Review of Black Sunday (1960) by Janson J — 21 Oct 2012
Mario Bava is one of the true masters of the horror genre. He tends to be better known for his later use of color and slow, creepy zooms. (For this, check out "Bay of Blood", "Kill Baby Kill", or "Black Sabbath" with Boris Karloff) But in many respects, I still prefer his gorgeous B&W photography he uses in this, perhaps his masterpiece.
It serves as an important link between the gothic Universal-inspired horror of the classic '30s, with a chilly and moldy mist in the B&W that seems almost tuberculor in its damp suffocation, and the more formal aesthetic of the Hammer horror films of its time.
And Barbara Steele is the perfect morbid muse for such a mausoleum.
This review of Black Sunday (1960) was written by Janson J on 21 Oct 2012.
Black Sunday has generally received positive reviews.
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