Black Sabbath (AIP) Blu-ray

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

directed by Mario Bava
Italy / France / USA 1963

Black Sunday was such a huge hit that a follow-up was swiftly demanded, and horror maestro Mario Bava duly devised this three-part horror anthology blending modern and period stories.

In the giallo-style The Telephone, a woman is terrorized by her former pimp after his escape from prison, and tries to escape him with the help of her lesbian lover, who has a dark secret of her own. In the Victorian-era The Drop of Water, a nurse steals a ring from the corpse of a dead spiritualist, which naturally tries to get it back. But it s the 19th-century Russian story The Wurdalak that comes closest to Bava's earlier classic, with the great Boris Karloff as a much-loved paterfamilias who might not be entirely what he seems.

Bava's direction is as stylish as ever, and Black Sabbath is almost a compendium of his favourite themes.

***

One of the great horror anthology films of all time, and Mario Bava's personal favorite of his works, Black Sabbath solidified the director's reputation as Europe's maestro of the macabre. In The Telephone… a woman is haunted by menacing phone calls from a former lover. The Wurdulak stars Boris Karloff (Frankenstein, The Crimson Cult) as a vampire hunter whose family is stalked by the wandering spirit of an undead ghoul. A Drop of Water involves a nurse who steals a ring from a corpse - not realizing the curse that is carried with it. This is the AIP English language version of the Mario Bava (Black Sunday) horror classic, featuring an international cast that includes Lidia Alfonsi (Life is Beautiful), Michèle Mercier (Angélique) and Mark Damon (Anzio).

***

Vintage Bava in which Karloff introduces three adaptations from famous tales of the supernatural (and also stars in the last): The Drop of Water by Chekhov, The Telephone by Howard Snyder, and The Wurdalak by Tolstoy. Pictorially it's amazing, and even the script and dubbing are way above average. If only Amicus, who subsequently cornered the horror omnibus market, had taken heed they might have got some ideas as to what can be done with the format.

Excerpt from TimeOut Film Guide located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: October 21st, 1994

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Review: Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover		CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Kino (AIP version) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:36:06.260
Video	1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 33,299,284,784 bytes Feature: 30,935,666,688 bytes Video Bitrate: 38.98 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1589 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1589 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Subtitles	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Kino 1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 33,299,284,784 bytes Feature: 30,935,666,688 bytes Video Bitrate: 38.98 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Audio Commentary by Novelist and Critic Tim Lucas • Theatrical Trailer (2:23) Blu-ray Release Date: October 24th, 2023 Standard Blu-ray Case inside slipcase Chapters 9

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (October 2023): Kino have re-released Mario Bava's AIP version of Black Sabbath to Blu-ray in 2023. We've compared 5 editions of the film (2 DVDs and 3 Blu-rays, including Kino's first 2015 AIP Blu-ray edition, HERE. Short story on the differences; the old Kino was single-layered with no subtitle option, 16-bit audio, no slipcase and had only about 60% of the bitrate of this new 1080P edition (and higher than Arrow's.) All of the older Blu-ray editions are already OOP. It's great to have the upgrade and the Lucas commentary is still included. The image improves in-motion although there is still some judder, marks, and speckles. It looks very appealing.

NOTE: We have added 96 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master dual-mono track (24-bit) in the original, mostly DUB'ed, English language. Black Sabbath has aggressive moments that come through with modest depth but is supported by the score by Les Baxter (The Dunwich Horror, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini, Switchblade Sisters, The Man With the X-Ray Eyes, The Comedy of Terrors, Dagmar's Hot Pants Inc., Panic in the Year Zero, The Beast Within, the US version of Baron Blood, etc.) that adds some presence and sophistication to Bava's wonderful visuals. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers a new commentary by Tim Lucas, author of Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark. Tim identifies the differences form the European version and the AIP - which version Bava preferred - and Tim tells us why. He sees links to David Lynch's Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me, discusses the aspect ratio allowing Bava to use peripheral visual information, and is a hard-matted format giving the director complete control of how his compositions would be framed in projection plus he identifies a shot that he considers the birth of Giallo. He talks about Bava, the cast, crew, Alberto Bevilacqua, Marcello Fondato and much more. It's another exemplary commentary from Tim. There is also a trailer and the packages has a slipcase.

Mario Bava's Black Sabbath or "I tre volti della paura" which literally translates to 'The Three Faces of Fear', is a delightful, a low-budget, horror anthology film with three entries. The AIP version, which has removed several depictions of graphic violence, sexuality and made alterations to other scenes (as compared to its European counterpart), shows the order as "The Drop of Water" first - a simple and frightening tale about Helen Corey (Jacqueline Pierreux), a nurse haunted after she steals a ring from a recently deceased corpse. "The Telephone", involves Rosy (Michèle Mercier) who is bothered by an unseen stalker who turns out to be her former lover who recently escaped from prison. The last is "The Wurdulak", where Gorca (Boris Karloff) brags to his family after claiming to have slain an undead Wurdulak creature - a vampire in the Slavic folklore mythology. Black Sabbath's story structures have been highly influential and it's great to have this stand-alone Kino Blu-ray with the improved a/v, subtitle option, slipcase and repeated Lucas commentary gold. Many should consider a double-dip from the 2015 edition and for those who have never indulged in Bava's chillfest at the director's visual best - it's a no-brainer. Buy with confidence.