Viking Night: Black Sunday
By Bruce Hall
October 11, 2017
BoxOfficeProphets.com
It’s also a great way to start a film. Fitting then that for his directorial debut, Italian horror-meister Mario Bava would more or less recreate the opening of a Megadeth video. Long ago, in the East European region of Moldavia, an evil witch named Asa Vajda (Barbara Steele) has been condemned to death by a tribunal of hooded weirdoes. She’s accused of being a witch, but this isn’t one of those situations where an innocent victim of social paranoia is being sent to their doom.
No, Asa is one hundred percent a witch. And she’s damn proud of her accomplishments. Her punishment specifies that she be scorched with an iron brand, after which a spiked mask will be hammered onto her face by a giant man-baby with a mallet size of Rhode Island. This is precisely what happens, but not before Asa swears vengeance upon her judges. Brava shoots the scene with such mastery over light and dark that a chill ran up my spine the first time I saw it. Like many Italian films of the time, the dialogue is English dubbed over English, which oddly adds to the scene’s grim potency.
The only thing missing a blistering Yngwie Malmsteen solo played on a flaming guitar while lightning strikes everything in the world. Five minutes in, and there was no doubt in my mind that this film was going to be hard core. And for the record, it’s actually called “The Mask of Satan”, but I assume that America in 1960 was not ready for those four words in that particular order to appear on a poster in public. Plus, the word “Satan” is already uttered in this film about 600 times, so the title was changed to “Black Sunday” when it crossed the pond.
That’s okay. It doesn’t change a damn thing. This movie is NOT screwing around.
Two centuries later, a pair of Moldavian doctors are traveling the woodside looking for a shortcut before nightfall. Against their driver’s advice, they take the Pass of Almost Certain Doom (that’s the name I came up with, at least) and immediately break down in the dark, rainy woods filled with howling wind and the mournful cries of a thousand cursed spirits. While the driver sets about repairs, Doctors Thomas (Andrea Checchi) and Andre (John Richardson) decide to go exploring.
So, I have a joke for you. Stop me if you’ve heard it before. The 17th Century equivalent of two metrosexual plastic surgeons are stranded on the Pass of Almost Certain Doom in the Moldavian wilderness, not thirty paces from the tomb of legendary apostate Asa Vajda. Want to guess who accidentally stumbles onto what, and who accidentally cuts their finger and allows a drop of fresh blood to fall upon the corpse?
Nah, don’t guess. It’s not what you think. This is a multi-generational story of revenge, if you’ll remember. So in an interesting twist, Steele plays both the part of the evil Asa, as well as her virginal descendant Katia. Her father, the present Prince Vajda (Ivo Garrani), lives in fear of the Curse and can already sense something is amiss - twenty minutes into the movie. Hundred year-old paintings dance, the face of evil appears in a glass of wine and a sense of malaise settles upon the land as certain...things begin to emerge from the night.
It’s worth mentioning that in addition to directing the film, Bava helped write the screenplay and acted as his own cinematographer. It seems to pay off, as the film’s tone, look, feel and overall vibe in general feel organic and singular. There’s a memorable scene about a half hour in, where one of Asa’s minions rises from the grave. Nothing accompanies this unholy revival but the sound of the wind, and the stark black and white imagery of an abandoned cemetery. Just the way you frame a scene, light it and shoot it can obviate the need for dialog or music entirely.
But if it happens to be paired with spooky music or ominous dialog as well, so much the better! Black Sunday is a master class in how to paint a vibrantly disturbing picture of abject terror using only two colors and three hundred and sixty degrees. Light and dark, lanterns and mirrors, sounds and angles - this is a low budget tour de force that knows how to put its limited arsenal to good use. Did you know it’s possible to make a legitimately gripping horror movie with no CGI and almost no significant explosions?
Fuck yes, you can.
As I said, Asa is not alone in her quest for payback. The indirect ways in which she influences people and events from her...position...make up the bulk of a particularly eerie second act. You might call this part psychological thriller, part slasher flick. Whatever it is, it’s ominously good. And while I’m on the subject I should point out that while there is a fair amount of gore in Black Sunday, by today’s standards the visual effects are undeniably crude. Technically, you COULD eat while watching this.
But one of the benefits of filming in black and white is that without color, the amount and type of gore you have to work with changes in a very dynamic way. This only adds to the charm of it, as this and many classic films simply couldn’t be made effectively with color. It’s amazing what it’s possible to accomplish when you don’t have a lot to work with, yet know exactly what to do with what you have. Ever see a convincing close up of a man being burned alive onscreen? You will in this movie and you will find it ghoulishly effective.
But you will also thank God it wasn’t in color.
Lastly - and this is one of my favorite things about Black Sunday - I want to talk about the dub. I normally prefer to watch foreign language films with subtitles in the original language, because then the performance on screen and the audio track are one and the same. It makes it easier to interpret the actor’s performance. When you’re watching one person act and listening to someone else’s dialog, this can be difficult. But when the dialogue is accented English and the dub track is done by Americans, it’s a little like trying to read lips while you’re drunk.
And also, don’t know how to read lips.
What I’m saying is that as far as I can tell, there are some pretty good performances in Black Sunday. Aside from Steele’s impressive dual role I would give special commendations to Checchi and Garrani. Also, Arturo Dominici is super creepy as...well, a character I don’t want to reveal because it would ruin the weirdness. And is it just me or is Richardson just David Hasselhoff and his breathtaking man-fro, somehow transported back in time? Yeah. “John Richardson”, my ass. Likely name.
No, I kid. Even with the disorienting overdub, this man is clearly a better actor than David Hasselhoff. But as we head into the real-life season of the witch, if you’re looking for a movie to celebrate the season, you might choose The Blair Witch Project. Then, watch Black Sunday and realize that somewhere I am laughing at you because I got you to watch The Blair Witch Project.
But you’ll forgive me, because Black Sunday is so damn good it’s (literally) sinful.