Review By: Rob Sibley
Note: This Blu-ray from Arrow UK is
Region-B locked, so you will need an all region Blu player or all
region PS3 to view the film.
“Black Sunday” is the text book
example for classic Italian Gothic Horror. Directed by the man who
pretty much put Italian horror cinema on the map, the maverick Mario
Bava. Who not only broke onto the scene with this gothic masterpiece.
But also is known for creating the “Giallo” with 1962's The Girl
Who Knew Too Much and 1964's Blood and Black Lace. Firmly starting a
genre that Dario Argento would make name for himself with before
moving onto more supernatural fare later in his career.
Bava's body of work truly speaks for
itself. This wasn't a “work man” director. He put more thought
and production values into films then most did at the time. Always a
master of creating haunting atmospheres with little to no budget.
Some say Black Sunday is his masterpiece and I'd have to agree.
The story is set into motion when a
princess played with haunting beauty by Barbara Steele is executed.
But before having the infamous metal mask filled with nails pounded
into her face. She places a curse on all her descendents. Things are
calm for the next two centuries or so everyone thinks. The curse is
back and along with it is Princess Katja (Also played by Steele).
The plot itself is good, but the second
half of the story does lose some steam. But this is never bothersome
because your in awe of the sheer atmosphere, set design and style
that Bava and his crew of craftsman were able to accomplish.
People have always argued over what was
Bava's best film. This one comes up often as well as his classics Bay
of Blood, Baron Blood and Lisa and the devil to name a few. But
people seem to forget that Bava didn't always direct horror.
He did two non-horror pictures that I
just adore. Those being the highly atmospheric and fun “Hercules in the Haunted World”. One of the best of all the Hercules films.
Second to me was his tense white knuckle thriller “Kidnapped”.
One of the most unappreciated exorcize in pure cold sweat inducing
terror I've ever been witnessed too.
But despite how you feel “Black
Sunday” was an outstanding debut from the master of Italian horror
cinema. It really changed how people looked at Italian cinema, it
even was a hit when Roger Corman released it in the US via his
American International company. He infamously cut seven minutes from
the film, but it still was a huge success.
None of this would have worked if it
wasn't for the genius casting of Barbara Steele who was quite bemused
at the fact that she became known as a “horror actress”.
Considering she had traveled to Italy after a ho-hum career in the US
with hopes of working with Federico Fellini. This dream would come
true when she worked with him in the seminal classic “8½”.
If your reading this review, you've
already seen and love Black Sunday. The big question is after already
being released on DVD via Anchor bay, then Blu-ray by Kino. How does
this Arrow UK release hold up?
Well it must be stated that Arrow UK
has been a bit shaky when they first started releasing Italian
horror. Their release of Argento's Tenebrea wasn't up to snuff and
their release Even their release of Bava's “Bay of blood” lacked
in the transfer department. Well folks, I'm here to take your worries
away. This is the best Black Sunday has and ever will look. The
transfer is stunning and it even out-does Kino's Blu-ray release of
the film. Offered on this Blu-ray are two (yes two) cuts of the film.
The original Italian release under the title “Mask of the devil”.
Second for the first time in history included is the AIP cut! This
alone makes this worthy of a purchase. The transfer for both the
original European cut and the shorter AIP cut are just like the film
itself. It looks lavish, the blacks are spot on. Contrast is perfect.
These prints they used must have been pretty good to start out
because the end results are outstanding and they out-do the already
great transfer the film received from Kino. Bravo Arrow!
The audio is equally nice, I know the
US dubbed track has it's fans but I always felt the dubbing hurt the
film. But luckily the second track is the Italian mix with English
subtitles. It truly changes the experience of the film and makes
things seem less over the top then the English dub did. Neither track
will blow your mind audio wise, but they more then get the job done.
Extras... are vast and exhausting.
Arrow UK can never be faulted to skimping on the extra's. They always
go the extra mile and this release is no exception.
We start out with an introduction by
horror expert Alan Jones then move onto the Tim Lucas' audio
commentary that's been featured on all the previous releases. The
track is a little dry but Tim knows everything you could possibly
want to know about Black Sunday and Bava. He's the go to guy for Bava
information. He's a walking, talking Bava bible.
Next up is a very nice little interview
conducted with Ms. Steele spoken in Italian with English subs. Next
are several tv spots and trailers for the film along with a deleted
scene. It should be noted the first interview with Steele was culled
from the Italian DVD release.
An exhausting but fun “Bava trailer
reel” is up next and it features trailers to pretty much every film
the man ever made. One of the most interesting extras is the
inclusion “I Vampiri (1956)” which was the first Italian horror
film to feature sound. Why is this included, well Bava photographed
it. Obviously dated, this gives you a good look at the roots of
Italian horror and you can even see subtle sprinklings of the Giallo
genre before it even got started.
Also to be included in this release is
a booklet featuring interviews with Alan Jones, Matt Bailey and a new
interview with Barbara Steele.
This is the
definitive release of Black Sunday. The film and disk comes HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
No comments:
Post a Comment