Customer Reviews

Black Sabbath [VHS]

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Black Sabbath is one of those movies that made a horrifyingly-indelible impression on me when I first saw it. In "The Drop of Water", I can still see the contorted visage of the dead spiritualist as she fixes her malevolent stare on the woman who has robbed her in death. "The Telephone" was the weakest of the trio. But the third segment--The Wurdalak--gave me insomnia for days. As a lover of the vampire genre, I was struck by the twist in the old legend: a Wurdalak returns from the dead to attack those whom he loved best on earth. Boris Karloff plays the title character, a paterfamilias who sets out to destroy a local bandit-turned-Wurdalak. If he has not returned in exactly three days, the family will know that he has been victimized, and must be destroyed. Of course, he returns just after the three day mark. The sheer horror comes from the fact that the family knows the truth, but can't admit it. The scene of Karloff cuddling and stroking his young grandson is enough to make you want to call Child Protective Services! Really good stuff, and a clarion call to those who insist that one needs massive special effects or blatan, on-screen gore to succeed. Kudos!

Buyers be forewarned. Unlike the "also from" Anchor Bay trailers showing the American AIP version of "Black Sabbath", what is on the disc is NOT that version. Instead this is the European Italian language version with subtitles and even Karloff's voice is dubbed in Italian. Their advertising is very misleading for the unaware.

Due to some sort of contractual differences with AIP, this is all that is currently available to the public.

You know I have never seen a DVD that is more ambiguous in its description and based on Amazon's reviews I am not alone. I purchased this DVD fully thinking I was getting the U.S. version and not the Italian version that I already own. The movie is in Italian with subtitles and a commentary track. For those of you who think I am a pan and scan knucklehead who does not appreciate films in their true uncut version you are wrong- the American Version is actually a different cut with alternate footage. Why not release both versions on one disc. If you are a Bava fan check it out but if you own the Image DVD you do not need to purchase this disc.

One of the best Italian horror films ever made, director Mario Bava's 1963 movie BLACK SABBATH (Italian title: I TRE VOLTI DELLA PAURA) is actually a delicious trilogy of stories, each different in timbre and texture, but each a masterful atmospheric study in unmitigated fear.

In the first short, entitled "The Telephone," a contemporary (circa 1960s) woman is taunted by a series of bizarre and alarming phone calls. But things get really interesting when she learns who it is that's been calling. (Warning: Some viewers may be put off by the lesbian subtext of this story.)

"The Wurdalak," the second entry, is an eerie variation on the vampire legend that is based on the Aleksei Tolstoy novella THE FAMILY OF THE VOURDALAK (SEM'YA VURDALAKA). The action takes place in what appears to be medieval Europe, and the celebrated Boris Karloff (alas, with his dialogue dubbed in Italian) turns in an excellent performance as Gorca, the patriarch of a peasant family. When Gorca returns from assisting in the pursuit and destruction of a Wurdalak--a vampire of sorts that is compelled to feast only upon its own loved ones--his family suspects that he's not quite the man he used to be....

Purportedly an adaptation of story by Chekhov, "A Drop of Water" is the last entry of the trilogy, and it is unquestionably the creepiest. Set in a Victorian manor house, it involves a private nurse who steals a ring from her recently deceased charge and is subsequently haunted by the vengeful corpse. Or is she?

The acting is good, the sets are sufficiently eerie, the stories are well written and creepy, and the women are pretty. But first and foremost, BLACK SABBATH is a superior horror film due to Bava's great vision and direction. He knows what it takes to scare people, and it is his use of stark yet simple imagery, unusual juxtaposition of sounds, and sometimes tenebrous lighting that generates genuine goose bumps and psychological jitters. (Your skin will crawl every time you remember the image of that corpse with the empty, unblinking stare from "A Drop of Water.")

Extant copies of the film are in one of two forms. One presents the film as originally intended (and released in Europe) by the filmmakers. The dialogue is completely dubbed in Italian (with English subtitles available), the stories have not been edited by anyone other than the director and his crew, and the three stories as a whole are vignetted by a Boris Karloff preface and epilogue. However, the other version presents the film after it was vitiated by its U.S. distributor, American International Pictures. In that one, the stories have been edited (one to the point of being unintelligible) and their relative order rearranged, and inappropriately witty intros (featuring Karloff) have been tacked on to each. Also, an English soundtrack has been added, one that was not created with any input from Bava or the original scriptwriters.

Until recently, the AIP re-dubbed re-cut was the only version of the film readily available to American audiences. Though not a totally un-watchable film in AIP's butchered format, it is simply not the masterpiece that Bava's original is. With that in mind, it is recommended that, if at all possible, viewers avoid the AIP version altogether and watch only the original Italian version. And please note, then, that this review refers to that original release--with English subtitles--which IS the version now being offered on the Image Entertainment DVD.

And speaking of the DVD, it is a bit short on true bonus features, and it is possible to see some signs of wear on the print that was used. Still, this widescreen digital transfer looks good overall, with rich and vivid colors and crisp focus. Most importantly, it is fantastic opportunity for American horror fans to finally see--and own!--this excellent scary film in the form in which its creators intended.

Mario Bava's BLACK SABBATH (original Italian title--THE THREE FACES OF FEAR) is easily one of my favorite DVD releases this year, both in terms of the new transfer and the film itself.

Like Bava's earlier BLACK SUNDAY, this film was re-edited by AIP for its American release, and it is that version which we've always seen in the US. The original Italian version plays the episodes in a different order: "The Telephone," "The Wurdalak" and "The Drop of Water." The lesbian content of "The Telephone" was of course toned down for American audiences. It also has a prologue and epilogue which are different from those shot for the American release. You may find that the comic epilogue doesn't fit with the rest of the picture, but I enjoyed its self-deprecating humor. The original score by Roberto Nicolosi supports the mood of the film better than Les Baxter's AIP score and it subtly ties the three episodes together through recurring thematic material. If you've only seen this film in the AIP version, you really owe it to yourself to see the original Italian version-there IS a difference.

The letterboxed DVD transfer looks beautiful. The print is worn in places, but the colors are vivid and the rich details of the set design come through. Having known the film only from a cropped VHS transfer, watching the DVD was like seeing a new film altogether. Indeed, Bava's masterful use of lighting, color and camera movement, his eye for dramatic detail, only confirms what a brilliant director he was. From a purely stylistic standpoint, this is one of the great horror films. Tim Lucas, as usual, provides informative liner notes.

Once again, I feel like a sucker. How many times can I be tricked into buying the same version of the same movie? Don't get me wrong, the Italian version is FAR superior to the AIP one, but I WANT BOTH! And this is not the AIP version even though Amazon advertises it as being in English!

If you don't have it, by all means check this movie out. It is one of the greatest ever made! If you're looking for the alternate English print, don't throw away the VHS yet.

IMAGE has done a fine job with this DVD release of the orignal italian version of Bava's horror masterpiece, but it is still lacking in a few important aspects (at least in my opinion). First of all, the film looks absolutely INCREDIBLE -- the colors are completely vibrant - reds, greens, blues, oranges, purples - if you thought "Suspiria" was colorful, you ain't seen nuthin' yet! You can easily see where Argento was influenced by this and other Bava works. It's great to have the film with it's original score, with the stories in the correct order, and without the changes AIP made to it in the US.

However, my problem with the DVD is related to just that. Because the film is only presented in the italian version, we lose all of the real english-speaking voice of the great Boris Karloff (not to mention Mark Damon). Maybe with other actors it would be more forgivable, but Karloff's voice is sorely missed (especially in the Wurdalak story) and the dubbing of him almost feels sacriligious. The prologue and epilogue (new to the US) features the dubbed Karloff, but the old AIP inter-segments featuring him are now missing completely (shot later by another director).

OK, I understand why it's not all here...AIP-ORION-MGM must own the American version and these segments, but it sure would have been nice to have them on this as an extra. And even if the extra Karloff segments couldn't be used, an English track with Karloff's voice should have been included. So it's a great DVD of this version of the film, but I'm still holding on to my old VHS of the US version for Karloff and his voice.

Most people know "Black Sabbath" from the American version released in 1964 by AIP. This, though, is the original Italian version ("I Tre Volti Della Paura"), with Italian dialogue, subtitled in English. Many of the actors were clearly speaking English as they are filmed, but overdubbed. At the time this was made, all Italian films were shot without production tracks and post-dubbed, though it is a little disconcerting that the Italian voice looping Karloff sounds nothing like him.

The main differences between the Italian and American versions are the order of the stories and the Karloff introductions. The Italian wrap-arounds are highly entertaining, particularly the closing one which shows Karloff riding a hobby horse, emphasizing the artificial quality of film in general (this alone is worth buying the tape for). In the Italian original, the order of the stories goes roughly from the most prosaic ("The Telephone") to the most terrifying ("A Drop of Water"). The AIP version puts "Water" first (and if "A Drop of Water" doesn't creep you out no matter what language they're speaking, you're uncreepable).

Within the episodes themselves, "Water" is virtually unchanged between the two versions, while "The Wurdlak" has a few more shots of blood and gore. More than the other episodes, "Wurdlak" also benefits from being presented in wide screen (the AIP version on tape is full screen). "Wurdlak" also changes the name of the leading lady between the Italian and American versions. In this, the original, it is "Sdenka," which in an Italian accent sounds uncomfortably like "Stink."

The middle episode in both versions is "The Telephone," and here the two version differ considerably. In the Italian version, there is nothing supernatural going on, but there is an intriguing lesbian sub-plot that was clearly out-of-bounds for the youth-oriented American release. The AIP version uses several cuts and some newly-filmed inserts to imply that something otherworldly was behind the action of the story. While the Italian version makes more sense, it is not as creepy as the American version (and Les Baxter's score for the AIP version is better than the original music).

Not only is this rendition of "Black Sabbath" fascinating from a film buff point of view, but it's a fine print of one of Mario Bava's best films. Definitely recommended for anyone wanting a chilly good time.

We can all say now that we've done right by our foreign-film-watching, Criterion-Collection-hoarding consciences, having seen the DVD of Bava's phenomenal "Black Sabbath" in the so-called 'original' version. We can also say, if we're honest, that there's nothing original about the DVD, because it's an English-speaking print (just watch the mouths, especially Karloff's!) with the English track removed, and Italian dubbed over it! Even the subtitles don't accurately translate the easily-read mouthings of the characters, and whoever the soggy-voiced paisano was that they hired to dub Karloff's stentorian tones, he's pure vocal manure. What a travesty, rendered in the name of supposed service to Bava and Karloff, two true artists of horror.
I dare to suggest that AIP actually improved the Bava original, adding the 'ghost' fillip to "The Telephone" in place of the absurd lesbian twist ("I'll be talking to you every night", the ghost says in the English version, as he yet again calls the faithless Rosie from beyond the grave, and the whole theatre chilled over in l965, when I first saw it). They also improved Roberto Nicolosi's mordantly unexciting music by replacing it with Les Baxter's colorful and creepy score as well, although Baxter's ouevre utterly lacks subtlety. But hey--you want subtle horror, watch "The Innocents". Baxter's music itself beautifully augments several visuals, most notably Karloff's first entrance, the revealing of Alibeck's head, and the utterly haunting childlike strains as the vampiric baby kneels before the door, calling to his mother--another theater-chiller. The jazzy stylings (a Baxter specialty) of "The Telephone" are splendidly in tune with that urban nightmare as well. And how about Mme. Zaina, the manniken-medium of "A Drop of Water"? Baxter captures the mood of her magnificent ugliness perfectly, as well as the shock and fear of the victim she stalks after death, in an horrific spectral appearance.
Finally, who in his right mind would swap Boris Karloff's marvelous original vocals, in his last true performance as a monster (the vampirish Wurdalak grandfather) for the atrocious dubbing-on-dubbing of this DVD? Karloff captured intonations that seem to echo from a hellish netherworld, whether ordering the death of his favorite dog, or promising the 'present' of vampirism to his sleepy grandson. He was utterly superb, and his performance, as he spoke it, deserves to be heard.
How about it, MGM? Couldn't this beauty stand a reissue, maybe with the American version (also scored by Baxter) of "Black Sunday" as well? Slap it onto a double-feature disc; I'd sure buy it, and it certainly wouldn't be my blackest day!

People who complain about the average picture & sound quality of Image's Mario Bava Collection should be aware that some of these negatives had mushrooms growing on them. As for the movie...
This is, IMO, the best horror anthology ever. It is beautifully shot by Mario Bava (Mirroring the Poe/Corman productions of the time), has effective tales ("The Telephone" was hugely ripped-off by movies like "Scream" and "When A Stranger Calls", and "The Drop Of Water" is scary as hell, even for today), and nice music (Which is basically a reworked version of the "Black Sunday" music.
Image presents this gem in it's original European version, which is 10 times better than the terrible American version that A.I.P released in US teathers back in 1963. Altrough the American verion IS a good movie, it had the following list of "What you should not do while editing a movie":
-Gore and shocking images were cut.
-The stories were rearrenged, making the movie start with the strongest tale (In anthologies, the stronger tale should always be the last one).
-The "Telephone" segment was turned from a sensual suspenseful short thriller to a cheesy ghost story because it had some lesbian sub-plot (Coudn't they just change the lesbian thing on the dubbing?).
Now, it did have some good points:
-Extra-footage in "The Telephone" segment involving a man and his dog.
-Extra introductions by Kalloff.
Kalloff fans will be disapointed to know that the movie is presented in Itallian only, but I prefer it this way than with the poor English dubbing (See the "Black Sunday" DVD to see how "good" Italians dubbed their films in English). Besides, the american version of this movie should have never existed. It's just like removing nudity from Rodan paintings.
Picture: Good. There is a lot of spectacles, but the piscture looks great with very strong colors and detailed fragments.
Sound: Average. It's 1.0, but I wasn't expecting Dolby Digital 5.1. Good for a 40 year old movie.
Extras: Good for such a forgotten film. Liner Notes by Tim Lucas (Excellent ones, by the way), a trailer (That gives away the whole thing and should not be seen before the actual movie), and a large still gallery. Also, a bio on Bava and a Karloff filmography.