Black Sabbath Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Black Sabbath Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 11, 2023

Mario Bava's "Black Sabbath" (1963) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of independent distributors Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film and audio commentary with film historian Tim Lucas. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Note: The English and Italian versions of Mario Bava's Black Sabbath are available individually. Kino Lorber's Blu-ray release of the Italian version of the film can be ordered here.

The legendary Boris Karloff introduces what is arguably Italian master Mario Bava’s most atmospheric film. It is composed of three very different tales: The Telephone, based on a story by F.G. Snyder, The Drop of Water, based on a story by Anton Chekov, and The Wurdalak, based on a 19th century Russian story by Ivan Tolstoy. There are two different introductions by Karloff – one for Black Sabbath, the English-language version of the film which was distributed by American International Pictures, and one for I tre volti della paura, the Italian-language version of the film. Also worth pointing out is that the three tales appear in different order in each version, as well as the fact that the Italian version of the film is slightly longer and more graphic.

In The Telephone, Rosy (Michele Mercier), a stunningly beautiful call girl, is harassed by a supposedly dead man who can see every move she makes. After the man repeatedly calls her at home and demands that she takes her clothes off, Rosy invites another beauty to come over to spend the night with her. Soon after, the second woman, who may or may not be Rosy’s lesbian lover, arrives, but it turns out that like the man she is also upset at Rosy for something.

In the second tale, The Drop of Water, a nurse (Jacqueline Perreiex) is hired by a housekeeper to prepare the corpse of her dead employer for her funeral. The nurse arrives in a lavish mansion, where she discovers that the deceased woman was a famous clairvoyant. While dressing the body, the nurse steals a big ring. Almost immediately after that, a large and very angry fly attacks her. After the woman returns to her home, a very persistent drop of water nearly forces her to lose her mind. Before the end of the night, the clairvoyant’s ghost appears looking for the ring.

The third and final tale takes place somewhere in Eastern Europe. While riding through the unfriendly mountains, a nobleman (Mark Damon) discovers a dead man with a Turkish dagger in his back. He takes the dagger and soon after that stops at a remote farmhouse. While resting, the nobleman learns that the dagger belongs to Gorca (Boris Karloff), the head of the family living n the farmhouse, who has gone searching for a famous bandit who may or may not be a wurdalak (a vampire that can only drink the blood of his loved ones). Eventually, Gorca returns and all hell breaks loose.

The Telephone is the least transparent and most elegant of the three tales. It is widely believed to have inspired countless giallo films because of its subversive undertones and terrific use of color. It is also Bava’s most erotic work. There are a couple of sequences where Mercier looks dangerously seductive, and far better than Brigitte Bardot has ever looked in front of the camera.

The Drop of Water is even more colorful than The Telephone. At times, it reminds of the many psychedelic films Italian companies produced during the ‘70s. There is still a whiff of the Gothic atmosphere that permeates Bava’s Black Sunday, but the lush neon-esque colors push the film in an entirely new territory.

The Wurdalak is the most predictable of the three tales. But it is the creepiest one. Some of the close-ups here are undoubtedly the best in the entire film. Cinematographer Ubaldo Terzano’s use of light and shadow is also striking. There is one specific shot where Bava shows the severed head of a vurdulak that is absolutely brilliant.

The two versions are complimented by very different scores. I tre volti della paura uses a score composed by Roberto Nicolosi. It blends very effective Gothic and jazzy themes. Black Sabbath uses a more traditional orchestral score composed by Les Baxter.

Black Sabbath Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Black Sabbath arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

In 2015, I reviewed this release of the AIP version of Black Sabbath, which was also produced by Kino Lorber. This new release is sourced from the same older master that was used to prepare the original release, but its technical presentation of the film is different. What is different? This time, the encode has properly set gamma levels and a higher bitrate. (This release uses a dual-layer disc, the previous release uses a single-layer disc). I like the overall quality of the presentation quite a lot. However, I must admit that the current master is a bit rougher than I would have liked and in some areas reveals fluctuations that a proper restoration would substantially tone done and/or eliminate. There are some minor yet noticeable surface imperfections that can be removed as well. The rest is either good or very good. For example, a lot of close-ups and wider panoramic shots reveal very attractive organic qualities. While not ideal, color balance is convincing as well. The segment with Michele Mercier, for instance, has some surprisingly strong primaries that just need to be a little fresher. Image stability is good. Finally, the master is free of problematic digital adjustments. All in all, while I would welcome a new 4K restoration of the film, I think that this release makes it quite easy to appreciate the many unique qualities of its visual style. My score is 3.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Black Sabbath Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The lossless track is identical to the one that was included on the previous release of Black Sabbath. Below are the comments from I left for it in our review of the previous release.

Depth and clarity are good. Les Baxter's jazzy score also breathes quite easily. The dialog is stable and easy to follow, but a full remastering job will certainly eliminate some of the extremely light background hiss that occasionally sneaks in. There are no audio dropouts or digital distortions to report.

Black Sabbath Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Black Sabbath Trailer - original trailer for Black Sabbath. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Audio Commentary - in this audio commentary, film historian Tim Lucas, author of Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark, discusses the production history of Black Sabbath, some of the key differences between the Italian and English language versions of the film, Mario Bava's directing style, etc.

Black Sabbath Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This reissue of Mario Bava's Black Sabbath is sourced from the same older master that was used to produce the original release from 2015. However, the technical presentation of the film is different. Even though it is a bit rough, I actually like it quite a lot, and yes, I do think the adjustments that were made on this release make the technical presentation even more attractive. RECOMMENDED.