Three short tales of supernatural horror. In “The Telephone,” a woman is plagued by threatening phone calls. In "The Wurdalak,” a family is preyed upon by vampiric monsters. In “The Drop of Water,” a deceased medium wreaks havoc on the living.
The Three Faces of Fear, The Three Faces of Terror, Las tres caras del miedo, Die 3 Gesichter der Furcht, Der Ring der Verdammten, Les trois visages de la peur, Drie Aangezichten van de Verschrikking, ブラック・サバス 恐怖! 三つの顔, Die drei Gesichter der Furcht, Les Trois visages de la peur, A félelem három arca, Czarne święto, 블랙 사바스, Черная суббота, или Три лица страха, 黑色安息日, ブラック・サバス／恐怖！三つの顔, Τα Τρία Πρόσωπα του Σατανά, I skräckens klor
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Germany16
Netherlands16
Germany
Italy
Netherlands
USA
An anthology of very moody, meticulously-stylized horror shorts by Bava which opens with grounded, domestic psychological torment (the first murderous phone stalker thriller short has to have been an inspiration for the opening scene of Scream as much When A Stranger Calls and Black Christmas) and eventually transitions into full-blown primary color gothic surrealism with monster decapitations and doomed curses. Boris Karloff as a Serbian vampire farmer (with a uniquely romantic element thrown into the bloodthirst lore) has all the Hammer production design, fog, gore, and Poe atmosphere you could want, and the last short in particular is peak Bava. All candles, dolls, and hideously frozen, possibly re-animated corpses in a spooky, decadent artificial dreamscape that feels like the birthing ground of Argento. The crash zoom on the dead elderly seance woman holding the cat in her rocking chair had me losing my mind.
How to Properly Structure a Horror Anthology: A Seminar by Mario Bava and Boris Karloff
First entry:
A prostitute with a stalker harassing her over the phone. Kind of a nothing burger.
Second entry:
A story centered around a family dealing with a “wurdalak”, aka the Slavic version of a vampire. Inspired by a Tolstoy story and featuring Karloff in some creepy ass makeup. Pretty decent.
Third entry:
Adapted from an Anton Chekhov story. A nurse steals a ring off a dead medium’s finger. Creepy paranoia sets in by means of water dripping and a fly buzzing and then HOLY SHIT WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU SHITTING ME WITH THAT IMAGERY?! Goddamn was that a great scare for a 1963…
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Cobweb Theater. Three stories. One dream-world. One master painter, but composed of light instead of acrylic. Bava escalates via the absence of light, beginning with a shining, radiant apartment of dangers and sly sensuality and concluding with throbbing colors seemingly beamed into the windows by the sheer relentlessness of the spirit. The final segment still petrifies and is more than enough proof of Mario Bava's solidified place as the maestro of horror.
Possibly the best anthology horror out there? Every segment is just so beautifully done with exquisite sets and the best use of color possible. It’s completely apparent watching this that Argento honed his masterwork from assisting Bava.
I used to claim The Telephone as my favorite segment and in some ways it still is. I love the story, but even more I love the set. That apartment is my fucking dream pad. So gorgeous and lavishly stylish and it’s still in a basement. Perfect placement. The Wurdurlak is probably the most deserving of a feature film, but it’s my least favorite of the 3. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great! Every time I watch it, I get super into the beauty…
the first story ripped off scream. the second story ripped off the vvitch. and the third story ripped off autopsy of jane doe. its no wonder the ripoff band black sabbath, who copied electric wizard, would choose to name themselves after such an unoriginal movie...
Years ago, on a dreary Autumn afternoon, a boy, in his early teens, sat down to watch television. What he found, alone in a shadowy living room, was a horror film. Marked by age, the film was not contemporary, but it was immediately engrossing. Shadows mixed with pastel bursts and blood-red smudges. Sets were imposing and old-world, crammed with hidden nooks and dangerous corners. Characters were drawn bearing sharpened nails and teeth and carved brows. The name of the film was unknown to the boy, or perhaps the images were simply the stuff of his own afternoon nightmare. Regardless, the now-adult who once encountered a horror film on a rainy Saturday afternoon remembers those images every time he comes across…
Damnation and the erosion of reality, both will arrive slowly and take you over. Bava most labored film, every image careful thought and cultivated with so much care actors appear to move in slow motion even in face of jump scares. This might be the first movie that was really thought as a star vehicle for its filmmaker, forget host Karloff, Black Sabbath is all about allowing Bava to flex his muscles on different registers of the fear film. No wonder the Italian cut (avoid the AIP one at all costs, the wurdlak will visit you otherwise) ends with the rather abstract The Drop of Water. The variety of the tales are an essential part. The sum of the three stories is larger and more effective than their individual qualities.
Mario Bava's Black Sabbath is first and foremost a fun night out at the movies, opening with Boris Karloff talking right to the audience, welcoming you to this gnarly anthology just before Bava's signature colour-blown lighting starts to saturate Karloff's entire face. Deconstructed 3D Glasses Glow, lets go!
And we're off - first up is The Telephone, a snack-size Giallo about a woman being stalked by a killer over the phone. Decent tension, smooth style, and wraps up as grim as you would hope!
Karloff then returns as the villain in The Wudurlak, a vampiric folklore tale that grows operatic and harsh. Easily the most fleshed out and yet still deserving of a feature length expansion, as you'll be drawn…
Good to see Boris Karloff again, but where the hell was Ozzy Osbourne??
Vampires Ranked
a series of haunting remotenesses, solitudes & transfixions in the night that hang and suspend like the echo of screams in darkness. black magic mise en scene and sumptuous overflowing art design. the ruins, the trees, the apartment. the bent trees. redolent of fog and harangue of wind. fragments overlapping and spilling out radioactive gel color and eerie light.
