Review of Black Sabbath (1963) by Ian B — 29 Jul 2013
One of a sort of subgenre of horror anthology films that was popular for a while back when I was a teenager. This one was written and directed by Italian genre great Mario Bava. The first segment "A Drop of Water" is based on a short story by Chekov and the third, "The Wurdalak," on a story by Tolstoy.
The middle entry, "The Telephone" was apparently based on a story by a less famous writer, someone named F. G. Snyder. All three are good stories and pretty well acted but it is the last, "The Wurdalak", with a typically fine performance by Boris Karloff that is the most outstanding part of this movie.
The sets are quite good and the art design generally is up to the usually high standard of a film by Bava. Some of the makeup is a bit over the top and less effective than it would be today but not especially poor for 1963.
A good solid horror movie that is a near classic. At least worth three stars, maybe four.
This review of Black Sabbath (1963) was written by Ian B on 29 Jul 2013.
Black Sabbath has generally received positive reviews.
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