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Black Sabbath (1964)
Topic Started: Nov 2 2007, 10:17 AM (391 Views)
Laughing Gravy
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Black Sabbath
American International Pictures, 1964
Directed by Mario Bava

Starring Boris Karloff, Mark Damon, and Michele Mercier

Okay, first things first: I don't find many Boris Karloff films scary. I do find, however, Black Sabbath to be borderline terrifying, and I have since seeing it when it first played our local theatre back in '64. The Black Sabbath I knew was a good movie; it opened with a sequence that still ices my blood, A Drop of Water, about the corpse of a dead witch who wants her stolen ring back. After that came a boring bit with a ghost haunting a beautiful woman on The Telephone, and then the film's best sequence, with Karloff playing a real honest-to-goodness monster for the first time in a long time, The Wurdalak.

The thing I didn't know then, though, was that what American audiences saw as Black Sabbath was in fact an Italian film called I Tre Volti Della Paura, or The Three Faces of Evil. Apparently, there's an Italian version of that, an international version, plus the American version, and only the latter actually features Karloff's undubbed voice. Recently, Starz/Anchor Bay released a very nice DVD of Black Sabbath that features an anamorphic widescreen presentation of the international version, and I'm here to tell you that, although I've never been much of a Bava fan (except for this one and Black Sunday), his original cut of the film transcends anything I was expecting. It's a horror masterpiece, and one of Karloff's finest films.

The differences are important. First, in the international version, Boris only introduces the film and is around for a (very, very funny) wrap-up. In the American version, Karloff is doing a bad Alfred Hitchcock impersonation, commenting on each part of the trilogy, and the wrap-up is missing. The first sequence in the international version is The Telephone, which turns out to be a very well done psycho lesbian thriller with a twist. Next is The Wurdulak, and it remains a beautifully atmospheric terror tale, and Karloff's best straight horror role since The Body Snatcher. Finally, A Drop of Water closes the film and sends the audience home to turn on all the lights and check under the bed.

For those of you who think you'd only be interested in viewing the American version of Black Sabbath, all I can say is, check out the original version... despite missing Karloff's voice, it's a gem.
"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
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The Batman
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Ooooh, I was just trying to decide what to watch next...this'll be it! And no worries, LG, it is the international version that was put out by Anchor Bay. I can't wait to be scared!
Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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panzer the great & terrible
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It was extremely creepy.
Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious...
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Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer
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I could do without the story with the phone calls. The Karloff segment is good but I like the story about the dead witch the most. I first saw this before I was a teenager and the witch scared the hell out of me! Creepy-assed dead people freak me out....still do.
It's like Rodney King used to say, "Can't we all get a bong."
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Inspector Carr
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surely you jest............................

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"Life is a Crapshoot however you need a pair of dice to participate"
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Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer
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Inspector Carr
Nov 2 2007, 06:58 PM
surely you jest............................

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Nope...no jesting. I'm a psycho clown!

Nice still from (Jeru)'Salem's Lot.
It's like Rodney King used to say, "Can't we all get a bong."
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panzer the great & terrible
Nov 2 2007, 09:18 PM
It was extremely creepy.

Agreed, Paul. A super-creepy, excellent film. I thought each segment got creepier than the last. Karloff was great in the middle segment, as well as the humorous coda.
Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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Laughing Gravy
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Well, the whole pernt I was trying to make was the extremely weak Telephone segment works in the original Italian. It's still the least of the three segments, but it's not as lame as it appears and is actually pretty good.
"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
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Johnny Sokko
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Wow!!

I just watched 'Black Sabbath' just yesterday! havent watch it in over three years.
I have the version that has Karloff's voice dubbed in Italian.******Maybe Spoilers ahead******At the end Karloff is on a horse and it looks like he is riding through woods and the camera pulls back and you see Karloff on the fake horse and stage hands running around him with tree branches.Silly ending for a great film.'The Wurdalak' is the best bit.The kid at kneeling at the front door crying 'Mamma, i'm cold' scares the bejesus out of me every time.
'Drop of water' scared me silly as a kid.But i'm alright now....just a little mental maladjustment and blurred vision...
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panzer the great & terrible
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Well, you know, creepy-assed dead people ARE scary...
Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious...
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Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer
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Let me add that I've never seen the Italian version. Why can't these creepy-assed dead folks stay dead? Dammit!
It's like Rodney King used to say, "Can't we all get a bong."
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Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer
Nov 3 2007, 10:17 PM
Why can't these creepy-assed dead folks stay dead? Dammit!

They're still dead, Stony, just mobile...very, very mobile.
Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer
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The Batman
Nov 3 2007, 09:47 PM
Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer
Nov 3 2007, 10:17 PM
Why can't these creepy-assed dead folks stay dead? Dammit!

They're still dead, Stony, just mobile...very, very mobile.


Why can't someone make a MOBILE with these dead things? Then they'll quit movin' around so much.
It's like Rodney King used to say, "Can't we all get a bong."
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Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer
Nov 4 2007, 07:47 AM
The Batman
Nov 3 2007, 09:47 PM
Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer
Nov 3 2007, 10:17 PM
Why can't these creepy-assed dead folks stay dead? Dammit!

They're still dead, Stony, just mobile...very, very mobile.


Why can't someone make a MOBILE with these dead things? Then they'll quit movin' around so much.

I believe there is a company in Mobile that is researching that possiblity now.
Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer
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I hope that isn't Mobile Alabama, those folks are still researching a vaccine for polio.
It's like Rodney King used to say, "Can't we all get a bong."
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