Black Sabbath (1963)
Black Sabbath (1963)
Plot.
Where to Watch.
Currently Black Sabbath is available for streaming online, rent, buy or watch for free on: Plex, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Tubi TV, Plex Channel, Pluto TV, Kanopy
Streaming in:🇺🇸 United States
Cast & Crew.
Boris Karloff
Gorca (segment 'The Wurdalak')
Mark Damon
Vladimire d'Urfe (segment 'The Wurdalak')
Michèle Mercier
Rosy (segment 'The Telephone')
Susy Andersen
Sdenka (segment 'The Wurdalak')
Lidia Alfonsi
Mary (segment 'The Telephone')
Jacqueline Pierreux
Helen Chester (segment 'A Drop Of Water')
Glauco Onorato
Giorgio (segment 'The Wurdalak')
Massimo Righi
Pietro (segment 'The Wurdalak')
Rika Dialina
Maria (segment 'The Wurdalak')
Milo Quesada
Frank Rainer (segment 'The Telephone')
Milly
The Maid (segment 'A Drop Of Water')
Gustavo De Nardo
Police Inspector (segment 'A Drop Of Water')
Harriet Medin
Neighbor (segment 'A Drop Of Water')
Mario Bava
Director / Screenplay
Marcello Fondato
Screenplay
Ubaldo Terzano
Director of Photography
Roberto Nicolosi
Original Music Composer
Les Baxter
Composer
Mario Serandrei
Editor
Anton Chekhov
Novel
Guy de Maupassant
Novel
Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy
Novel
Alberto Bevilacqua
Screenplay
Enrico Fontana
Assistant Camera
Media.
Details.
Release DateAugust 17, 1963
Original NameI tre volti della paura
StatusReleased
Running Time1h 35m
Genres
Last updated:
This Movie Is About.
Wiki.
Black Sabbath (Italian: I tre volti della paura, lit. 'The Three Faces of Fear') is a 1963 horror anthology film directed by Mario Bava. The film consists of three separate tales that are introduced by Boris Karloff. The order in which the stories are presented varies among the different versions in which the film has been released. In the original, Italian print, the first story, titled "The Telephone", involves Rosy (Michèle Mercier) who continually receives threatening telephone calls from an unseen stalker. The second is "The Wurdulak", where a man named Gorca (Karloff) returns to his family after claiming to have slain a Wurdulak, an undead creature who attacks those that it had once loved. The third story, "The Drop of Water", is centered on Helen Corey (Jacqueline Pierreux), a nurse who steals a ring from a corpse that is being prepared for burial and finds herself haunted by the ring's original owner after arriving home.
Being a low-budget horror film with multiple stories, an international cast and foreign financial backing, Black Sabbath follows numerous trends of 1960s Italian film productions. The film is credited to various writers, including Anton Chekov and Aleksey Tolstoy, but is predominantly based on several uncredited sources, and changes were made to the script after filming commenced. American International Pictures and Titra Sound Corporation suggested changes to Bava during filming to make the film palatable for American audiences, and created their own English-language version of the film, which replaced Roberto Nicolosi's score with music by Les Baxter, removed several depictions of graphic violence and made alterations to other scenes. This version greatly changed the plot of "The Telephone", giving it a supernatural element and removing all references to lesbianism and prostitution.
Black Sabbath was a commercial failure upon release in Italy, and performed below expectations in America. A spiritual sequel to the film, based on "The Dunwich Horror" and provisionally titled Scarlet Friday, was set to reunite Bava with Karloff and co-star Christopher Lee, but AIP distanced themselves from Bava following the failure of Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs and eventually produced the film without Bava, Karloff or Lee's involvement. Plans for a remake were announced in 2004 with Jonathan Hensleigh attached to write the script. Since its original release, Black Sabbath has received positive reviews from critics, and was placed at number 73 on a Time Out poll of the best horror films.