It’s Sunday. No better time to enter the wayback machine and talk about this Italian classic. When discussing all-time great horror directors, Mario Bava has to always be in that conversation. I’ve already put his 1960 classic Black Sunday on this list many years back, but now it’s time for Black Sabbath. Here’s the brief synopsis from IMDB.
Boris Karloff hosts a trio of horror stories concerning 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.
There’s so much more to this movie than just being the namesake to one of the greatest rock bands in history. This anthology is a perfect encapsulation of this time period in horror. I’ve already discussed countless times how much I love horror anthologies, and this is one of the greats. Three main stories, each one a little different. There’s one Giallo, one throwback vampire story, and one supernatural morality tale. As is the case when watching any classic film, they all have some dated ways of looking at relationships or the male/female roles, but remember to watch through 1960’s eyes. Although, even saying that, it contains some pretty progressive stuff for the time, including a lesbian relationship. One thing to note, there are TWO versions of this film. Please try to see the original Italian version. The US version is edited differently, has different music, and even changes the order of the stories. Plus, the Italian one has a lot more Boris Karloff. Always seek out the one with more Karloff. There are a lot of places to watch this one so enjoy your Sunday with some Black Sabbath.
Where to Watch: Streaming on Shudder, AMC+, Hoopla and Kanopy.
Food/Drink Pairing: A nice glass of Sherry in one hand and goblet of cabernet in the other.
Musings of a Scary Horror Writer. 