BARBARA STEELE IN "BLACK SUNDAY".
MARIO BAVA (right) WITH LUCIO FULCI (pictured left).
Italian’s master of horror Mario Bava’s legacy influenced from rock legends like Black Sabbath to “slasher” franchises like Friday the 13th.
In 1960’s BLACK SUNDAY (LA MASCHERA DEL DEMONIO), a black-and-white gothic classic horror film influenced by the German Expressionism, Barbara Steele is starring as a resurrected witch who was burned to death in a small medieval town in Eastern Europe and now seeks revenge on her persecutors. The exquisitely realized expressionist images of cruelty and sexual suggestion shocked the public in the late fifties and ensured a long-standing ban from the hypocricy of the British censor. Also starring John Richardson and Ivo Carrani among others.
In 1971’s A BAY OF BLOOD (BAHIA DE SANGRE), young people in an isolated house near the water are killed one after the other. One of the most colorful horror movies of Mario Bava, who always performed cinematographer duties on his film, influenced Halloween and Friday the 13th. The film was starring Claudine Auger, Luigi Pistilli, Claudio Volonte, Laura Betti. BAY OF BLOOD still remains banned in Germany.
Thanks to legendary American producer Samuel Z. Arkoff dubbing efforts, most of Bava’s films are dubbed in English. BLACK SUNDAY has various language versions (French etc.)
Mario Bava’s photos are from VIDEO WATCHDOG.
ΜΑRIO BAVA (at the left) pictured with BORIS KARLOFF.