Black Sabbath

Released by: Kino Lorber
Released on: July 16, 2013.
Director: Mario Bava
Cast: Boris Karloff, Michele Mercier, Lidia Alfonsi, Mark Damon, Susy Anderson
Year: 1963
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The Movie:

A French-Italian co-production released in North America by American International Pictures (better known as AIP), Black Sabbath is Bava's take on the horror anthology film that would later become very popular thanks to the efforts of Amicus Studios in England. Bava's film takes three very different horror stories and used some segments with Boris Karloff to bookend them. The results are, in short, excellent.

The first story is The Telephone and it follows a lovely woman named Rosy (Michele Mercier) who receives some unusual and frightening late night telephone calls. Since Rosy helped the cops nab Frank (Gustavo De Nardo), her ex-pimp who has recently been let out of jail, she figures it's probably him on the other end of the line. She calls her ex-girlfriend, Mary (Lidia Alfonsi), to come over and comfort her completely unaware that Mary could very well be the one behind the phone calls, setting up an elaborate scheme to win back her lover's heart.

Considered in some circles to be the first color giallo, The Telephone is a nice, tense little film with some stylish direction and a few fun twists. Bava would certainly go on to make better thrillers than this but for an early stab at the genre, this is a pretty solid attempt. The lighting and the direction is solid throughout and the performances are all fine.

The Wurdulak is up next, and when it begins we meet Count Vladimir d'Urfe (Mark Damon) who is riding through the woods with a corpse that has recently been decapitated which he stumbled across in the woods. He arrives at the home of Gorka (Boris Karloff) who, after a few days on the road, has returned to his family. When Vladimir arrives, Gorka produces the missing head and tells him that the body actually belonged to a Wurdulak, or, a vampire. Vladimir and Gorka's family take comfort in the old man's actions but soon realize that he didn't necessarily escape the conflict completely unscathed...

Not surprisingly, Karloff is what makes this second story as effective as it is. With some unusually creepy overtones of child molestation and a few jolting moments, this is a very well thought out and well directed short. It builds up nicely and the ending is a bit of a surprise. Karloff is simply majestic here, bringing his intense and instantly recognizable screen presence to the forefront to excellent effect.

The third and final story is The Drop Of Water. A young nurse named Helen Chester (Jacqueline Pierreux) is sent to prepare the body of an elderly woman who worked as a medium and who passed away during a seance. She arrives and sets about her duties, with the corpse seemingly starring at her the entire time. When Helen notices a gorgeous ring on the body's finger she decides no one will miss it and so she takes it off of the corpse to keep as her own and in process of doing so manages to knock a glass of water off of a side table. As the water drips, a fly swarms around the body but Helen pays it no mind and heads home for the night. When she settles in for the evening she soon learns that she's made a very dire mistake indeed and that the dead do not take kindly to thievery.

The best of the three stories in the film is also, not surprisingly, the scariest. The look on the corpse's face is completely horrifying and the ending, while a little predictable, packs quite a punch even now, more than forty years since the film was made.

What will surely be disappointing to fans of this particular film is that the AIP version with Karloff's voice has not been included (this was also the case with the previous Anchor Bay and Image Entertainment DVD releases). While it's a superior version of the film in this reviewer's opinion, it really is a shame that both versions couldn't have been included as they both definitely have their merits and they are quite different indeed (Some may be interested to know that Arrow Films in the UK have put out a Blu-ray set that contains both versions and copious extra features). Not only are the stories told in a different order but also the music has been changed, and the lesbian overtones of the first story have been replaced with a more pedestrian approach. The Italian cut included here is more effective but the AIP version holds a special place in the hearts of many fans.

Video/Audio/Extras:

The AVC encoded 1080p high definition widescreen transfer on this Blu-ray from Kino is a pretty big improvement over the previous DVD releases, both the remastered one that appeared in Anchor Bay's boxed set and even more so the release from Image that came out years back. Colors are much stronger and considerably bolder without ever looking artificially boosted but when compared to the Arrow Blu-ray and the previous Anchor Bay DVD there's a really noticable green tint through a lot of the movie indicating that maybe this is from a different source? This allows some of the more 'pop' looking elements in the movie to really come to life but tends to bury others. Detail is sometimes very strong but other times sort of muddy looking. You can notice the texture in the clothing seen throughout the movie as well as in background props and sets and close up shots look good. There are scenes that still look soft, and that stems back to the original photography it would seem. There are no problems with mpeg compression artifacts or heavy edge enhancement nor is there any noticeable noise reduction but the difference in color reproduction and greenish tint is hard not to notice.

The only audio option for the feature is an Italian language LPCM 2.0 Mono track that comes with optional subtitles in English only. It sounds fine for what it is an offer a bit more depth than previous DVD releases could provide. You'll notice that the voice work sounds a bit more natural and that the score has a bit more weight behind it. The levels are properly balanced throughout and there are no problems with any audible hiss or distortion to complain about. There are no alternate language options, closed captions or subtitles of any kind provided here.

The Anchor Bay DVD release that came before this Blu-ray included a Tim Lucas commentary and an interview with actor Mark Damon. Neither of those has been carried over to this Blu-ray, and extras this time around are limited to a collection of trailers for Mario Bava titles currently being handled by Kino, menus and chapter selection. As noted, the UK Blu-ray set is pretty stacked, though it is coded for Region B playback whereas this Kino disc is Region A.

The Final Word:

Those who want the extras and the alternate AIP cut and have region free capabilities probably already know about the Arrow version released in the UK this year, and it's a shame that Kino couldn't do the same deluxe package for domestic fans of one of Bava's finest moments. With that said, the movie itself is fantastic, making this a solid option for those who don't want to import or don't need the more expensive set, so long as you don't mind the green hue that seems to have puzzlingly crept its way into the image.

Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!