The Gothic Darkness of "Black Sunday"

Barbara Steele

Italian director Mario Bava is justly celebrated as one of the true masters of modern horror cinema. He helped popularize the giallo genre with films like Blood and Black Lace, Hatchet for the Honeymoon and A Bay of Blood, aka Twitch of the Death Nerve. He also directed science-fiction films like Planet of the Vampires, westerns such as Roy Colt and Winchester Jack, and the delightful pop art infused spy thriller Danger: Diabolik. In addition to directing, he was also a talented cinematographer, screenwriter and special effects artist. His ardent fans include Joe Dante, Martin Scorsese, Guillermo Del Toro and Tim Burton. One of his best early films is the 1960 thriller Black Sunday, also known as La Maschera Del Demonio, or The Mask of Satan. It's a spine-chilling tale from a truly visionary director.

As Black Sunday begins, a witch (though she’s also referred to as a vampire in the film’s opening narration) named Asa Vadja and her companion, Javutich, are about to be burned at the stake for spreading terror in the land of Moldavia, and for being loyal servants to Satan. The man in charge of carrying out the sentence is Asa’s own brother! She isn’t just going to be put to death, however. In one of the most chilling and vivid scenes in 1960s horror, she’s first branded with “the mark of Satan,” and then a spiked metal mask is hammered onto her face. Prior to her death, Asa vows revenge, and places a curse on her sibling and his descendants. 

The story then jumps forward two hundred years. Dr. Kruvajan and Dr. Gorobec are on their way to a medical convention when they are waylaid because their carriage breaks down. While waiting for the repairs to be finished, they discover Asa’s final resting place. Kruvajan accidentally cuts himself while exploring the crypt, and unwittingly revives the evil witch. When they step back outside, the two men meet Katia, a descendant of Asa’s who looks remarkably like her. Once their carriage is ready, the doctors part ways with the young woman, and head off to their lodgings at a local inn. Gorobec, the younger of the two doctors, is smitten with the lovely Katia, and their paths will cross again as the story unfolds. But there are dark times and black deeds ahead.

A rejuvenated Asa calls out to Javutich and commands him to rise from the grave. With his help, Asa plots to drain Katia’s life force, so she can once again be restored to youth and vitality. She also enslaves Dr. Kruvajan, and uses him as a pawn in her plan of revenge against Katia’s family, starting with the murder of Katia’s father, who has become obsessed by the evil deeds of his ancestors. Will Asa triumph, fulfill her curse, and begin a new reign of terror? Can Dr. Gorobec, who has fallen in love with Katia, save the day? When Asa and Javutich kidnap the young woman, and the witch poses as Katia in order to tempt him to the side of darkness, will he be able to tell the difference between the two? It all leads a frightening confrontation at the story's climax.

Black Sunday is a terrifying film that manages to use several of the themes and much of the iconography of the Gothic horror genre (crypts, castles, curses, ladies in distress, descendants haunted by the evil deeds of their ancestors) to full advantage. The movie is a fascinating hybrid, mixing the almost mythic visual style of 1930s horror films with the more graphic intensity the genre began leaning toward in the 1960s. It's a combination that could almost be called "modern Gothic," a blend of Universal horror and Hammer films, filtered through Bava's unique stylistic lens. His direction is masterful, and the movie features some truly eerie and stunning images. Black Sunday is absolutely dripping with atmosphere, and though Bava was truly innovative with the use of color in his later films, his use of black and white in this one is particularly striking. Bava (who also served as cinematographer for the film) also contributes some ingenious camera tricks and offbeat lighting effects. 

The cast is quite good, featuring John Richardson as Gorobec, Arturo Dominici as Javutich, and Ivo Garrani as Katia’s doomed father, Prince Vadja. But the real standout here is Barbara Steele in the dual role of Katia and Asa. She gives a full-blooded (pun intended) performance in both parts, contrasting Katia’s aura of light and innocence with the vindictive, gloriously evil, and darkly sensual Asa. She manages to be a Gothic style heroine and villainess at the same time! Despite the fact that, like the rest of the cast, Steele is dubbed, she managed to make a truly lasting impression in the part, one which propelled the actress into a string of roles in a number of European horror films. She also appeared in Roger Corman's The Pit and the Pendulum and Dan Curtis’ 1991 primetime television re-imagining of his fondly remembered horror soap opera Dark Shadows.

American International Pictures distributed Black Sunday in the United States. Several minutes of violence were toned down or cut from the film, and the original score by Roberto Nicolosi was replaced with one from Les Baxter. AIP later released Bava's horror anthology Black Sabbath in the US. In England, the movie was banned until 1968, when it was released in a severely edited version. The uncut edition of the film wasn’t available there until 1992! While there have been several decades worth of horror films released in the wake of Black Sunday, the movie has lost none of its power. The sense of dread, fear and terror is palpable, and it reaches you on an almost emotional level. The movie is an intense, powerful and effective chiller that you won’t soon forget. Here’s a link to the trailer for Black Sunday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjGX72iCzmI.

This post is part of Dark and Deep: The Gothic Horror Blogathon, hosted by Gabriela over at Pale Writer, a truly wonderful blog. I'm really thrilled to be a part of this blogathon with a talented group of fellow writers/bloggers. Thanks to Gabriela for letting me join in on all the scary fun! You can get more information about the blogathon and the other entries by following this link: https://palewriter2.home.blog/2019/08/03/dark-and-deep-the-gothic-horror-blogathon/.