"The Mask of Satan" (Black Sunday) is an Italian horror film from 1960 directed by Mario Bava, with a screenplay by Ennio de Concini, Mario Serandrei, and Marcello Coscia. It features performances by Barbara Steele, John Richardson, Arturo Dominici, and Ivo Garrani. It marked Mario Bava's official directorial debut, although he had worked as a director on several films without credit.
In the picture, Barbara Steele as Princess Asa Vajda
(here we can clearly see the influece of Hekate).
Barbara Steele is an English film actress. She is mainly famous for her leading roles in Italian Gothic horror films of the 1960s. She was discovered in the Italian horror film "The Mask of Satan," directed by Mario Bava.
Loosely based on Nikolai Gogol's story "Viy," the film depicts a witch who is executed by her own brother, only to return 200 years later to seek revenge on her descendants.
Synopsis: The action takes place in the Middle Ages when the Russian Inquisition captures the necromancer and her loyal servant, sentencing them to wear a spiked mask on their inner face, which causes the death of the two heretics. Centuries later, the witch Asa and her minion, also her lover, come back to life after their coffins are found by travelers who inadvertently remove the masks from the couple. Upon returning to life, the witch will march in search of her beautiful descendant to take over her body. To reach her, she will eliminate anyone who dares to stand in her way.
By 1960 standards, The Mask of Satan was considered unusually gruesome, and its release was banned in the UK until 1968 due to its violence. In the United States, some of the bloodier scenes were internally censored by the distributor American International Pictures before its theatrical release in the country, where it was shown alongside Roger Corman's "The Little Shop of Horrors." Despite the censorship, "Black Sunday" received excellent reviews and became a worldwide success, launching the careers of director Mario Bava and actress Barbara Steele. Considered a classic of Gothic horror, in 2004, one of its sequences was voted number 40 among "The 100 Scariest Movie Moments" by the Bravo TV network.
The mask used in the film can remind us of African spirits
or even some much more familiar daemons...
The storytelling is very fluid, and although the sometimes criticized script falls into many of the clichés of vampire cinema, it contains more than enough elements for the viewer to follow the film's development with great interest, thus perfectly fulfilling its most basic function.
The first appearance of Katia in the temple ruins, holding onto two fierce mastiffs, while behind her we see an overcast sky; the decomposing body of Asa in the coffin, showing her disfigured face with empty eye sockets; the prologue, where we witness the brutal execution of the witch... all these are sequences of a mesmerizing beauty that remain etched in the viewer's retina. Barbara Steele's presence with her enormous eyes adds to the cult status of this essential film. The Mask of Satan is not only the best film by its legendary author but also an indisputable masterpiece of fantasy that, if you haven't seen it yet and you like classic horror, you can't miss.
DROP YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS ARTICLE BELOW !
WE WANT TO HEAR YOUR INTERPRETATIONS, EXPERIENCES & REFLECTIONS !