Friday, February 03, 2023

Movie review - "Black Sunday" (1960) aka The Mask of Satan **1/2 (re-watching)

 Few horror films have more of a full on opening - Barbara Steele convicted of being a witch by her brother, a mask of spikes is put on her face, and someone rams it into her. Welcome to Italian horror!

This has two British leads, both starlets from Rank - Barbara Steele and John Richardson.

Beautifully shot in black and white - most Bava movies look stunning. Atmospheric castles and crypts. The dubbing was hard to get used to - not very good.

Steele is compelling. The film didn't come alive for me though. I wish it did. I want to like it, it looks so marvellous. Too slow. Decent story. Maybe it lacks a monster who comes alive, a decent relationship. Maybe that's it.

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