Michèle MercierBlack Sabbath

Terror and horror, are two distinctly different things. And sometimes you experience both together. The body doesn't know the difference between stagefright, joyful anticipation, dread, and waiting at the top of a roller coaster to go 75 miles per hour down that big hill.In "Black Sabbath," mild as it is in comparison to later films, has some true fear-inspiring moments. But, as an American English-speaking film watcher, I urge people to watch the European release. The actors spoke their lines in English, but the dialogue was wiped and dubbed in Italian, only to be subtitled in English. This is a distraction, as it takes away from paying full attention to the on-screen goings-on, but it still is the superior version. The American release toyed with the running order of the three stories, putting the hardest-hitting first, making the ending sort of an anticlimax, and changing the story and background music of one of the stories, "sanitizing" it for what the producers believed their target audience. And, effectively ruining it.I like the look of movies from this period (1963). Even though we have state-of-the-art production values now, the way "Black Sabbath" looks, from way back when, is simply beautiful. The design of the sets, and the coloring of such. So vibrant, real life looks dull in comparison.The first of the three stories, called "The Telephone," is a very real scenario; a woman hears a man has broken out of prison, a man she helped put away, and she is convinced he's coming after her. Over the phone, he's telling her what clothes she's wearing and so on, he's watching her, and this would be completely unnerving, no matter who you are. Of course, there are several plot twists, keeping the viewer's attention, and as it unfolds, there is an ironic plot twist, the message being "Don't mess with other people's lives!" Considered too racy for us dumb, gullible Americans, the English-speaking release has the voice coming from the grave, a ghost's voice, and there is an element which, at the time, was a little too cutting-edge for mainstream entertainment's standard of decency. The stalking victim's friend, also a woman, obviously had some kind of sexual(?) relationship with the protagonist, and a reference to lesbianism, must have been too "out there" to market here. NEVER censor a movie, unless it is in pre-production, and YOU are the writer yourself!!!!! I can't put enough exclamation points here. It dumbs down the narrative, no matter what the subject matter, and it interferes with the film makers' original vision. And for whatever reason, the soundtrack music was replaced with something that sounds like Henry Mancini. I like Mancini just fine, but I don't want to hear "Pink Panther" music while watching a story about someone being terrorized. But luckily, the version I bought is the European release, story and music intact.The "Wurdulak" is, to me, anyway, the least gripping of the three stories. It is good, for all it's worth, a twist on the classic vampire story, but it seems to be a tale of devotion. Would you leave your family with someone you have just met? Would you let your little child freeze in the Winter weather, knowing it's not him, even though he looks and sounds just like him? The same effect used is on "The Exorcist," where the possessed girl imitates the one priest's dead mother's voice. He knows she's dead, and he feels guilty over it, but hearing her plead with him, is emotionally destroying him. This is what is happening in "The Wurdulak." These things.The one thing that compromises this story, at least to me, is the howling dog outside. It's plainly obvious it's someone off-camera howling, and not very convincingly, at that. They used real horses, why couldn't they get a real dog howling? Maybe I'm being too nit-picky, but this could have been better. Although, this little chink in the armor isn't SO bad as to ACTUALLY RUIN the story and film. It's just the one thing I would have done differently. I sound critical, I know, but I am just telling why this is the least of the stories. It would be nice if it were a three-way tie.And now...The crowning jewel. Naively titled, "The Drop Of Water" is by far, the most memorable of the segments.A woman, one interested in the occult, dies during one of her seances. Officially, it was a heart attack. The owner of the house is too frightened to prepare the body for removal, and calls the nurse for help. She comes over, and is helping and so forth, but notices a very expensive-looking ring on the decedent's finger. Five-finger-discount. She steals the ring, but to her detriment, she has a conscience. A glass of water spills, and a housefly repeatedly lands on the corpse's finger. It won't go away. Back home, all of her spigots keep dripping, and that same huge fly won't leave her alone. Shades of Poe's "Telltale Heart" become apparent, the victim's heartbeat driving the murderer insane.Describing what happens next doesn't necessarily ruin the film's impact, as describing it only plays it down. Let's just say, that face is one you will see in your head for years to come. Did the medium actually come back? Was she a hallucination? I can say, without reservation, especially given how old this movie is, certain images can scare one to death. And in the case of the story here, literally. Ghastly, absolutely ghastly.The epilogue was omitted from the dumbed-down version, just a funny parting message from Boris Karloff, a way of saying, "Hey, it's just a movie...Or is it?"This is what classic horror is. It doesn't run out and yell "BOO!" like so many do; it gets inside your head, and especially in the case of "The Drop Of Water," it just won't leave.

Finally the AIP version of Mario Bava's THREE FACES OF FEAR retitled BLACK SABBATH is available in a digital medium This new Kino Lorber Blu-Ray showcases the film in a high quality transfer but it is not quite fully restored. No matter, it is the English version and what a relief it is to hear Boris Karloff speaking in his own voice. If you own the previous Image or Anchor Bay editions which are in Italian and have never seen the AIP version, there are numerous changes. Aside from being in English, the order of the stories is rearranged. In the original it is 1) THE TELEPHONE, 2) THE WURDALAK, and 3) THE DROP OF WATER. The American version is 1) THE DROP OF WATER, 2) THE TELEPHONE and 3) THE WURDALAK.There are also a number of different inserts as Karloff's narration was altered to make it seem more like his old THRILLER anthology series which was then at its height. The Italian segments are longer, more colorful visually, and more humorous in nature. The original ending to the Italian version involving Karloff riding a fake horse inside a movie studio is cut entirely. In addition to rearranging the order of the stories, the AIP version makes a number of vocal alterations to THE TELEPHONE changing it from a giallo type story to a supernatural one and disguising some lesbian overtones.The plot summaries are as follows. In A DROP OF WATER a nurse steals a dead medium's ring only to have her reanimated corpse come back for it. THE TELEPHONE has a woman tormented by the ghost of her former lover through phone calls until he comes-a-calling. Finally THE WURDALAK (the longest segment) features Boris Karloff and Mark Damon in a period tale of a family stalked by its patriarch who has become a vampire. WATER is definitely the scariest with the face of the dead woman hard to forget while THE WURDALAK is the most atmospheric. THE TELEPHONE now seems little more than filler as it has been so altered that it makes no sense. The original Italian version of this story is definitely superior.I used to have this version on VHS and later a DVD-R taken from that video but now having this Blu-Ray means I can throw those away. My one complaint with this Blu-Ray release is that it contains no subtitles for the hard of hearing. Both BLACK SUNDAY and THE CRIMSON CULT do have them so this seems an unnecessary oversight on Kino Lorber's part. Still it's easy to follow and Karloff's linking segments tie it all together. 2 out of 3 stories isn't a bad average and the American music track gives it a different flavor. If you're a fan than you must have this disc. It also comes with commentary from Mario Bava specialist Tim Lucas.

Three tales of terror and the supernatural. Or. Two hits and a complete miss (The Telephone). These three short films are strung together with an overly "cute" narration featuring Boris Karloff supposedly affecting a menacing manner. The first film is The Drop of Water. Boris asks the audience "do you believe in ghosts?" In this tale of petty theft, things to not end well for a nurse (Jacqueline Pierreux) who steals a sapphire ring from the cold dead finger of a vengeful medium. This one slowly builds suspense through a single character being "attacked" in her apartment by the sound of dripping water from multiple sources, a persistent fly, the banging of an open window, the sudden loss of light, and a frightening apparition. The second film is The Telephone and it suffers from too much tampering (the original meaning of the story is greatly altered from the Italian version to the English version). In this version, a woman is or isn't being haunted by a ghost who later invades her apartment but he's quite substantial in form and function! How can you be haunted by someone alive? The third film is The Wurdalak and it's a story about living cadavers who feed on human blood. It stars Boris Karloff as the head of a family besieged by a wurdalak. Daddy returns home after vanquishing the evil wurdalak but he's not entirely right, in fact, he's downright peculiar. Into this melodrama steps a passerby (Mark Damon as Vladimir Durfe), who falls for sister Sdenka (Susy Andrsen). When the members of this family start to turn, Vladimir and Sdenka try to flee. The rest of the family is obliged to give chase. And thus, the very first family owned fast-food chain was developed.In turns, these short films are creepy, confusing, and filled with dread. It's almost a perfect set.

This is by far one of the best blu rays i have ever bought. 1st of all there is two versions if the movie, european and american, the european being the longer version.They definately know what the fans of bavas films want. There is plenty of documentries on the movie and how it was made, documentries on the process of restoring the movie and the best documentry is on the differences between the two versions of the movie. In short if you don't already have this movie then you need to ask yourself why because its well worth the money you pay for it and alot of other companys should look to this as an example on how to do things properley

This is a fantastic package of a great Mario Bava film from 1963.Very atmospheric in the typical Bava fashion and filmed with gorgeous colours that leap off the screen. Three stories of horror vary from the rather tame Telephone, to the very scary Drop of Water and the quite nasty Wurdalak.It is great that Arrow in the UK have found the original Italian version of the film as well as the American cut which has a different score and is edited in a different way which changes the stories quite a lot.Loaded with extras, this is the sort of deluxe treatment that you rarely find for obscure movies, and never from a UK label.Very impressive indeed, and anyone with an interest in Bava's films should not hesitate to buy this great release.

Once again, as previously stated in my other reviews, I seen this film when I was little but the memory is still haunting and lingers on, hence when it is available in Blu-ray I have no hesitation but to add this Mario Bava's trilogy film to my collection. The transfer is ok taking into account that this film is over 40 year old! The film looked dated, however the 2 main features Wurdulak and The Drop of Water are watchable and atmospheric. Brilliant for its time. I may be wrong but I could have sworn that a scene when Boris Karloff was walking in the surreal countryside carrying 3 decapitated heads(in Wurdulak)is missing! Maybe my childhood memory is playing tricks, then maybe there was such a scene. And don't forget you get 3 dics in the package. Only negative point is the art cover .......... cheap and awful.

Difficult to review I didn't watch. Its italian with Dutch as the other language option. Sadly I am fluent in neither so sent it back.

And it sure as hell won't be the lurching, grey skinned, vampiric malignancy of Boris Karloff, guaranteed in this film to age your garden statuary by 20 years, never mind your nerves. Rough thing to open a door to, as he re-establishes his dominance over the horror field under the tutelage of maestro Mario Bava; international co-operation at it's finest. Both versions are presented here, shutting the door on that complaint. The U.S. version seems to have an edge pictorially. So, boys and girls...if you wake up in the morning and look like THE 4-D MAN in the mirror, you will know what you watched the night before. Bad boy, bad boy what ya gone do?