Black Sunday (1960)
Before Mario Bava would direct the earliest slasher films in Italy (known as giallos), he made this gothic tale, which is considered to be his first great horror picture.
Black Sunday begins with a sequence that would get the film banned in the U.K. for years, though it is not as violent as Bava’s films would become.
Princess Asa (Barbara Steele), convicted of being a witch, wears bulky and spiky satanic mask that is nailed onto her face. Asva result, she’s buried alongside her lover in a crypt.
Two hundred years later, when doctors discover the tomb, they are attacked by a bat, and blood is spilled on her casket.
Prying the mask off of the Satanic Princess’ face, a curse is unleashed. Asa then takes possession of a virginal woman in town (Steele again), setting out to unleash her revenge.
