Movie Review: Black Sabbath (1963)

Black Sabbath (1963) directed by Mario Bava

This anthology horror film has three stories with a brief, cheesy, and entertaining introduction by Boris Karloff, who features in the second story.

1. The Telephone--Rosy comes home to a ringing telephone. When she answers, no one is on the line. She starts undressing, getting ready to go to sleep. The phone rings again and again. Finally, there's a voice on the line. A man says he can see her, he admires her body, and he wants to kill her. She is freaked out as the calls come again and again. He says she can't call the police because he is much closer. She calls her friend Mary to come over and help out. The tension stays high through the rest of the story. The movie effectively creates an atmosphere of dread and suspense. The story resolves in a very satisfying way.

2. The Wurdulak--A count is traveling and stops when he sees a corpse with a dagger sticking in it. He takes the dagger, realizes the corpse has been decapitated, and takes them both on a horse he finds nearby (probably the victim's horse). He comes to an isolated house where a family is waiting for the return of their father (Boris Karloff). He went out to hunt a killer they all assume is a Wurdulak--a bloodthirsty monster who kills whom he loves and drinks their blood. The father left instructions--if he doesn't come home by the fifth night they should not let him in because he will have become a Wurdulak himself. Well, he shows up just after the stroke of midnight and the family doesn't know what to do about him. Has he turned? The count thinks they are being superstitious. He's fallen for one of the daughters and so does not leave when he really should. This story is the sort that builds up suspense by building up the body count. The characters are well-played, making the viewer care about them, thus making the story compelling.

3. A Drop of Water--A nurse is called out on a dark and stormy night to the home of a cardiac patient. The old woman has died and someone needs to prepare the body, so the caretaker has called on the nurse. The old lady had no family and, according to the caretaker, "She had no friends, other than those who made the table shake." The next shot is a table with what looks like Tarot cards. The nurse preps the body and notices a very nice ring. She's already said she probably wouldn't get paid, so she feels free to take the ring surreptitiously. Odd stuff starts happening almost immediately--a fly buzzing around, drops of water ticking away, stuff like that. Spooked, the nurse returns home where she finds a fly buzzing around, drops of water ticking away, stuff like that. The story is familiar but the acting and the execution work well to provide the chills.

The show ends with another bit of cheesy dialogue from Karloff warning people about getting home safely. This movie is the fun sort of horror that is chilling in the moment but leaves you unconcerned by bedtime. It falls somewhere between Roger Corman movies and Hammer Horror. Kanopy (where I watched this) lists it among its Giallo collection, the popular thrillers from Italy in the 1960s and 1970s. The movie is in Italian with subtitles--Karloff's voice doesn't sound like Karloff! I found the movie very entertaining.

Recommended.