Message #222722

[House of Spirits]

4. 'Black Sunday' (1960)
Country: Italy
Director: Mario Bava
AKA: 'La Maschera del Demonio,' 'The Mask of Satan'

What's It About? The Moldavian witch Asa (Barbara Steele) is burned at the stake in the year 1630. Two centuries later, doctors inadvertently disturb her grave and resurrect the undead servant of Satan. She begins to amass vampiric followers in an effort to capture and sacrifice the young, beautiful Katia in a bid for immortality.

Why Is it Awesome? 'Black Sunday' is one of cinema's greatest Gothic productions. Mario Bava's film not only examines but revels in viewers' fears of the occult and all its evil possibility. The film shocked audiences with its levels of of violence and gore; they apparently forgot that history has always had a nasty streak when combating what they perceived to be the magic arts. Few movies have depicted medieval torture and execution with as much lavish artistic design.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q5nV12AgVc&feature=player_embedded