3. Black Sunday/The Mask of Satan (1960)
Directed by the ultimate legend of Italian horror - Mario Bava, Black Sunday was a large box office success, launching both Bava's career and that of Scream Queen leading lady - Barbara Steele. In ye olde Moldavia, Asa and her lover Javuto are accused of witchcraft by her brother. Before being burnt at the stake, Asa curses her brother and all his descendants. She has a heavy iron mask hammered into her face for her sins. A couple of centuries later Dr Thomas Kruvajan and his assistant Dr Andre Gorobec are travelling through Moldavia. The wheels on their carriage break and while they are being repaired, the pair wander about and come across Asa's tomb. In a rather silly turn of events, they open the coffin and take off Asa's mask. One of the men cuts his hand on the coffin glass and his blood drips onto Asa... Outside they run into Katia (also played by Steele) who greets them. Gorobec is smitten with her. It turns out she lives in a big haunted mansion with her father who is a prince and her brother Constantine. The men bid her good day and go to an inn. In a sinister turn of events, the drops of blood have revived Asa who in turn telepathically revives Javuto. They then go on a murder spree at Katia's castle, killing a servant and vampirising Dr Kruvajan in order to kill Katia's father. Asa has the idea that if she drains Katia of all her blood she will then be immortal. It is up to Gorobec and a priest to stop the diabolical plans of Asa and Javuto. Bava generated a lot of critical praise for Black Sunday, even though the film was judged sufficiently gruesome enough to warrant an eight year ban in Britain. The critics were quick to point out Bava's potential in the field of horror and he went on to deliver the goods throughout the 1960s and 1970s with films such as Lisa and The Devil, Bay of Blood and Kill Baby Kill. In Black Sunday, Bava manages to create a very moody and atmospheric film. The black and white nature of the film adds to the pervading sense of doom in the movie, and as per usual, Bava makes excellent use of lighting and shade to create the spooky ambience. He creates a lush, Gothic masterpiece which set the bar for subsequent Italian horror auteurs. Much copied but such efforts fall short. Bava is the Supremo of Italian horror cinema with perhaps only Dario Argento able to match him in terms of style and substance.