Mini-Review :: Black Sunday (1960)

One of the first films by Mario Bava, the original master of Italian horror, Black Sunday (1960), though tame by any and all of today's standards for modern horror, was and remains a cinematic landmark. Nearly every gothic convention ever used in horror is being brought to life here, possibly for the first time. This is pure horror, before it became a stale victim of its own conventions. Like a more macabre and slightly less restrained Hitchcock, Bava executes his tale of vampires and satanic curses with great confidence and success. And while it may not be genuinely frightening anymore it's still damn entertaining.