Rating: 
Summary: Beware 83 min. VHS version with the yellow cover art!
Review: Black Sunday is a classic film that, as a film, rates at least four and a half stars. Unfortunately, one of the VHS versions being offered, the 83 min. version with the yellow cover art, is *neither* the new Image restoration, nor is it AIP's generally well-regarded version with the Les Baxter score.This 83 min. version (click on tech. details to see running time) with the yellow cover art is actually a *very* poor quality transfer from a very soft, scratchy, and splicy print, put out by a company called Video Entertainment Corp. It's essentially a censored, poor quality version of the Italian version--the worst of both worlds. If you're going to get Black Sunday on VHS, by all means opt for the widescreen VHS put out by Image, which has *red* cover art, and an 87 min. running time (again, click on tech. details to confirm that the version you are getting is the 87 min. version from Image).
Rating: 
Summary: Great Movie - Horrible Dubbing
Review: While visually well done and a great Bava effort, the dubbing is simply horrible. Out of the "Bava Collection" this was the only one I found difficult to watch.
Rating: 
Summary: Necrophilia - alive and well in 1960
Review: Mario Bava’s Black Sunday is an early example of the Italian horror genre which would later be defined by the likes of directors Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci and may best characterized by an abundance of gore, zombies, and misogynism. While Black Sunday (originally titled ‘The Mask of Satan’), being released in 1960, does not employ the extreme graphic violence that would later manifest with the genre, it does have its share of the macabre and interesting visuals. The opening witch-burning sequence is by far the film’s most memorable moment, and it’s most gruesome -- the sadism towards women is already beginning. We see the bare back of the witch branded, then in amazement, I watched as the ‘Mask of Satan,’ which is lined on the inside with nails is placed over the witches face as her head rests against the stake and then pounded home with an enormous wooden mallet by a muscled, black-hooded executioner. In a black-and-white film from 1960. Having shouted out, “NO THEY DIDN’T!!!…” I had to rewind the shot a couple times. Unfortunately, the remainder of the film plays more like a Scooby Doo episode with some of the most absolutely braindead detective work of all time on display, but from what I gather, the Italian horror films are more about atmosphere and images than good acting and well written plots. Black Sunday is loaded with morbid atmosphere as a doctor discovers the dead witch’s crypt and, after being attacked by a ridiculous looking fake bat, is compelled to pry the mask off to reveal her insect-covered face with gaping eye sockets. There are many underlying necrophilia currents and later in the film he kisses the dead-for-two-hundred-years-nail-hole-havin'-face witch. The constant billowing fog and crumbling crypt ruins definitely create an unsettling atmosphere if you allow yourself to look past the dated ‘thriller’ soundtrack and bad dialogue. There is also an absolutely superb shot where a ghostly carriage is filmed in slow motion coming down the road. I found Black Sunday somewhat fascinating for its time period...
Rating: 
Summary: Dark, gothic, evil fun
Review: Let me start by saying Barbara Steele is just plain weird looking. She is not unattractive. She is just...disturbing. Maybe that is why she fits so well into the role of an ancient witch condemned to death, a horrible iron mask nailed to her face. Time passes and some travellers wander into her crypt despite their coach driver's warning. And of course they manage to break the wards and symbols that keep her from returning to life. Black Sunday features great set design and an oppressively dark mood that oozes evil and menace in every scene. Apparently the film is available in two versions. I think I got the bad one. One version is heavily edited but features voicework by the original actors in english and better overall sound quality. I bought the extended version which unfortunately has some pretty bad voice acting. Buy Black Sunday if you like classic horror movies such as the old Universal monster films, but wish that they didn't pull their punches so much. I would have given Black Sunday 5 stars, but the voice acting in my version is going to cost it a star. Still, most people suggest this version (the full version) over the shorter version, so the choice comes down to your own preference.
Rating:
Summary: Good Effort
Review: This Black and White movie, also known as the Mask of Satin, is blessed with excellent camera work and a fairly good story line. The plot doesn't drag and the viewer is kept wondering what will happen next throughout the movie. A real surprise is the witch's failure to rise immediately. The movie has no gore or unnecessary violence but it does maintain a good spoky effect from start to finish. Fun to watch.
Rating: 
Summary: Barbara Steele in La Maschera del Demonio!
Review: "Black Sunday" begins with a warning that the film is only for "persons with mature minds," which explains in part why the film was banned in several countries. In 17th-century Moldavia the high priestess of Satan, Princess Asa Vaida (Barbara Steele) and her love, Jauvitch (Arturo Domenici) are executed by her brother. Asa promises to return from the dead and destroy the descendants of the House of Vaida. Asa is executed by having the Mask of Satan, lined with sharp spikes, hammered onto her beautiful face. But before her body can be burned, a sudden rain drowns out the far. Two centuries later Dr. Thomas Kruavajan (Andrea Checchi) and his assistant Dr. Andreas Gorobec (John Richardson) stumble upon Asa's crypt and accidentally set in motion her resurrection. The physicians then visit the Vaida castle and Princess Katia (Steele again). When Katia's father, Prince Vaida (Ivo Garrani) frets that it is Black Sunday, the day when legends says the dead can walk, we know that Asa and Javutich are about to seek their revenge. "Black Sunday" deserves more of an international reputation that its obvious claim to being the best Italian horror film of all time. Certainly this is Steele's finest film role, although she had bit parts in "The Pit and the Pendulum" and Fellini's "8 1/2." "Black Sunday" was directed by Mario Bava, although Lee Kresel is credited with directing the "American version." As a former cinematographer, Bava brought a visual style to this film that is pretty much unparalleled in horror films. The resulting nightmarish scenes easily explain why the film could not make it past British censors for eight years. That fact alone should interest you in this 1960 film, which certainly provides nothing new in terms of the plot but achieves classic status because of Bava's stylistic vision.
Rating:
Summary: Good Movie
Review: I first played the VHS tape in a VCR that seems to have audio problems. I thought it was the tape and wrote a lousey review. I tried a different VCR and the audio problem was gone. 4 stars here. Neat movie.
Rating:
Summary: A classic masterpiece ruined with very poor audio.
Review: The film was everything I expected except the audio is exteremly horrible. The vloume rises and falls and is interlaced with intermittent annoying static clicks. It is unacceptable.
Rating:
Summary: Classic Bava
Review: This is an absolutely wonderful movie dealing with witchcraft and vampirism, and has atmosphere dripping from scene to scene. It pays homage to the classic horror period of Universal yet it remains a totally original and unique viewing experience. This DVD is the fully restored English version (The Mask Of Satan is the title in the opening credits) with the original Roberto Nicolosi score replacing the Les Baxter score in the American version. Special features include an audio commentary track by Tim Lucas, a Mario Bava biography and liner notes by Tim Lucas, director and cast filmographies, a theatrical trailer, and a photo and poster gallery. This is a must-own DVD.
Rating:
Summary: The greatest horror film ever made!
Review: BLACK SUNDAY is the most satanic valentine to gothic cinema ever conceived. It is not merely equal to the best of Murnau, Whale, Freund and the classic Universal Pictures tradition but surpasses all contenders with M.C. Escheresque visuals informed with the dark poetry of stylish sadism. Barbara Steele imbues her portrayal of the vampire/witch with a demonic majesty never before brought to the screen. The overpowering image of her face, a landscape of puncture wounds bearing forth wild, burning eyes promising the joys of eternal Hell, is unforgettable.
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