Black Sunday

Original title: La maschera del demonio

1960
Approved
1h 27m

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

18K

YOUR RATING

Play trailer3:27

1 Video

99+ Photos

Supernatural Horror Vampire Horror Witch Horror Horror

Decades after being executed for witchcraft, vengeful Princess Asa Vajda and her fiendish servant are resurrected and begin a bloody campaign to possess the body of Asa Vajda's beautiful loo... Read allDecades after being executed for witchcraft, vengeful Princess Asa Vajda and her fiendish servant are resurrected and begin a bloody campaign to possess the body of Asa Vajda's beautiful look-alike descendant Princess Katia.Decades after being executed for witchcraft, vengeful Princess Asa Vajda and her fiendish servant are resurrected and begin a bloody campaign to possess the body of Asa Vajda's beautiful look-alike descendant Princess Katia.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

18K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win & 1 nomination

Princess Asa Vajda
(as Barbara Steel)
…

John Richardson

Dr. Andrej Gorobec…

Andrea Checchi

Dr. Choma Kruvajan…

Ivo Garrani

Prince Vajda

Arturo Dominici

Igor Javutich…

Enrico Olivieri

Constantine Vajda

Antonio Pierfederici

Priest

Tino Bianchi

Ivan - Manservant

Clara Bindi

Innkeeper

Mario Passante

Nikita - Coachman

Renato Terra

Boris - Stablehand

Germana Dominici

Sonya - Innkeeper's Daughter

Giuseppe Addobbati

Priest
(uncredited)

Fernando Cajati

Crucifixion Torturer
(uncredited)

Valentina Cortese

Tavern Girl
(uncredited)

Angelo Galassi

Tavern Keeper
(uncredited)

Nando Gazzolo

Narrator
(voice)
(uncredited)

Renato Montalbano

Spectator
(uncredited)

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Mario Bava and Barbara Steele had a difficult working relationship. She sometimes refused to come to set because she did not like her wig or the fact that her cleavage would be shown. One time she refused because she believed Bava would force her to appear nude. She admits that she was difficult due to her inexperience and inability to understand Italian.

Goofs
In the opening credits, Barbara Steele's name is misspelled as Barbara Steel.

Quotes
Princess Asa Vajda: You, too, can feel the joy and happiness of hating.

Crazy credits
For "The Mask of Satan," the English language version prepared in Italy, Barbara Steele's name is listed as "Barbara Steel" on the trailer and on the credits of the film itself.

Alternate versions
The full list of differences between the 83-minute original cut and the 80-minute AIP cut:
A different English-language dub, and a new score by Les Baxter.
An added pre-text crawl warning the audience about the film's content: "The producers of the picture you are about to see feel a moral obligation to warn you that it will shock you as no other film ever has. Because it could be very harmful to young and impressionable minds, it is restricted to only those over fourteen years of age."
Alternate opening credits.
A brief exchange between Katja and Constantine where he tells her their father has died is cut.
A scene where Katja and Andrej talk in the garden is cut.
An exchange between Katja and Andrej outside her room is cut.
Kruvajan's death scene is cut down significantly to remove shots of his eye spurting blood.
The scene were Prince Vajda reanimates and menaces Katja is trimmed.
Vajda's death scene, particularly the close-ups of his head melting, is trimmed.
Asa taunting Andrej before being burned at the stake is cut.
Added closing credits.

Connections
Featured in I motorizzati (1962)

User reviews166

Review

Featured review

Gothic brilliance

The screenplay is hackneyed ,the story has been told told and told again...

And however,Bava's film is a sparkling diamond.How come?The direction of course,the cinematography absolutely incredibly breath-taking,and Barbara Steele ,the par excellence Gothic heroine:her fans will rejoice for she plays two parts here! Bava has no match when it comes to use the light the settings and the soundtrack.It's a black and white work and had it been filmed in color it would not have been better.From the gloomy family vaults to the forest where danger awaits on the young peasant girl to the doomed castle where a family tries to fight against a mysterious curse.

The carriage which takes the doctor to the mansion and its coachman reminds me of Murnau's "Nosferatu" .No less.