I tre volti della paura (1963)

Directors:

Mario Bava
Salvatore Billitteri

Writers:

Mario Bava (writer)
Alberto Bevilacqua (writer)

Release Date:

6 May 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

This is the night of the nightmare...The day of the Undead.

Plot:

A trio of atmospheric horror tales about: A woman terrorized in her apartment by phone calls from an...

Plot Keywords:

Nurse | Vampire | Corpse | Medium | Escaped Prisoner

Cast

Michèle Mercier	...	Rosy (segment "The Telephone")
Lidia Alfonsi	...	Mary (segment "The Telephone") (as Lydia Alfonsi)
Boris Karloff	...	Himself / Gorca (segment "The Wurdalak")
Mark Damon	...	Vladimire d'Urfe (segment "The Wurdalak")
Susy Andersen	...	Sdenka (segment "The Wurdalak")
Massimo Righi	...	Pietro (segment "The Wurdalak")
Rika Dialina	...	Maria (segment "The Wurdalak") (as Rica Dialina)
Glauco Onorato	...	Giorgio (segment "The Wurdalak")
Jacqueline Pierreux	...	Helen Chester (segment "The Drop of Water")
Milly	...	The Maid (segment "The Drop of Water") (as Milly Monti)
Harriet Medin	...	Neighbor (segment "The Drop of Water")
Gustavo De Nardo	...	Police Inspector (segment "The Drop of Water")

Also Known As:

Black Sabbath (USA)
Les trois visages de la peur (France)
The Three Faces of Fear
The Three Faces of Terror

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

Italy | France | USA

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 (self applied) (2001) | France:-12 | Italy:VM14 | Sweden:15 | USA:Unrated | West Germany:16 | UK:X

Filming Locations:

Titanus Farnesina Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Alta Vista Film Production

Trivia:

The segment 'The Telephone' was the first Italian thriller to be shot in color.

Goofs:

Plot holes: In "The Wurdulak", Gorca shouldn't have been able to turn Giorgio into a vampire, because Giorgio had already been stabbed to death by Maria.

Quotes:

Mary: [to Rosy] You have no reason to be afraid.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Le locataire (1976)

Ultra stylish affair from one of Italy's finest

Black Sabbath is one visually stylish flick, courtesy of one of Italy's finest; Mario Bava.

The first story, The Telephone, is light on suspense but heavy on looks. The first Giallo in color, I believe, to some extent, with sexual overtones featured very prominently. Although it only takes place in one apartment Bava's crazy color schemes work beautifully and thanks to the two stunning ladies this episode goes down very well.

The Wurdulak scores heavy because of it's visuals and it's magnificent Gothic atmosphere. This should give a good example of how Black Sunday might have looked in color. However, this episode feels stretched quite a bit, it's relatively short running time seems longer than it is and therefore, in my opinion, is the weakest of the bunch.

The Drop of Water is the final, and best, episode. Bava was fond of the kind of horror that deals with a person who's totally alone in his/her surroundings. He goes into supernatural territory and creates a highly stylish (again) and quite the scary episode.

Black Sabbath is not the best Mario Bava has to offer, it could have been more scary but thanks to studio involvement he had to keep things light and not too scary. Under such restrictions I think Bava did extremely well and Black Sabbath is most definitely a must for Bava fans.