Black Sabbath

Original title: I tre volti della paura

1963
X
1h 32m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Boris Karloff hosts a trio of horror stories about a stalked call girl, a vampire-like monster who preys on his family, and a nurse who is haunted by her ring's rightful owner.Boris Karloff hosts a trio of horror stories about a stalked call girl, a vampire-like monster who preys on his family, and a nurse who is haunted by her ring's rightful owner.Boris Karloff hosts a trio of horror stories about a stalked call girl, a vampire-like monster who preys on his family, and a nurse who is haunted by her ring's rightful owner.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.0/10

15K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 2 wins & 1 nomination total

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Featured review

7/10

Ultra stylish affair from one of Italy's finest

Black Sabbath is one visually stylish flick, courtesy of one of Italy's finest; Mario Bava.

The first story, The Telephone, is light on suspense but heavy on looks. The first Giallo in color, I believe, to some extent, with sexual overtones featured very prominently. Although it only takes place in one apartment Bava's crazy color schemes work beautifully and thanks to the two stunning ladies this episode goes down very well.

The Wurdulak scores heavy because of it's visuals and it's magnificent Gothic atmosphere. This should give a good example of how Black Sunday might have looked in color. However, this episode feels stretched quite a bit, it's relatively short running time seems longer than it is and therefore, in my opinion, is the weakest of the bunch.

The Drop of Water is the final, and best, episode. Bava was fond of the kind of horror that deals with a person who's totally alone in his/her surroundings. He goes into supernatural territory and creates a highly stylish (again) and quite the scary episode.

Black Sabbath is not the best Mario Bava has to offer, it could have been more scary but thanks to studio involvement he had to keep things light and not too scary. Under such restrictions I think Bava did extremely well and Black Sabbath is most definitely a must for Bava fans.

ODDBear
Nov 29, 2005
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Trivia
This film served as inspiration for the naming of the exceptionally influential doom metal band Black Sabbath. Questioned individually, no two members of the band tell the story quite the same way. The most consistently repeated details are that Geezer or Tony walked past a theatre in 1968 and saw the large crowds lining up to see this film. Black Sabbath, known as Earth at the time, were playing small clubs around Birmingham. When comparing the size of the crowds waiting in line to see this film to attendance at their shows, they came to the conclusion that music that frightens people would sell more tickets. Writing and jamming sessions eventually resulted in a song called Black Sabbath that was such a great change in direction (whilst still retaining their roots in blues, jazz, and soul) that they kept the name for the band and wrote all of their music from that point onward in a similar style.

Goofs
The narration of this film's English-dubbed version claims that "The Wurdulak" was written by Tolstoy and that "The Drop of Water" was written by Chekhov. The first claim is misleading; "The Wurdulak" was not written by Leo Tolstoy, the famous author of "War and Peace", but by minor novelist Alexei Tolstoy. The second claim is completely untrue; Anton Chekhov never wrote a short story titled "The Drop of Water" or any story with a plot resembling that of the so-named segment of this film.

Quotes
Gorca: What's the matter, woman? Can't I fondle my own grandson? Give him to me!

Alternate versions
As documented by Tim Lucas (in Video Watchdog #5), the order of the segments was rearranged by AIP for the English-language release. The original ordering was: "The Telephone," "The Wurdalak," and "The Drop of Water." In addition, "The Telephone" was re-dubbed and slightly re-cut by Bava at AIP's request to create a supernatural angle and disguise the lesbian overtones of the story.