THE MASK OF SATAN (1960)
AKA Black Sunday, since this is a story which has been given many titles over the years. To make things clear this is the
one about vampires and castle crypts, not the Robert Shaw movie with the
airship. Though admittedly if you want some blimp thriller action that's pretty good too. Not to be confused with the brain transplant movie Black Friday. Anyway, I digress, we can call it La maschera del demonio or Revenge of the Vampire if you prefer a more straightforward description. Whatever the title card says this is Mario Bava's first foray into the horror genre. He'd taken the reigns during production of the interesting feature I Vampiri, uncredited, this is the real debut. And what a debut it is.
A vampire and a witch has been merged into one evil creature; Satanist Katia (Barbara Steele). She's already been caught and is tied up to be burned alive, not before being forced to wear the titular mask. It's a real shock opening that was inevitably cut on its initial release outside of Italy. Luckily for us multiple versions are all available thanks to the modern releases. They all look incredible thanks to high definition, although the English dubbed version sounds less impressive and can be avoided. This mixture of ideas about witches and satanic cults is carefully placed inside the classic vampire story framework, as we jump forward in time centuries after the execution.
Soon enough two travelling doctors come across the cursed tomb of Katia and things quickly go awry. They're not exactly scientific in their methods. The crypt itself an eerie place where the coffins are designed so that the eyes of the dead are always able to see out. Even in death they're forced to look at a crucifix, which is said to prevent their revival. It's one of many memorable design choices, again mixing old ideas and fresh ones. Of course these bumbling trespassers soon screw up the seal and evil begins to return. Some predictable tropes are impossible to avoid after all.
The effects for the vampire resurrection, and later de-ageing scenes, are really good considering when this was made. Elsewhere minimal make-up effects and classic models are put together with great lighting and stark black and white photography, which results in several eye catching sequences. There's a questionable use of the ever present fake bat on a string... but it's done quickly with the narrative in mind so I'll forgive it. There are also lots of great graveyard sets, castle corridors and hidden
passages, all shot with the same eye for silhouettes and Gothic
locations. One particular walk down a stone hallway offers a great sense of atmosphere a single
lantern floats along in the dark. It's this kind of choice which fills each moment of the story with unease.
The plot itself is fairly typical stuff, despite the new ideas. The present day ancestors of the Satanists find themselves under attack as their family members being rising from the grave. The current Princess, Asa (also Barbara Steele) soon finds out that her lineage is going to be the death of her. The younger Doctor Gorobec (John Richardson) must race to figure out what happened to his older colleague. Will be find out how this all ties in with the sudden death of her father before it's too late? The romantic associations with ancient beings offering immortality are also still here, which is to be expected. But it's never over done. It's more about the mood than the script after all.
Overall it's a film that contains many standard tropes balanced with a good amount of striking horror moments that still feel fresh and interesting after all this time. Mario Bava has done plenty of other movies like this with his signature use of primary colours. But in black and white this is probably still his best. It's strange and and hypnotic with a few proper shocks along the way. Like the best of the bloodsuckers this retains a strong sense of being able to live forever. Just try and avoid the versions that aren't in Italian.
4/5
