Daily Halloween: Night 6

I finally got around to watching a Mario Bava movie, Black Sunday, a.k.a., The Mask of Satan (1960). I am a big fan of Italian horror, and Bava is the godfather. I’ve put him off because I’m always a little resistant to watch old films, particularly from before the late 1960’s. I am not proud of that and when I do see one I’m often pleased, but it’s a hang-up nonetheless. But Bava is the predecessor to Lucio Fulci, Dario Argento, Michael Soave, Lamberto Bava (Mario’s son) and others I’m forgetting or don’t know, so I had to try.

Black Sunday is shot in black and white. The lighting in some of the scenes is beautiful and there are some startlingly good visual effects. It’s an interesting watch, romantic and gothic in story and milieu and with an uncanny creepiness I rarely find in older films. Barbara Steele is good in dual roles, playing the 15^th century Moldavian witch Asa and her 19^th century descendant Katia. In the end, though, I am a philistine: I admire this film but am unmoved by it. I recommend it for fans of the genre who want to see some of its roots.

But Amazon has a slew of Bava films streaming, so I next opted for the 1966 Kill, Baby, Kill!, a much more modern film than Black Sunday but not so lurid as the title suggests (how could it be, unless it were a rape revenge prison flick?). The story brings the modern and the scientific against the supernatural when a coroner visits a late 19^th century cursed village in the Carpathian Mountains. Bava’s direction is much more dynamic and interesting than in his earlier film, panning and zooming to explore the artfully arranged spaces. It has cobwebs, a foggy cemetery, timely gusts of wind, and a spooky child ghost, all lit in alternating vibrant color and shadow. This film was a happy discovery.