La maschera del demonio (1960)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Mario Bava

Writers:

Nikolai Gogol (short story "The Viy")
Ennio De Concini (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

15 February 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

STARE INTO THESE EYES... discover deep within them the unspeakable terrifying secret of BLACK SUNDAY... it will paralyze you with fright!

Plot:

A vengeful witch and her fiendish servant return from the grave and begin a bloody campaign to possess...

Plot Keywords:

Witch | Doctor | Hypnotism | Candelabra | Painting

Cast

Barbara Steele	...	Katia Vajda / Princess Asa Vajda
John Richardson	...	Dr. Andre Gorobec
Andrea Checchi	...	Dr. Thomas Kruvajan
Ivo Garrani	...	Prince Vajda
Arturo Dominici	...	Igor Javutich / Javuto
Enrico Olivieri	...	Priince Constantine Vajda
Antonio Pierfederici	...	Priest
Tino Bianchi	...	Ivan
Clara Bindi	...	Inn Keeper
Mario Passante	...	Nikita, the Coachman
Renato Terra	...	Boris
Germana Dominici	...	Sonya, the Innkeeper's Daughter

Also Known As:

Black Sunday (USA)
House of Fright
Mask of the Demon
Revenge of the Vampire (UK)
The Demon's Mask
The Hour When Dracula Comes
The Mask of Satan

Runtime:

87 min | USA:83 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian | English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:MA | Australia:M (TV rating) | UK:15 (1986) | UK:(Banned) (1961) | Italy:VM18 | Italy:T (DVD) | Finland:K-18 | Sweden:15 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Titanus Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Alta Vista Productions

Trivia:

Italian censorship certificate # 32584 delivered on 5 August 1960.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene where Princess Asa pauses by her father’s coffin, she is wearing black stockings and shoes under her dress. She then leaves the room to look for the others and is seen running down the hall barefoot and without stockings.

Quotes:

Princess Asa Vajda: You, too, can feel the joy and happiness of hating.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A cena col vampiro (1988) (TV)

The most terrifying experience you'll ever have !!

"The sound that you hear is dripping blood. This...is the beginning of Black Sunday !!" ...These two very atmospheric and mood-setting sentences are heard when the Black Sunday DVD is put into the player. No need to tell you that a better and more tense opening has yet to be created. This movie is an undeniable masterpiece in its kind. A powerful and terrifying experience that was way ahead of its time back in 1960 and now - almost 45 years later - it still stands for an hour and a half of pure terror, devlish fun and sinister fascination. I respect the opinion and dislikes of everyone but not when it comes to this movie...you either admit that Black Sunday is a masterpiece or you're wrong !!

I could give you a thousand reasons why this movie should be seen as the most important horror movie ever made but I'll just stick to the most important ones. Black Sunday ( or The Mask of Satan, as you prefer ) is the debut of Italian genius Mario Bava...Well, not really his debut but the first full length movie after a series of short films and project he didn't get credit for. In it, Bava presents us on a stylish and visually stunning story with an extremely macabre and dark topic. It contains passages of torturement, curses, witchburning, vampirism, massacres and resurrection but it's all brought to us in a very artistic fashion. Bava's profesionalism and style reminds me about the true masterpieces from Universal...Maybe also because the whole movie is filmed in beautiful black and white but merely because of the creepy atmosphere and the morbid topics. Black Sunday does contain rather many violent and sadistic scenes, but it becomes unwatchable or disgusting. Actually, when you look closer at it...it's a fairy tale !! Think about it...: evil witch, ominous castles, dark forests and - on top of it all - a tale of true love at first sight ! Barbara Steele should get as least as much credit and praise though. This stunning beauty can easily considered "Queen of Horror" if it were only for her performance here. Steele has a double role here ( the evil, vampiric Prinses Asa and the virgin Katia ) and her appearance can only be seen as on of beauty and pureness. Barbara Steele - once spit out by the glory of Hollywood - succeeds in convincing the audience that she stars as both an innocent virgin as well as a demonic ancient witch. The cinematic value attached to her character comes extremely close to Karloff's Frankenstein and Lugosi's Count Dracula. After all, Princess Asa was the first true female monster and she has - literally - become immortal.

You're not a horror fan if you haven't seen the perfection of Black Sunday...I give this movie a very well deserved rating 10 out of 10.