Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

Black Sunday Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf February 14, 2015

1960’s “Black Sunday” is the movie that put director Mario Bava on the map. A helmer with an enormous capacity for creativity and low-budget craftsmanship, Bava funneled his cinematic skill into a gothic chiller, boasting a spooky castle, witchcraft, and poor saps tinkering with the devil. Delighting in mood and visual heft, “Black Sunday” solidifies Bava’s appetites as a filmmaker and secures his gifts with atmosphere, bringing out eerie events with an eye toward disquiet and menace, attaining a sense of dread while sticking to era-specific demands of action and impassioned performances. For more on the feature, please read Dr. Svet Atanasov's review and Casey Broadwater's review.

To alter the release of “Black Sunday” for U.S. audiences unaccustomed to heavy violence and screams of Satanism, distributor American International Pictures elected to tinker with the feature to help soften its blow. Subtle changes in characterization were made to reduce discomfort, and some of the more graphic encounters were trimmed, shortening images of burning flesh and blood flow. The narrative of “Black Sunday” isn’t reworked, still focusing on the wrath of the undead in a remote castle, but little alterations to intensity are made to the effort, which also offers an alternative score from Les Baxter.

Black Sunday Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Overall, the AVC encoded image (1.69:1 aspect ratio) presentation preserves shadowy events and soft glamour lighting with a more grayish appearance. Crush pulls out some frame information, but it's not habitual. Fine detail is welcoming for this type of gauzy cinematography, delivering pleasing textures on make-up effects (securing intended horror) and pained responses, with close-ups adequately communicative. Castle interiors are also open for survey, isolating stone walls and set decoration. Print remains in semi-rough shape, with scratches, speckling, and debris present, and a few of the reel changes are jarring. A vertical white line also makes an appearance midway through the movie for a few seconds.

Black Sunday Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix is primarily concentrated on mood, and atmospherics are served well, defining howling winds, crackling fire, and castle echo. Being an English dub, dialogue exchanges are pronounced, providing clean dramatic extremes. Scoring is alert, doing an adequate job maintaining surges of suspense without spilling over into distortion.

Black Sunday Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• A Theatrical Trailer (2:06, HD) is included.

Black Sunday Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A diluted Bava isn't an ideal gateway into the helmer's macabre world, leaving this Blu-ray release of the "Black Sunday" AIP cut of strictly for curious fans eager to inspect a different take on a horror classic. It's been Americanized but not seriously defanged, still retaining directional punch and nightmarish emphasis where it counts.