Black Sabbath (film)
Black Sabbath | |
---|---|
Directed by | Mario Bava |
Screenplay by |
|
Produced by |
|
Starring | |
Cinematography |
|
Edited by | Mario Serandrei |
Music by | Roberto Nicolosi |
Production companies |
|
Distributed by |
|
Release dates |
|
Running time | 93 minutes[2] |
Countries | |
Language | Italian |
Budget | ₤205 million[4] |
Box office | ₤103.5 million (Italy) $419,000 (US rentals) |
Black Sabbath (
Being a low-budget horror film with multiple stories, an international cast and foreign financial backing, Black Sabbath follows numerous trends of 1960s Italian film productions. The film is credited to various writers, including Anton Chekov and Aleksey Tolstoy, but is predominantly based on several uncredited sources, and changes were made to the script after filming commenced. American International Pictures and Titra Sound Corporation suggested changes to Bava during filming to make the film palatable for American audiences, and created their own English-language version of the film, which replaced Roberto Nicolosi's score with music by Les Baxter, removed several depictions of graphic violence and made alterations to other scenes. This version greatly changed the plot of "The Telephone", giving it a supernatural element and removing all references to lesbianism and prostitution.
Black Sabbath was a
Plot
- Note: This plot summary refers to the original Italian version of the film.
"The Telephone"
Rosy, a French
As Rosy sleeps, Mary writes a confession explaining that she made the calls to force a reunion, knowing that Rosy would call on her for help. While she is writing Frank quietly enters the apartment and strangles Mary, believing her to be Rosy. The sound of their struggle awakens Rosy, and Frank realizes he murdered the wrong woman. Frank approaches Rosy's bed, but she seizes her knife and stabs Frank. Rosy drops the knife and breaks down in hysteria.
"The Wurdulak"
In 19th-century Serbia, Vladimir D'Urfe is a young nobleman who finds a beheaded corpse with a dagger plunged into its heart. He takes the blade, and finds shelter in a small farmhouse. Durfe is approached by Giorgio, who explains that the knife belongs to his father, who has not been seen for five days. Giorgio offers a room to D'Urfe and introduces him to the rest of the family: his wife Maria, their young son Ivan, Giorgio's younger brother Pietro, and sister Sdenka. They all await the return of Giorgio, Pietro and Sdenka's father, Gorca, who has gone hunting for a Turkish brigand who's actually a wurdalak, a living cadaver who feeds on human blood, especially of loved ones. At midnight, Gorca returns to the cottage with a sour demeanor and unkempt appearance. After the family goes to sleep, Ivan and Pietro are attacked by Gorca, who flees the cottage with Ivan. Giorgio chases after Gorca but only returns with Ivan's corpse. Giorgio plans to stab Ivan in the heart as he has done for Pietro to prevent him from reviving as a Wurdalak, but is prevented from doing so by his hysterical wife. The two agree to give their son a burial.
That same night, their child appears outside and begs to be invited in. Giorgio is stabbed by his wife while she attempts to let in her son. On opening the door, she is greeted by Gorca, who bites her. Vladimir and Sdenka flee from their home and hide in the ruins of a deserted monastery. As Vladimir sleeps, Sdenka walks outside and finds Gorca and his family surrounding her. Vladimir awakens and searches for Sdenka, finding her lying in her bed at home. She begs him to leave but Vladimir refuses, saying he would rather die than lose her. As Vladimir embraces her she bites his neck while the rest of her family watch through the window.
"The Drop of Water"
In 1910s London, Nurse Helen Chester is called by the maid of an elderly medium to prepare the latter's corpse for burial. As she dresses the body, she notices a sapphire ring on its finger. Chester steals it, accidentally tipping over a glass of water which drips on the floor; she is then annoyed by a fly. Chester takes the ring home to her flat and witnesses strange events. The fly returns and continues to pester her and the lights in her apartment go out as the sound of the dripping water is heard from various locations. Chester sees the woman's corpse lying on her bed. It rises and floats towards her. Chester begs for forgiveness but the corpse appears to strangle her - in reality she strangles herself. The next morning, the concierge discovers Chester's body and calls the police. The pathologist arrives to examine the body and only finds a small bruise on her left finger where the ring had been. As the doctor announces this observation, the concierge appears distressed and hears the dripping of water.
Cast
|
|
|
Production
Development
In 1958,
Pre-production
The casting and crewing of Black Sabbath was divided between the film's three main production partners: Galatea cast actress Susy Andersen while retaining Mario Bava, who had directed several of their films, including Black Sunday,[7] American International Pictures secured Mark Damon and Boris Karloff, and Societé Cinématographique Lyre secured Michèle Mercier and Jacqueline Pierreux (the latter is credited under the pseudonym "Jacqueline Soussard" on American prints).[7][8] Mercier had previously worked with Bava on The Wonders of Aladdin (1961), for which he had directed its second unit.[9]
Bava is credited as writing the film's script along with Alberto Bevilacqua and Marcello Fondato.[10] The film's opening credits credit the stories as "The Drop of Water" by Anton Chekov, "The Telephone" by F.G. Snyder and "Sem'ya vurdalaka" by Aleksey Tolstoy.[10][11] Bava later took credit for the original story of "The Drop of Water", but Italian critic Antonio Bruscini traced its origins to a story titled "Dalle tre alle tre e mezzo" ("Between Three and Three-thirty") that was included in a 1960 anthology book titled Storie di fantasmi (Ghost Stories).[11][12][13] British historian Julian Granger identified the author of the story as Franco Lucentini.[12] "The Wurdulak" is loosely based on The Family of the Vourdalak by Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy[14] The story of "The Wurdulak" was found in the 1960 anthology I vampiri tra noi.[15] Other parts of the story were inspired by the Guy de Maupassant story "Fear" and Bram Stoker's Dracula.[16]
Bevilacqua stated that Bava wanted to create stories about how terror can strike mankind in different time periods and asked his screenwriters to get him stories from books.[17][18] After Bevilacqua finished his draft the screenplay, Marcello Fondato was brought in to work on it.[18] Bevilacqua claimed that he was recalled for later rewrites but that most of his added material was cut from the final film.[19] American International Pictures approved of Bava's thematic idea but encouraged him to look for public domain titles.[20]
It was decided early in production that Boris Karloff would not only star in one of the tales, but also act as the film's host; he had recently hosted his own anthology television series,
Filming
Black Sabbath was made at the end of production of The Girl Who Knew Too Much during an eight-week period between February and March 1963.[23][24] American International's involvement with the film allowed Salvatore Billitteri of Titra Sound Corporation to be on set to supervise the film for dubbing on its English-language release.[7] As the film was going to be dubbed in different languages, actors could no longer phonetically pronounce their dialogue as it had to be done rhythmically to match various languages.[7] Billitteri was also on set to give suggestions to Bava on how to make his film more appropriate for American audiences, which led to decreasing the amount of violence in the film.[25] The film was first conceived under the title The Fear.[17]
Bava wanted to include a contemporary story which led to the development of "The Telephone".
"The Wurdulak" was the last of the short films to be shot, with shooting commencing on either February 25 or 27.[30] While filming, Karloff contracted pneumonia, which led to him having to rely on oxygen tanks after production ended.[31] Bava was initially going to end the film on a shot of Jacqueline Pierreux's dead character.[21] On the last day of filming, Billitteri suggested to not end the film on such a bleak image and told Bava to change it.[21] Bava changed the ending to Boris Karloff's character of Gorka on horseback who cautions the audience to watch out for vampires. The camera then pans back revealing he is on a stuffed horse revealing the studio set and simulated effects.[21]
Post-production
By the 1960s, Italian horror films such as Black Sabbath were more violent, sexualized and downbeat than the horror films created in America.[32] American International Pictures focused on a youth-oriented audience whereas horror in Europe was intended for adults.[32][33] This led to the American edit removing plot elements of prostitution and lesbianism and making the most altered of Bava's films on its English-language version.[33][34] American International Pictures made changes to all three stories and intro segments in the English-language version of the film. The company re-arranged the order of the stories to start with "The Drop of Water", followed by "The Telephone" and then "The Wurdalak".[33] Changes were then made to the plots, the most extensively edited being "The Telephone".[33] In "The Telephone" any suggestion of a lesbian relationship between Rosy and Mary and references to prostitution were removed.[33] The character of Frank is also no longer a pimp but a ghost who leaves behind a note that eerily writes itself as soon as the envelope it is contained in is opened.[33][35] A new character is introduced named "The Colonel" who is Rosy's neighbor in the film.[35] "The Wurdalak" features alternative cuts of certain scenes and has violence trimmed from the Italian version.[21] "The Drop of Water" features the fewest changes from the Italian version.[21] American International Pictures reshot the wraparounds with Boris Karloff in Los Angeles. It is unknown who directed these scenes.[25]
American International Pictures replaced Roberto Nicolosi's soundtrack from the original film with a soundtrack from Les Baxter.[21][36] Kim Newman described Baxter's score as "inappropriate" with "each shock is accompanied by overdone 'scary music'".[37] Both the Italian- and English-language films have a different look. Bava supervised the Italian-language version at Technicolor Roma under his own supervision, while American International Pictures shipped their version to Pathé Color for processing.[36] Mario Bava biographer Tim Lucas described the English-language print as looking "warmer, but less nuanced, with flatter tonalities" and that it "doesn't look bad" but that the Italian version "looks more vibrant, more flamboyantly nightmarish".[36]
Release
The film opened in Italy through
In 2004,
Home video
Reception
In a contemporary review of the American International Picture's edit,
Reviewing the English-language version of the film, Time Out praised the film stating that "pictorially it's amazing, and even the script and dubbing are way above average."[52] Time Out compared the film to anthology horror films made by the British production company Amicus noting that "If only Amicus...had taken heed they might have got some ideas as to what can be done with the format."[52] Entertainment Weekly awarded the film an A− rating referring to it as "excellent" and that the stories were "composed of three tales of expertly building suspense"[53] Kim Newman wrote in a retrospective review of the English dub, that "The Drop of Water" is the best of the three stories, and was described as "Bava's most simply frightening work."[37] "The Telephone" was dismissed as being "less satisfying", stating that American International Pictures' attempt at re-writing the story caused the stories' problems.[37] Newman declared that "The Wurdalak" was a "little masterpiece" praising Karloff's performance and that the themes of the story looked towards the themes in Night of the Living Dead and It's Alive.[37]
In contemporary reviews of the Italian-language version, The Dissolve gave the film three and a half stars out of five, stating "There are small twists in all three stories, but for the most part, the segments suggest where they're headed early" and that the dialogue in the film is "sparse, and doesn't shy away from any exploitable elements, from scantily clad women to bloody wounds and warped-faced ghouls. But even more terrifying is the movie's atmosphere of doom [...] Black Sabbath is fraught with fatalism."[54] Total Film awarded the film four stars out of five, referring to it as a "wonderful horror anthology".[55] Online film database AllMovie praised "The Wurdulak" stating that Karloff's "ghostly visage provides several unforgettable scares" and that "The Drop of Water" is short but "remains scary and suspenseful throughout"[26] AllMovie described "The Telephone" as "only an average tale that follows through to a predictable twist"[26] In the early 2010s, Time Out conducted a poll with several authors, directors, actors and critics who have worked within the horror genre to vote for their top horror films;[56] Black Sabbath placed at number 73 on their top list.[57]
Influence and aftermath
Boris Karloff enjoyed working with Bava on Black Sabbath, and he praised his work to both Christopher Lee and Vincent Price who would later go on to work with Bava in The Whip and the Body and Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs respectively.[58][59][60] Plans were made to reunite Bava with Karloff and Lee to work an adaptation of "The Dunwich Horror", provisionally titled Scarlet Friday.[61] The project was later taken away from Bava after the critical and commercial failure of Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs, and was released as The Dunwich Horror directed by Daniel Haller; the film was made without Karloff and Lee's involvement.[61][62][63][41]
The English heavy metal band Black Sabbath appropriated their name from the film.[64] Originally known as Earth, the group wanted to change their name as another group had the same name.[65] The group saw a local cinema playing Black Sabbath and marveled that people paid money to be frightened.[65]
Directors Roger Avary and Quentin Tarantino were influenced by Black Sabbath's story structure for their original script for Pulp Fiction (1994).[66] The film was originally going to contain three short films directed by Avary, Tarantino and another unknown director.[66][67] Tarantino originally described this idea by stating that "what Mario Bava did with the horror film in Black Sabbath, I was gonna do with the crime film."[68]
See also
- Boris Karloff filmography
- List of French films of 1963
- List of horror films of 1963
- List of Italian films of 1963
- Vampire film
References
Footnotes
- ^ UniFrance. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Curti, 2015. p. 79
- ^ "I Tre volti della paura" (in French). Bifi.fr. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
- ^ a b Curti 2019, p. 12.
- ^ Lucas, Tim (2013). The Two Faces of Black Sabbath (booklet). Arrow Films. p. 15. FCD778.
- ^ a b c d Heffernan, 2004. p. 140
- ^ a b c d e f g Heffernan, 2004. p. 141
- ^ a b "Notes". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on May 17, 2014. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
- ^ "Le Meraviglie Di Aladino (1961) - Cast & Crew". AllMovie. Archived from the original on April 21, 2014. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
- ^ a b c Credits (booklet). Arrow Films. 2013. p. 2. FCD778.
- ^ a b Jones, Alan (2013). Introduction by Alan Jones (DVD (Disc 2)). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 0:02:37. FCD778.
- ^ a b Lucas, Tim (2013). Commentary by Tim Lucas (DVD (Disc 2)). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 1:06:00. FCD778.
- ^ Curti, 2015. p. 78
- ^ Lucas, Tim (2013). Commentary by Tim Lucas (DVD (Disc 2)). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 0:26:10. FCD778.
- ^ Curti, 2015. p. 81
- ^ Lucas, Tim (2013). Commentary by Tim Lucas (DVD (Disc 2)). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 0:26:35. FCD778.
- ^ a b Lucas, Tim (2013). Commentary by Tim Lucas (DVD (Disc 2)). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 00:02:10. FCD778.
- ^ a b Lucas, Tim (2013). Commentary by Tim Lucas (DVD (Disc 2)). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 1:18:45. FCD778.
- ^ Lucas, Tim (2013). Commentary by Tim Lucas (DVD (Disc 2)). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 1:21:30. FCD778.
- ^ a b Lucas, Tim (2013). Commentary by Tim Lucas (DVD (Disc 2)). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 00:10:30. FCD778.
- ^ a b c d e f g Lucas, Tim (2013). The Two Faces of Black Sabbath (booklet). Arrow Films. p. 20. FCD778.
- ^ Jones, Alan (2013). Introduction by Alan Jones (DVD (Disc 2)). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 00:01:39. FCD778.
- ^ Smith, 2009. p 25
- ^ Lucas, Tim (2013). Commentary by Tim Lucas (DVD (Disc 2)). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 00:02:15. FCD778.
- ^ a b Lucas, Tim (2013). The Two Faces of Black Sabbath (booklet). Arrow Films. p. 21. FCD778.
- ^ a b c Legare, Patrick. "Black Sabbath (1963) - Review". AllMovie. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
- ^ a b Lucas, Tim (2013). Commentary by Tim Lucas (DVD (Disc 2)). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 00:03:10. FCD778.
- ^ "Giallo". AllMovie. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
- ^ a b Lucas, Tim (2013). Commentary by Tim Lucas (DVD (Disc 2)). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 00:06:10. FCD778.
- ^ Lucas, Tim (2013). Commentary by Tim Lucas (DVD (Disc 2)). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 00:26:37. FCD778.
- ^ Lucas, Tim (2013). Commentary by Tim Lucas (DVD (Disc 2)). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 00:46:15. FCD778.
- ^ a b Heffernan, 2004. p. 142
- ^ a b c d e f Lucas, Tim (2013). The Two Faces of Black Sabbath (booklet). Arrow Films. p. 16. FCD778.
- ^ Jones, Alan (2013). Introduction by Alan Jones (DVD (Disc 2)). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 00:01:58. FCD778.
- ^ a b Lucas, Tim (2013). The Two Faces of Black Sabbath (booklet). Arrow Films. p. 19. FCD778.
- ^ a b c Lucas, Tim (2013). The Two Faces of Black Sabbath (booklet). Arrow Films. p. 22. FCD778.
- ^ ISSN 0027-0407.
- ^ a b Jones, Alan (2013). Introduction by Alan Jones (DVD (Disc 2)). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 00:02:30. FCD778.
- ^ Lucas 2007, p. 509.
- ^ Heffernan, 2004. p. 151
- ^ a b c Lucas 2007, p. 510.
- ^ Lucas 2007, p. 480.
- ^ a b McNary, Dave (April 22, 2004). "Hurd, Allen to remake Bava thrills". Variety. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
- ^ "Black Sabbath (1963) - Releases". AllMovie. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
- ^ Kino. July 3, 2013. Archived from the originalon March 29, 2014. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
- ^ O'Neill, Phelim (May 11, 2013). "This week's new DVD & Blu-ray". The Guardian. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
- ^ a b About the Transfers (booklet). Arrow Films. 2013. FCD778.
- ^ Beek, Anton van (July 9, 2013). "Restoring films for Blu-ray". Home Cinema Choice. Retrieved October 2, 2014.
- ^ Morriss, Frank (Jun 11, 1964). "Touch of Humor in Karloff Horror". The Globe and Mail. Toronto, Ont.: 11.
- ^ "Black Sabbath: 3-in-1 Horror Bill Is Bowl of Gruel". The Boston Globe: 40. May 21, 1964.
- ^ ISSN 0027-0407.
- ^ a b DP. "Black Sabbath". Time Out. Archived from the original on July 12, 2020. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
- ^ "Black Sabbath". Entertainment Weekly. July 10, 2013. Archived from the original on January 26, 2015. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
- ^ Murray, Noel (July 16, 2013). "Black Sabbath / Kidnapped". The Dissolve. Archived from the original on November 6, 2014. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
- ^ Glasby, Matt (May 7, 2013). "Reviews". Total Film. Archived from the original on November 7, 2014. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
- ^ "The 100 best horror films". Time Out. Archived from the original on April 8, 2013. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
- ^ NF. "The 100 best horror films: the list". Time Out. Archived from the original on April 9, 2013. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
- ^ Lucas, Tim (2013). Commentary by Tim Lucas (DVD (Disc 2)). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 00:53:58. FCD778.
- ^ Erickson, Hal. "Spie Vengono dal Semifreddo". AllMovie. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
- ^ Binion, Cavett. "The Whip and the Body". AllMovie. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
- ^ a b Lucas, Tim (2013). Commentary by Tim Lucas (DVD (Disc 2)). Arrow Films. Event occurs at 00:54:05. FCD778.
- ^ Lucas 2007, p. 707.
- ^ "The Dunwich Horror". AllMovie. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
- ^ Hughes, p. 81
- ^ a b Froese, 2012. p. 30
- ^ a b Bailey, 2012. p. 32
- ^ Bailey, 2012. p. 33
- ^ Smith, 2013. p. 71
Sources
- Bailey, Jason (2013). Pulp Fiction: The Complete Story of Quentin Tarantino's Masterpiece. Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0760344798. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
- Curti, Roberto (2019). Devil's Advocates: Blood and Black Lace. Auteur Publishing. ISBN 978-1-911325-93-2.
- Curti, Roberto (2015). Italian Gothic Horror Films, 1957-1969. McFarland. ISBN 978-1476619897.
- Froese, Brian (2012). "3: "Is It the End, My Friend?" Black Sabbath's Apocalypse of Horror". In Irwin, William (ed.). Black Sabbath and Philosophy: Mastering Reality. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1118493809. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
- Heffernan, Kevin (2004). Ghouls, Gimmicks, and Gold: Horror Films and the American Movie Business, 1953–1968. ISBN 0822385554.
- Hughes, Howard (2011). Cinema Italiano - The Complete Guide From Classics To Cult. London - New York: I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-1-84885-608-0.
- Lucas, Tim (2007). Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark. Video Watchdog. ISBN 978-0-9633756-1-2.
- Smith, Gary A. (2009). The American International Pictures video guide. ISBN 978-0786433094.
- Smith, Gavin (2013). "When You Know You're In Good Hands". In Peary, Gerald (ed.). Quentin Tarantino: Interviews, Revised and Updated. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1617038747. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
External links
- Black Sabbath at IMDb
- Black Sabbath at the American Film Institute Catalog
- Shadowvision: “BLACK SABBATH”
- Black Sabbath at AllMovie
- Black Sabbath at Turner Classic Movies
- Review of Black Sabbath in La Stampa
- Black Sabbath trailer is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive
- Black Sabbath at Rotten Tomatoes