widescreen presentation doesn't provide a huge advantage over the pan & scan version that's floated around for quite some time. This film wasn't shot in an anamorphic format and the aspect ratio is only slightly different than the traditional t.v. aspect ratio.

The mono soundtrack sounds fine although a bit flat (even for a mono soundtrack). It wouldn't have hurt to offer a track that reprocessed it for surround sound or, at least, to have tried to open up the sound a little bit. You won't be listening to the frequently clunky dialog but the soundtrack is interesting. It's clearly inspired by the atonal "effects" music track used for Forbidden Planet.

This Midnite Classic includes the original over-the-top American International Pictures trailer. Curiously, the dialog is only available in English and the subtitles in Spanish and French. Given that it's an Italian production, it would have been interesting to hear the film in its native tongue. There is a problem worth noting--the default setting for subtitles causes the film to automatically show the Spanish subtitles for the film everytime you start the flick. This problem has cropped up with one or two other Midnite releases from MGM. It's not a major problem just annoying.

It's a pity that this bare bones presentation doesn't include an overview by a film historian. It's important to understand the influence that Bava's film had on the 70's and early 80's. Perhaps someone else will license the film (doubtful) and do the job. Planet of the Vampires has a lot of positives and a few negatives as well. While it's not quite as good as it was to an 11 year old 20 plus years later, it's still an inspired bit of film making.

Dull and atrociously dubbed Italian SF/horror
Directed by Mario Bava and based on the short story "One Night Of 21 Hours" by Renato Pestriniero. Along with IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE, this also inspired ALIEN. It centers around a space expedition to a barren planet, Aura. But once the crew lands, members suddenly become given to random acts of violence against each other, caused by the "vampiric" mind control the planet has over them.
PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES (aka DEMON PLANET) is generally rather daft and wooden and is only saved by Bava's visual flair. Watching this, it feels as though you're watching a long lost episode of DR. WHO. This is the first Bava movie I've seen, I wasn't totally impressed after all the raves I read of BLACK SUNDAY and TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVE. Maybe the next film of his I see will live up to my earlier expectations. Personally I just found this to be dull and plodding. And the music score is almost guaranteed to give viewers a migrane. ... Read more

Description

Hercules (Reg Park) must battle a monster made of stone, retrieve a golden apple from the tree of Hesperides, and brave the horrors of Hadesto rescue his beloved from the clutches of the evil Lyco (ChristopherLee). Oracles, witches, and vampires abound in this delirious blend of sword and sandal adventure, horror, and psychedelia. Maestro MarioBava's first color film is awash in a sea of primary hues, creepyatmosphere, and eye-popping imagery. Fantoma is very proud to present the original European cut of this widescreen wonder for the first time in the U.S. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Bava's peplum epic
Italian director Mario Bava (1914-1980) is one of the giants of the horror film genre. Bava's big break into the field came with his 1960 black and white classic "Black Sunday" starring Barbara Steele. This was only the beginning, as Bava churned out a series of gruesome shockers over the next seventeen years; his films always promised great style mixed with scenes of murder and mayhem. Perhaps Mario's biggest contribution to the horror genre was his 1972 picture "Twitch of the Death Nerve," also known as "Bay of Blood." It doesn't take too long to realize "Friday the 13th" shamelessly cribbed from this slasher bloodbath. At least two of the murders in the film appear almost unchanged in the first installment of the Jason Voorhees franchise. That's right-- Mario Bava gave birth to the modern slasher film. But he also dabbled in non-horror films with projects like "Four Times That Night" and this film, "Hercules in the Haunted World." After watching his contribution to the peplum genre, I have to express further admiration for this amazing filmmaker; he could make an entertaining motion picture no matter what the subject.

Bava's Hercules (played capably by Reg Park) must set out on yet another quest the results of which will have a profound effect on the residents of a Greek city. It seems that the female princess of this town is under some zombie like spell, completely unable to function beyond rambling and stumbling about. In her place, a sinister man named Lyco (Christopher Lee!) "generously" agrees to rule the city until Hercules and his buddy Theseus return from their mission. According to an oracle, Hercules must head into the depths of Hades--ruled over by the evil god Pluto--to secure a special stone that will restore the faculties of the young princess. Of course, our heroes must undertake several other minor tasks before marching into the world of the dead. In order to enter Hell, Hercules must first obtain a magical boat from some large guy who likes to draw and quarter people. Then Theseus and Hercules must sail the boat to the Hesperides, a bleak land beyond the sun where a bevy of beautiful women banished by the gods live. Once they arrive here, one of the men must climb an enormous tree in order to procure a golden apple that will allow them to enter and exit Hades safely. The underworld itself presents a host of problems, including oceans of fire, sexy but fatal mirages, and vines that groan and bleed when cut. Hercules surmounts all of the obstacles through a combination of brute strength and intelligence, arriving back at the city just in time to take on Lyco and some weird flying creatures. The final showdown is fierce, but will our man save the princess and restore the monarchy in time?

Peplum films often rate high on the cheese scale. Bava's film is no exception, but (and this is a big but) "Hercules in the Haunted World" is an enormously entertaining and beautifully made film guaranteed to provide a good time. Sure, some of the miniatures looked schlocky. Sure, the comic relief sidekick Theseus and Hercules take along with them is more of an annoyance than a boon. Sure, Christopher Lee sports a funny Prince Valiant haircut and doesn't really do much. Yes, many scenes and characters in Bava's film possess a decidedly cheesy quality, but the movie succeeds wildly despite these flaws. Just check out the performances. I thought Reg Park made an excellent Hercules; the guy could actually act and really looks the part. Moreover, there are more babes in this film than I remember seeing in 1950s and 1960s cheese flicks. The girl who plays Persephone, the woman Theseus rescues from Hades, looks eerily similar to a young Sophia Loren. In fact, all of the female roles have beautiful women in them, something I greatly appreciated when watching the film.

If you don't want to waste time watching the actors and actresses (dubbed, by the way, since the film was shot in Italian), you can appreciate how Bava overcame a tight budget to create a truly bizarre world. When Theseus, Hercules, and the sidekick sail across the ocean to the Hesperides, the horizon takes on a weird, almost psychedelic tone of red, yellow, and black that is very well done. Just as neat is the desolate landscapes of Hades, a world of smoke, styrofoam rocks, and lava pits that swallow up the unwary. As Hercules and Theseus move through the blasted terrain of Pluto's domain, the camera often draws way back to show the two men from afar jumping off cliffs and climbing hand over hand on a vine rope. Again, it does look a bit cheesy, but it also works in an inexplicable way. The scenes where Hercules talks to the oracle and where he battles Lyco and his undead minions are, without doubt, simply wonderful to look at and stylish as all get out. "Hercules in the Haunted World" is a prime cut of peplum that even a non-fan of the genre can appreciate.

I was surprised to see Franco Prosperi had a hand in making this film; he went on to worldwide fame as one of the co-creators of the notorious "Mondo Cane" series. I suspect, however, that Bava was primarily responsible for the technical brilliance of the movie. Thanks to Fantoma for bringing us the film in a beautifully restored DVD version with a trailer and stills as extras. Bava completists simply must pick up "Hercules in the Haunted World" as quickly as they can. Even non-fans would do well to invest an hour and a half of their time with this one; you're unlikely to see another peplum film as entertaining as this one.

Terrific DVD showcase for eye-popping Bava beefcake epic
Fantoma's DVD release of Mario Bava's Hercules in the Center of the Earth ought to elevate his stature in the film world, if not as a "serious" movie director, then certainly as one of the cinema's most talented and artistic lighting cameramen/cinematographers. The story is fairly generic muscleman stuff and the acting is competent if unexceptional (although three-time Mr. Universe Reg Park definitely has a believable physical presence as Hercules); what really sets this movie apart from virtually any other peplum flick are Bava's neon-hued Technicolor visuals, which at times border on the hallucinatory. Throughout most of the movie he tosses off shot after stunning shot, many only a few seconds long, nearly every one impeccably lit, artfully composed, and accented with vibrant color. Bava's interweaving of light, shadow, color, and sometimes literal "smoke and mirrors" to define space, mood, and even character is consistently impressive, even more so after reading the liner notes describing how little he had to work with. Cool sequences and striking set-pieces abound, including Deianira rising from her sarcophagus and floating across the room (like Lon Chaney in Son of Dracula); Hercules's eerie visits with the sibyl; the psychedelic ocean vistas on the voyage to the Hesperides; Lyco (Christopher Lee) reflected in a pool of his victim's blood; the flying ghouls rising from their slimy crypts (which must have given nightmares to the kiddie matinee crowd in 1964); and the climactic showdown between Hercules and Lyco, shot in an atmospheric Roman grotto. There's almost too much to appreciate in a single viewing. While I'm not normally a huge fan of sword-and-sandal flicks (though I did watch lots of them on Saturday afternoons as a kid), and I could've done without the 'comedy relief' character, I still have to strongly recommend this movie not only to fans of Bava's other movies (particularly Planet of the Vampires), but also anyone who simply appreciates breathtakingly beautiful color cinematography.
Fantoma's DVD is transferred in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio and anamorphically enhanced, from a virtually pristine Technicolor print of the original Italian-language dub. There is only the lightest of speckling evident; otherwise it's crisp and clean, with lush, richly-saturated color, and excellent contrast and detail. Optional English subtitles are included, as well as the (continental) English-dubbed soundtrack. Unless you're extremely subtitle-phobic, I recommend the Italian-language soundtrack with the subtitles. The English dubbing gives the film a campier, less serious tone and often renders the dialogue much more prosaically than the subtitles (example: Hercules's final words to Deianira in the subtitled version, "Man's love is passionate, but often inconsistent. Ours will last forever"; in the English dub, "As long as Theseus steals other men's girls, I have nothing to worry about.") Unfortunately we don't get to hear Christopher Lee's actual voice in either version. The DVD also includes excellent Tim Lucas liner notes; a gallery of approximately 45 color and B&W stills, posters, and ad mats; and a comparatively rough-looking trailer, matted to about 1.66:1 and suffering from medium to heavy scratching and lining, poor color, and merely acceptable sharpness and detail. The film is broken into 16 chapter stops and the Dolby 2.0 mono sound is full and clear. The definitive edition of an unmercifully neglected film.

A silk purse from a sow's ear
This is the great Mario Bava's first work in colour (1961) and atypical of his usual output of horror and thriller films (although Bava certainly excelled in many genres!)
I hadn't seen this film before and was anticipating a certain level of campness to be on display - yes, the script is ludicrously bad and the acting varied - but I was genuinely lifted by what I saw. There is a very strong current of nobility running through the film and REG PARK as the titular hero gives a very warm and engaging performance. There are also two stunning young women so typical of European films of this era: LEANORA RUFFO as Hercules' love and MARISA BELLI as Persephone, whose love for Hercules' best friend Theseus causes so many problems later in the story. Both manage to be attractive and convincing in their roles.
All of Bava's trademark beautiful photography is evident here. The blues and reds used to paint Hades in so rich a colour really do make us forget how low the production budget was (and it really WAS low!)
CHRISTOPHER LEE is the villain of course and is as reliable as ever (Though inexplicably dubbed yet again!)and this is the first time EVER that I can recommend listening to a film with the dubbed English soundtrack instead of the original Italian (which I usually prefer) as it's done very well and adds certain pieces of dialogue not on the European dub.
Never destined to be a great film, this is however a fascinating look at the work of one of the greatest directors of the last century - It's stunning to look at and never once boring.
My only complaint: The "comic" sidekick of Hercules becomes annoying within a minute of his first appearance! Try to ignore him and you'll enjoy 80 minutes of imaginative fantasy. PROCRUSTES, the stone creature, is especially fun so watch out for 'it'!

Atmospheric silliness
Most of the Italian Hercules movies made during the '60s were silly sword & sandal sagas. And so is this one. But, as directed by the great Mario Bava, it's also an atmospheric exercise in cinematic style. The photography is great, the special effects are innovative, and Bava uses colour as strikingly here as he did in Baron Blood. Christopher Lee makes a great villain, too. So what if the silly storyline wanders far afield from its mythic origins? The weird flying zombies alone are worth the price of admission. ... Read more

Amazon.com

When American audiences first saw Mario Bava's 1963 horror trilogy, it wasn't the same film he had made in Italy. Finding it too terrifying for kids (imagine that!), AIP pictures trimmed it of violence and intensity, rescored it, and renamed it in order to cash in on the success of BlackSunday. New tongue-in-cheek introductions with costar Boris Karloff were added, the segments were rearranged, and one segment was completely rewritten in the dubbing. It was a good film even in its butchered form, but the original Italian version is excellent. The correctly orderedstories begin with "The Telephone," a gripping, ornate thriller that anticipates Bava's later "giallo" horror classics such as Blood and Black Lace. (In the American version, lesbian overtones were removedand the escaped criminal killer was turned into a vengeful ghost.) Karloff stars as a demonic, wild-haired patriarch in the eerie "The Wurdulak," a gorgeous vampire tale shot on misty, menacing sets. The masterpiece of the collection is "The Drop of Water," a chilling ghost story with shiverinducing imagery: the piercing dead eyes of the restless corpse will haunt you long after the film is over. Bava's original framing sequence ends with a playful tribute to the magic of moviemaking and storytelling, a sweet coda to remind us that it's only a movie.

The print suffers slightly from wear and tear and water damage but the colors are sharp and vivid. It's a bit disconcerting to hear Karloff dubbed in Italian, but that's a small price to pay for seeing the film in its original, uncut form. The DVD also features an extensive gallery ofproduction and promotional stills, biographies, and liner notes by Bava historian Tim Lucas. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (48)

ONE OF BAVA'S BEST....
A not to be missed trilogy of horror tales hosted by Boris Karloff and done by Mario Bava. As atmospheric and colorful as you could ask for with the traditional Euro flavor that gives it that off-beat intensity not often found in American films. The stories are diverse: 1.)"The Telephone"--the sexiest with a woman being terrorized by phone calls from a supposedly "dead" lover; 2.)"The Wurdelak"--the most disturbing with a Russian mountain family plagued by an unusual and unforgiving heritage of vampirism starring Karloff himself; and 3.) "The Drop of Water"--the scariest with a turn-of-the-century nurse stealing a ring from an old woman's corpse who happens to be a witch. This is the widescreen European version and is excellently transferred to DVD. The women are beautiful and the thrills are plentiful. A must for any serious horror afficianado.

The Scariest Day of the Week!
One of the best Italian horror films ever made, director Mario Bava's 1963 movie BLACK SABBATH (Italian title: I TRE VOLTI DELLA PAURA) is actually a delicious trilogy of stories, each different in timbre and texture, but each a masterful atmospheric study in unmitigated fear.

In the first short, entitled "The Telephone," a contemporary (circa 1960s) woman is taunted by a series of bizarre and alarming phone calls. But things get really interesting when she learns who it is that's been calling. (Warning: Some viewers may be put off by the lesbian subtext of this story.)

"The Wurdalak," the second entry, is an eerie variation on the vampire legend that is based on the Aleksei Tolstoy novella THE FAMILY OF THE VOURDALAK (SEM'YA VURDALAKA). The action takes place in what appears to be medieval Europe, and the celebrated Boris Karloff (alas, with his dialogue dubbed in Italian) turns in an excellent performance as Gorca, the patriarch of a peasant family. When Gorca returns from assisting in the pursuit and destruction of a Wurdalak--a vampire of sorts that is compelled to feast only upon its own loved ones--his family suspects that he's not quite the man he used to be....

Purportedly an adaptation of story by Chekhov, "A Drop of Water" is the last entry of the trilogy, and it is unquestionably the creepiest. Set in a Victorian manor house, it involves a private nurse who steals a ring from her recently deceased charge and is subsequently haunted by the vengeful corpse. Or is she?

The acting is good, the sets are sufficiently eerie, the stories are well written and creepy, and the women are pretty. But first and foremost, BLACK SABBATH is a superior horror film due to Bava's great vision and direction. He knows what it takes to scare people, and it is his use of stark yet simple imagery, unusual juxtaposition of sounds, and sometimes tenebrous lighting that generates genuine goose bumps and psychological jitters. (Your skin will crawl every time you remember the image of that corpse with the empty, unblinking stare from "A Drop of Water.")

Extant copies of the film are in one of two forms. One presents the film as originally intended (and released in Europe) by the filmmakers. The dialogue is completely dubbed in Italian (with English subtitles available), the stories have not been edited by anyone other than the director and his crew, and the three stories as a whole are vignetted by a Boris Karloff preface and epilogue. However, the other version presents the film after it was vitiated by its U.S. distributor, American International Pictures. In that one, the stories have been edited (one to the point of being unintelligible) and their relative order rearranged, and inappropriately witty intros (featuring Karloff) have been tacked on to each. Also, an English soundtrack has been added, one that was not created with any input from Bava or the original scriptwriters.

Until recently, the AIP re-dubbed re-cut was the only version of the film readily available to American audiences. Though not a totally un-watchable film in AIP's butchered format, it is simply not the masterpiece that Bava's original is. With that in mind, it is recommended that, if at all possible, viewers avoid the AIP version altogether and watch only the original Italian version. And please note, then, that this review refers to that original release--with English subtitles--which IS the version now being offered on the Image Entertainment DVD.

And speaking of the DVD, it is a bit short on true bonus features, and it is possible to see some signs of wear on the print that was used. Still, this widescreen digital transfer looks good overall, with rich and vivid colors and crisp focus. Most importantly, it is fantastic opportunity for American horror fans to finally see--and own!--this excellent scary film in the form in which its creators intended.

Chills aplenty
Italian director Mario Bava (1914-1980) is one of the giants of the horror film genre. Bava's big break into the field came with his 1960 black and white classic "Black Sunday" starring Barbara Steele. This was only the beginning, as Bava churned out a series of gruesome shockers over the next seventeen years; his films always promised great style mixed with scenes of murder and mayhem. Perhaps Mario's biggest contribution to the horror genre was his 1972 picture "Twitch of the Death Nerve," also known as "Bay of Blood." It doesn't take too long to realize "Friday the 13th" shamelessly cribbed from this slasher bloodbath. At least two of the murders in the film appear almost unchanged in the first installment of the Jason Voorhees franchise. That's right-- Mario Bava gave birth to the modern slasher film. But he also dabbled in non-horror films with projects like "Four Times That Night" and the immensely entertaining peplum classic "Hercules in the Haunted World" starring Reg Park as the muscle bound hero. After watching many of his films, I have to express further admiration for this amazing director; he could make an entertaining motion picture no matter what the subject.

"I trevolti della paura," known on these shores as "Black Sabbath," is a great contribution to horror cinema. In 1963, Bava filmed three short stories and packaged them under one title with Boris Karloff introducing each segment. The first tale, "The Telephone," is a claustrophobic tale of horror that takes place in the apartment of Rosy (Michele Mercier). Strange and horrifying phone calls begin streaming into the apartment at the same time Rosy's ex-husband Frank leaves prison. Alarmed that her hubby will try to hurt her, she dials up her pal Mary (Lidia Alfonsi), asking her friend to come over and comfort her. There's an interesting subtext to Mary and Rosy's phone call that the American version apparently cut out of the picture before releasing it that this Image Entertainment DVD restores. Watch to see what it is. Anyway, Mary arrives and, when Rosy falls asleep, writes something down on a piece of paper for her friend to read later. When Rosy wakes up, she learns a few painful truths about both her friend and her ex-husband.

The second story, "The Wurdulak," stars Boris Karloff as Gorca, the patriarch of a well to do Russian family in the eighteenth century. Wurdulaks, what we would call vampires, plague the countryside. Gorca sets out to slay one of them, a fellow named Alibeq, but leaves strict instructions to his family to destroy him, Gorca, if he returns any later than the stroke of midnight five days hence. Gorca reasons that he will be a vampire himself if he has not returned by that time, and his family agrees. Predictably, Gorca returns late and acts very, VERY weird. The family knows something is wrong but agonizes about doing what they know they must do. Their hesitancy has unfortunate results for several members of the family. This story is the best one on the disc; check out the scene where Karloff thunders around on a horse. Very creepy!

The final tale of woe, called "The Drop of Water," finds Nurse Helen Corey (Jacqueline Pierreux) receiving a weird phone call late at night. It seems an old medium died and her servant is too scared to move the body. Corey agrees to help the superstitious assistant but makes the mistake of stealing a valuable ring off the corpse. What follows is classic chills and thrills as a fly follows Corey around wherever she goes, continually alighting on the ring on her finger. The nurse tries to hide in her house where the sound of dripping water drives her to the point of insanity. Again, no reason to spoil the film for you, but wait until you see what happens to Nurse Corey as the tale winds to a close. Note to self: never steal anything from a deceased psychic.

All I can say here is that Mario Bava has done it again. While I still think "Black Sunday" is a better film, "Black Sabbath" nicely delivers the shocks. Getting Karloff to do double duty as the narrator and the star of one of the segments was a nice touch, too. Including this great actor in the project gives "Black Sabbath" a sort of homage feel, a nod to the earlier horror movies of the 1930s and 1940s. It's no mistake that Karloff's segment is the best one of the three. The weakest is "The Telephone," although even this tale works quite well in the suspense department. In "The Wurdulak," you know what's going to happen, but not so in "The Telephone." Plus, Michele Mercier is extremely easy on the eyes. I couldn't help but think of the seminal "Black Christmas" and "When a Stranger Calls" after watching "The Telephone." I wonder if Bob Clark and Fred Walton took Bava's creation as the inspiration for their own, later films. As for "The Drop of Water," well, it's a scary film that doubtless inspired its own imitators years later.

Horror fans would be remiss to pass up this delightful collection. They're not gory in any way, just as "Black Sunday" wasn't gory, but they are nicely done pieces well worth watching. A big thanks goes out to Image Entertainment for releasing the film in its original format. I am slowly working my way through all of Mario Bava's film, and "Black Sabbath" was a huge step towards completing my journey. After watching the movie, check out the production notes assembled by Bava historian Tim Lucas, the trailer, and the Bava biography. If you like horror, you will definitely want to give this one a few hours of your time.

Are You Serious?
With out a doubt, the best horror film ever made. Bava's Black Sabbath, is without question the most complete horror experience ever filmed. With atmosphere like I've never seen, this trilogy starts off with a classic giallo, and progresses to sheer terror by the last installment. Words alone cannot describe "The Drop of Water", a dark, eerie, and ultimately terrifying experince. If the face of death does not make you cringe, nothing will ever affect you! Do yourself a favor and buy this film(the Italian version), shut the lights off and let the terror begin.

classic horror; though tame by today's standard.
This trilogy of terror stars and is narrated by the late Boris Karloff. It would be tame by today's standards; some younger people might say "lame", but this was pre-"Jason" (Friday the 13th), pre-"Freddy" (Nightmare On Elm Street) and relied more on "suspense" than gore. Interesting for those who like "suspense". ... Read more

Amazon.com

Mario Bava's 1972 ghost thriller returns him to his gothic horror roots: a magnificent castle, an ancient curse, a cruel killer from the past resurrected by his ancestor to continue his reign of terror. That description sounds like a Technicolor reworking of Bava's masterpiece, Black Sunday, but Baron Blood evokes a mood similar to Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe films, notably Vincent Price's cruel manipulations in The Masque of the Red Death. Baron von Kleist (a.k.a. the notorious Baron Blood) is resurrected in a bit of schoolboy theatrics gone terribly wrong. The bloody, disfigured corpse rises from the grave to murder hapless townspeople and stalk miniskirted Elke Sommer, finally transforming himself into the respectable but mysterious millionaire Joseph Cotten. "Sadist. Murderer. Merely matters of terminology," he says, smiling while restoring his beloved torture chamber to the sounds of tape-recorded screams. Bava spikes the often slack story with eerie images (the crook-necked dead stare of a hanging man, blood seeping under a heavy oak door, a tower adorned with corpses spiked on jutting pikes). Cotten makes a sinister von Kleist, with an ominous tremble in his voice that belies his seemingly frail, wheelchair-bound body. The uncut version restores bloody scenes cut from American prints and the original jazzy score, but the gorgeous color photography is muted by a slightly murky transfer. The accompanying essays by Tim Lucas are thoughtful, informative, and wonderfully detailed, especially considering their brevity.--Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Good Bava
This was the supposed sequel to Lisa and the Devil, Bava's shimmering, near-incomprehensible masterpiece. In Baron Blood, Bava has toned the story line down considerably. One of the overiding themes still is cause and effect; that is, in the world of Bava, our actions that we know are wrong but that we do anyhow can have horrifying consequences. At least in this movie, the repercussions manifest themselves in the lifetimes of the principal characters. The story resolution is much more believable (not to say digestable) than Lisa and the Devil. Unfortunately, by stepping a little more into the mainstream with Baron Blood (less risks are taken with the principle characters this time around), Bava has sacrificed much of the haunting uneasiness that made Lisa so enjoyable. He also doesn't have Telly Savalas in this film either!

Color Gothic
Its hard for me to appreciate gothic horror set in modern times. Color takes away from gothic atmosphere as do planes, automobiles and electric lighting. The basic story is a good one and Bava does manage to pull off the gothic look, although not nearly as well as in earlier black and white films. Well acted and not a bad movie, just not as good as expected from Mario Bava.

DISAPPOINTING BAVA.....
Although it is certainly ambitious and contains the director's trademark visuals and style, this is not Bava's best work. With atmosphere to spare, you'd think it would be better than it is. But "Baron Blood" comes off as a bunch of steam over nothing. The "extra uncut footage" is nothing more than a couple of rather tame gore shots. A tired looking Joseph Cotton wheels around an ancient castle as some REALLY dumb dodos recite an incantation to bring back a 16th century sadist who returns and chases Elke Sommer around through colored fog. Sommer (who was utilized to much better advantage in Bava's masterpiece "Lisa & the Devil") has nothing much to do here but scream and run. Rest of cast is below par in unexciting roles and the "Baron" is a messy looking mask in a black hat and cloak that may or may not be Cotton! This is such a "PG" excercise that it's OK for older kids and a total waste of time for adults. Nothing really much happens that holds your attention for very long. So the best I can add is that it's for die-hard fans only and 12 year olds on up. What a waste....

Questions about this movie????
I was very young when I THINK I saw this movie. Is there a scene where a guy is getting a Chinese Water Torture done to him? Also, is there a scene where the guy kills a poodle and serves him to the owner? Just wondering.. If so, GREAT MOVIE!!!

So-So
A reasonably enjoyable film, enhanced by the presence of sexy Elke Sommer and talented Joseph Cotten. Although "Baron Blood" has the characteristic failings of horror films of that era, particularly the non-U.S. ones, I would say that it's superior to most of the others of that time, which tended to be inept and cheaply made. ... Read more

Description

Contains: The Giant of Marathon (1962).
Steve "Hercules" Reeves plays the musclebound hero who defends Athens from Persian forces.A horse with incredible stamina, a double-crossing siren, epic land and sea battles and Reeves' amazing physique highlight this sowrd-and-sandal winner.

"The Last Glory of Troy" (1962)
The majestically muscular Steve Reeves slings a lot of swords, in this action-filled tale of a fight for freedom between Etruscan slave drivers and oppressed Trojans. This movie is not to be missed.AKA: "The Avenger" ... Read more

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From the title, you might expect a modern slasher picture or a serialkiller drama, but Mario Bava's Kill, Baby... Kill is actually an eerie gothic ghost-story-with-a-body-count set in a quaint Italian turn-of-the-century village. When a city coroner arrives to examine the latest victim in a long string of "suicides," he discovers a town of deserted streets, suspicious and terrified townspeople, and a conspiracy of silence. The town is haunted by the specter of a homicidal adolescent girl, a creepy vision in white whose little-girl giggles become chilling as she randomly chooses her victims and sends them to their gory deaths. Bava sets a moody stage of empty streets blanketed nightly in a swirling mist and flooded with lights of red, blue, and green--an expressionist night-cum-nightmare as unreal as it beautiful. This fanciful nocturnal world becomes the stage for virtual pageants of death in which the victims become tortured puppets of the malevolent spirit and are forced to murder themselves. The often arch and operatic performances are deadened by flat dubbing and an often prosaic translation, which creates an odd dissonance between the story and style. Though hardly to the tastes of modern slasher movie mavens, Bava's imaginative horror-thriller is full of grotesque and sometimes grueling murders, but trades the gore for an unsettling mood of doom. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Description

While visiting Toledo, Spain, American tourist Lisa Reiner (Elke Sommer) experiences a feeling of deja vu when she sees an ancient mural of the Devil carrying away the dead. Hearing a familiar melody, she wanders away from her companions into a series of encounters with men who inexplicably recognize her from a past life. Hopelessly lost as night falls, Lisa begs a ride from a passing Packard, which breaks down outside a mansion where a young man (Alessio Orano) lives with his blind mother (Alida Valli) and a charming butler (Telly Savalas), who just happens to resemble the Devil from the mural! After a night of murder, necrophilia and horrific revelations, Lisa comes face-to-face with the secrets of her past identity and her connection to the bizarre rituals she has witnessed. This is the original Mario Bava film later reworked and reshot for American release as "The House of Exorcism." ... Read more

Reviews (23)

Wacky adventure through the Land of Bava
Italian director Mario Bava (1914-1980) is one of the giants of the horror film genre. His films, no matter what the plot, always promised great style mixed with scenes of murder and mayhem. Bava's big break into the industry came with his 1960 black and white classic "Black Sunday" starring fan favorite Barbara Steele. This was only the beginning, as Bava churned out a series of gruesome shockers over the next seventeen years. Perhaps Mario's biggest contribution to the horror field was his 1972 picture "Twitch of the Death Nerve," also known as "Bay of Blood." It doesn't take too long to realize "Friday the 13th" shamelessly cribbed from Bava's bloodbath. The director's inventiveness goes far beyond hacking up a few unfortunate souls, however, as "Lisa and the Devil," a movie which first appeared on our shores in a radically altered form called "The House of Exorcism," shows. This movie is a wildly inventive jaunt into the inner recesses of the mind of a tortured woman. The Bava legacy continued with son Lamberto, one of the guiding lights behind "Demons," an instant cult favorite with gorehounds worldwide.

Tourist Lisa (Elke Sommer) finds herself in an increasing series of ultra horrific and bizarre circumstances after viewing a huge mural on the side of a building in an Italian town. After looking at the picture, she wonders off into the heart of the old city where she soon encounters a man (Telly Savalas) wearing a beret who exactly resembles the figure in the painting. Horrified at the similarities between this man and the painting, Lisa flees and wanders aimlessly until a husband and wife pick her up in their ancient automobile. The car breaks down near a dark, creepy looking estate where none other than the man Lisa saw earlier works as the butler/head servant. The family living at the home agrees to allow the stranded travelers access to the house in order to phone for assistance. It quickly becomes apparent that things are not what they seem inside the walls of this sprawling estate. Over a socially awkward dinner served on a table the size of a football field, weird activities take place. The family doesn't seem to get along all that well and there is some peculiar importance attached to a chocolate cake with sprinkles (!). Lisa eventually discovers that a family member delivers the cake to a locked bedroom upstairs, supposedly to a member of the family who permanently lives in this room.

Meanwhile, the man and wife who helped Lisa clash over the wife's infidelity, a behavior that will soon have ghastly consequences in this house of horrors. As for Savalas, he acts the part of butler but also seems a more important figure than his position merits. He spends most of his time wandering around the house startling Lisa, or fiddling around with his human figures made out of wax. Even worse, our hapless heroine witnesses Savalas stuffing a corpse in a coffin in one of the rooms on the estate. This corpse just happens to be a mysterious man Lisa encountered in the town shortly after seeing the painting. He continues to reappear to her in the house and on the grounds of the estate, often seeming to change in age between each encounter. The horrors of the family eventually rise to the surface with the result that Lisa emerges from her dream state and decides to fly back home. But wait! Bava played with your mind for over an hour and he isn't about to let you go this easily. Is Lisa truly free of her nightmare or is she about to enter an even deeper dimension of terror?

On the surface, the film makes little sense. But what appears to be a random mish mash of bizarre scenes actually does assume somewhat of a structure if you pay attention to the first five minutes of the movie. It is my opinion that the bizarre painting Lisa sees on a trip to Italy provides the viewer with a possible key to deciphering this weird movie. I propose that Sommer's character undergoes a sort of hypnotic interaction with this painting that somehow transports her back in time, a process which then helps explain the following sequences. The movie is a dream or break with reality in the mind of Sommer's character, nothing more or nothing less, and therefore must assume a fractured, nonsensical tone. Isn't it slightly odd that Lisa doesn't have a boyfriend or husband, or if she does he is not with her on this trip? That might explain the mysterious male that seems to have some bizarre link with her character. Perhaps everything we see is part of Lisa's unconscious taking on corporeal form. Whatever is going on, I think it is important we remember that we are seeing events from the perspective of this confused woman and are thus dependent on her cracked perceptions. How can we know what is going on when Lisa herself has little idea of the weirdness swirling about her? I truly enjoyed the film and appreciated Bava's attempts to do something different.

I also liked the performances. Savalas intrigues as the butler/devil, an ominous figure always looming in the background happily tormenting Lisa. Sommer is also a lot of fun to watch as she bumbles from one grim situation to another, even going so far as to shed her clothes in one scene (bless her soul!). The other performers are lesser talents, something we should expect and accept with Italian horror. The DVD recognizes the utter wackiness of this film with a plethora of extras well worth watching. I usually turn up my nose at movies that seek to confuse the audience, but I really enjoyed this one. I can't wait to see the hacked up "House of Exorcism" so I can compare the two. Enjoy.

yet another testimony to the genius of Mario Bava
Mario Bava was one of the great filmmakers of his time. Revered and often imitated by illustrious contemporaries like Fellini and Visconti, his work has had long echoing reverberations through the films of David Lynch, Quentin Tarentino, and the entire body of hopelessly unimaginative slasher films that tried, and failed, to copy Bava's films. Yet he was largely dismissed and/or despised in his time. Lisa and the Devil is possibly his most brilliant, and easily his most personal film. It's also a sad example of the way this innovator was treated in his time. More a cinematic poem than traditional "movie", this is a surreal, stream of consciousness fantasy about a girl (Elke Sommer, who was never better) who may or may not be dead and a butler (Telly Savalas, sucking a lollipop) who may or may not be the devil. Lisa and the Devil is beautifully photographed in vibrant colour, violent, disturbing, and completely brilliant. Inventive sequences abound, encompassing concepts as broad as identity, memory vs. hallucination, necrophilia, past vs. present, reincarnation, etc...There's literally no limit to this film's depth and beauty. Unfortunately, its complete disregard for conventional narrative flow consigned it to a truly horrible fate, being butchered beyond recognition, having extra scenes added to make it seem like an Exorcist rip-off, it was finally released as House of Exorcism. If you see this version anywhere, you should not only avoid buying it, you should also destroy it. It's an atrocity and an insult to the memory of Mario Bava and this, possibly his greatest work.

I EXORCISE YOU FROM THIS HOUSE FOREVER!
This DVD double feature of LISA AND THE DEVIL and the remix HOUSE OF EXORCISM is the only way to see Mario Bava's masterpiece! Anyway, LISA AND THE DEVIL is a dazzling horror movie made the only way that Mario Bava could possibly direct it. It's like PSYCHO by way of the Brothers Grimm: Lisa Reiner (Elke Sommer), a tourist lost in Toledo, Spain, encounters a blind Contessa and her unbalanced son and their lollipop-sucking butler (Telly "Kojak" Savalas), along with a whole mess of bizarre occurances. This movie defies all logical explaination; you must see it to believe it. Telly Savalas is the highlight of the movie; he steals every scene he appears in (This is where he discovered what would become Kojak's trademark!).
As for HOUSE OF EXORCISM, it is one of the better Italian imitations of THE EXORCIST, with a great performance by Robert Alda as the priest who must deal with a possessed Lisa. Unfortunately, the re-editing takes away much of the mysticism of LISA and often comes off as ridiculously humorous. However, this movie comes with a commentary by Sommer and producer Alfredo Leone which is a must for Bavaphiles and film buffs alike.
Of all the Mario Bava movies that have come out on DVD that I own, I have to say that LISA AND THE DEVIL/HOUSE OF EXORCISM is the most essential. I also recommend the following: Dario Argento's SUSPIRIA, Lucio Fulci's THE BEYOND, Don Coscarelli's PHANTASM, and of course, Sam Raimi's THE EVIL DEAD. In fact, watch all of these together for some real spooky horror-movie fun!

Great 70's Horror
This film is really impressive in that it sets up a mood which flows through the entire movie. While "Lisa and the Devil" moves along at the speed of a PBS documentary "House of Exorcism" has great pacing and I found myself always wondering what was going to happen next. It is also sexier than "Lisa" since a couple scenes (Including one by Elke Sommer) are lacking in "Lisa". The romantic music of Rodriguez is put to good use here in establishing an atmosphere along with a great use of color. Highly recommended example of 70's euro-horror and Elke Sommer fans.

Questionable Classic.
Gaudiness, soft focus photography, an overemphasis on zoom shots (especially as far as shocked faces are concerned), awful (stilted) dialogue and a lot of old mansion baroque (seventies style). Reading that you might have mistaken this strange film for a hybrid of "Love Boat", "Murder she Wrote" (minus an iota of coherence) and, perhaps, a snuff film (well, the sensibility thereof at least). The film does have some merits as an unintentional comedy, and the opening minutes are eerie (before that damned zoom function starts taking a front seat). The constant and consistent zooming in and out and in and out, peripeteia, is more than a little annoying after a while, it spoils the film somewhat. Overall, a decent venture, worth a look if you're into seventies kitsch or want to see what all the fuss was about. The DVD quality is awful (soft image, a lot of colour bleed, with no acceptible black levels, evidence of minor print damage and mono-sound): if only those folks at Anchor Bay had got a hold of it first, natch. ... Read more

Description

Countess Federica, the elderly owner of a coveted piece of bayside property, is brutally slain by her husband--who is himself killed by a mysterious third person at the murder scene! Who is the killer? Could it be the real estate developer or the entomologist neighbor who wants to preserve the natural insect life thriving around the bay? Perhaps the Countess's illegitimate son, in a bid to claim a name for himself, is responsible? Whoever it is, brace yourself, because no one's a suspect for very long in Mario Bava's black comedy of human greed--which boasts 13 characters and 13 of the most shocking murders ever filmed! A.k.a. "Bay of Blood" and "Carnage." ... Read more

Amazon.com

John Harrington (Stephen Forsyth) is a successful, handsome, somewhatvain young man who runs a fashion studio. He's also, unfortunately, quite insane. Driven by an overpowering Oedipus complex and the recurring image of his dead wife, Harrington has a compulsion to kill women after dressing them in bridal gowns. With each murder, the root cause of his psychosis is a little closer to being fully revealed, until a long-repressed memory finally comes clear. As with many movies of the giallo genre, Bava's film is somewhat short on plot and long on style. The director's questions about a shifting surface of reality come up again and again; Harrington's obsession with fashion and his own primping can be taken as metaphors for that issue. The narrative is reeled off in a somewhat offhand manner, though, and Harrington, though tragic, is not a character with whom the audience can sympathize. The film's long suit, however, is style, and Bava's trademarks are present throughout: red- and blue-lit sets, zoom shots, gauzy flashbacks, inventive camera work and compositions. Bear with the movie's story pretensions and sluggish pace, and you'll find a giallo that, while it doesn't rank with the best of Mario Bava, still has interesting points to recommend it.--Jerry Renshaw ... Read more