Black Sabbath (I Tre volti della paura) (The Three Faces of Fear) (The Three Faces of Terror) (1963)

Featured Audience Ratings

• El Hombre I

  
  Mario Bava's "Black Sabbath" or "I Tre volti della paura" is an old school form of horror filmmaking. I don't mean that in the sense of it being "old". I mean it's horror done in a fashion that's seemingly long gone. Slow takes,… More
  Mario Bava's "Black Sabbath" or "I Tre volti della paura" is an old school form of horror filmmaking. I don't mean that in the sense of it being "old". I mean it's horror done in a fashion that's seemingly long gone. Slow takes, nail-biting tension and skin crawling atmosphere as one would expect from the director. It also shows a different side to Boris Karloff rather than the Universal Monsters depiction most of us have come to immediately recognize him for. He is macabre yet somehow remains charming. Black Sabbath is a great film and one of the few genuinely gothic horror films in existence. If you like horror films, you need to see this one. And if you don't like horror films you need to see this one even more. 3 great stories designed for late nights. <a href="http://s273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/goji9000/?action=view&amp;current=blacksab1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/goji9000/blacksab1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

• Jeff "

  
  Mario Bava's Black Sabbath is a definite horror classic. This horror film is an anthology with three terrific, horrifying stories. Brilliantly directed with a good dose of atmospheric dread for each story, and narrated by legendary horror icon, Boris Karloff; Black Sabbath is an… More
  Mario Bava's Black Sabbath is a definite horror classic. This horror film is an anthology with three terrific, horrifying stories. Brilliantly directed with a good dose of atmospheric dread for each story, and narrated by legendary horror icon, Boris Karloff; Black Sabbath is an effectively chilling horror anthology and is one of the best horror anthologies that I have seen in quite some time. Black Sabbath has got three stories that will terrify you. Each story is brilliantly acted and leaves you in a state of dread. My personal favorite of the three stories is the third one, "The drop of water"; I thought that was the most chilling of all. A woman is haunted by the vengeful ghost of a dead medium after she steals a sapphire ring from her finger. The moments of that story are chilling and are some of the most terrifying in the horror genre. Mario Bava has made one of the best anthologies with Black Sabbath and this is a must see classic for horror fans. The stories are chilling, and they definitely build up good tension and a feeling of dread in the viewer. This is a terrific horror film and I consider one of the key Italian horror films. This is a well constructed horror film, one that is chilling and memorable. The film is brilliantly acted and directed and the stories are terrifying and original. As far as horror anthologies are concerned, Black Sabbath is by far one of the best that has ever been filmed. If you haven't seen this classic, then you should head to your local video store and rent it, you'll be in for one terrifying night of eerie and bone chilling stories.

• Cassandra M

  
  Three macabre tales."the telephone".a woman is plagued by threatening calls but all is not what it seems."the wurdaluk".in 18th century Russia a family wait for their father, now a vampire to come home and claim his loved ones and suck their blood."a drop of… More
  Three macabre tales."the telephone".a woman is plagued by threatening calls but all is not what it seems."the wurdaluk".in 18th century Russia a family wait for their father, now a vampire to come home and claim his loved ones and suck their blood."a drop of water". a nurse robs a corpse of a ring and soon regrets it. This film continuously eluded me for many years and i finally managed to see it in it's original form, beautifully restoredand it's worth the wait. the first story is the weakest, although not without interest. the second is the best , very atmospheric and contains a powerful scary performance from Boris Karloff who plays the lead vampire for the only time in his career and this role is one of his best.The last story is short but creepy and features the most scary corpse you'll ever see in a film.This is easily director Mario Bava's best film.only a silly last scene with Karloff dents it a little.

• Michael G

  
  Great almost camp horror movie. Of the 3 stories, "The Drop of Water" is definitely the best because the last 5 minutes of it actually freaked me out. I haven't been that scared in years. The intro and the outro bring down the movie. Boris Karloff comes out like… More
  Great almost camp horror movie. Of the 3 stories, "The Drop of Water" is definitely the best because the last 5 minutes of it actually freaked me out. I haven't been that scared in years. The intro and the outro bring down the movie. Boris Karloff comes out like he's Dean Martin or some shit. The last 5 minutes of the last story laid down such frightening imagery and hypnotize you into such a state of fright then we've got this pruny son of a bitch telling me we're going to be friends! It was actually kind of heartbreaking. Still scary with repeated viewings and Jesus, that corpse dummy is scary as all hell. Some of Mario Bava's best work...

• AJ V

  
  This is an anthology horror movie, some of the stories are good, and some aren't so good, but overall it's a pretty good movie.

• Drew S

  
  I had to wade through two pages of shitty Black Sabbath documentaries to get to this movie. Fuck your neckbeard metal band! Anyway, this movie is great fun. Telephone is bare and effective in its minimalism, The Wurdalak is beautifully shot (though it felt overlong and not all that… More
  I had to wade through two pages of shitty Black Sabbath documentaries to get to this movie. Fuck your neckbeard metal band! Anyway, this movie is great fun. Telephone is bare and effective in its minimalism, The Wurdalak is beautifully shot (though it felt overlong and not all that involving), and A Drop of Water, with the incredibly creepy corpse and a tense depiction of a woman's unraveling sanity, was my favorite. Boris Karloff is delightfully over-the-top in The Wurdalak and a real treat to see, and the ending is really fucking cute. This whole movie is cute, really, and I don't care how strange that makes me sound. It's a creepy, entirely wholesome slice of 1960s Italian horror, without a drop of mean-spiritedness to its name. I really enjoy anthologies; why don't I watch them more often?

• Wahida K

  
  There are very few classic Horror Movies that creep me out and this was hmm..50-50

• Randy T

  
  Old school Gothic horror classic. Mario Bava presents three separate tales of terror, with a little something for everyone. A psychological thriller, a 'Wurdulak' adventure (as near as I can tell, they're a cross between a zombie and a vampire), and a ghost story.… More
  Old school Gothic horror classic. Mario Bava presents three separate tales of terror, with a little something for everyone. A psychological thriller, a 'Wurdulak' adventure (as near as I can tell, they're a cross between a zombie and a vampire), and a ghost story. Campy, creepy fun.

• Bruce B

  
  This is a 3 short film collection (about 30 Min Each) from Mario Bava, and who better to narrate the beginning but Boris Karloff. These having been filmed in the 1960 time frame I can see where a lot of the short story TV Films came from ie Tales of the Crypt just to name one. These 3… More
  This is a 3 short film collection (about 30 Min Each) from Mario Bava, and who better to narrate the beginning but Boris Karloff. These having been filmed in the 1960 time frame I can see where a lot of the short story TV Films came from ie Tales of the Crypt just to name one. These 3 are far better and my belief that a number of Directors got ideas from Bava to be successful in America. The first movie the Phone about a Lesbian affair that went bad, and even worst for both as the film went on. The second The Wurdalak stars Boris Karloff (The only one he's in) and Mark Damon, the interview with Mark Damon opened my eyes to someone who slip through the cracks. This is about vampires and a pretty cool film at that. The Last was The Drop of Water, something I would have expected to have been written my Edgar Allen Poe, I can't pick out the best one, all 3 were 4 1/2 star films and some of the Best I've seen to date by Bava.

• Stella D

  
  somewhat campy but still cool italian 'trilogy of terror.' beautiful atmospheric lighting

• Stephen M

  
  A magnificent trio of short horror tales by Mario Bava. Curiously, although it has the highest production values, a strong literary source and a big star, the central Boris Karloff segment, "The Wurdulak", is my least favourite, though it's still excellent and is… More
  A magnificent trio of short horror tales by Mario Bava. Curiously, although it has the highest production values, a strong literary source and a big star, the central Boris Karloff segment, "The Wurdulak", is my least favourite, though it's still excellent and is beautifully shot. "The Telephone" is a perfect little giallo, and the final part, "The Drop of Water", is a very creepy variation on Poe's "Tell-Tale Heart".

• Ken S

  
  Good, not great. Extra marks for Karloff's eyebrows. Drop of Water is by far the best segment. If you want to see a feature length film on par with it's creepy scale, Check out Roman Polanski's the Tenant

• Dr Blood  

  
  It looks good, it sounds good, and, even if the first story is a little bit weak, it is still the best and most influential horror anthology apart from the "Dead of Night". You do have to watch the Italian version though to fully appreciate how ground breaking this film was… More
  It looks good, it sounds good, and, even if the first story is a little bit weak, it is still the best and most influential horror anthology apart from the "Dead of Night". You do have to watch the Italian version though to fully appreciate how ground breaking this film was at the time even if Boris Karloff's horse was so obviously fake.

• Ryan M

  
  7.1/10 Anthology films are not my favorite, but I do enjoy the well-made ones from time-to-time. Even more-so, I enjoy a HORROR anthology, and those don't come along too often. And when they do, sadly, they almost always turn out to be trash. This is because with… More
  7.1/10 Anthology films are not my favorite, but I do enjoy the well-made ones from time-to-time. Even more-so, I enjoy a HORROR anthology, and those don't come along too often. And when they do, sadly, they almost always turn out to be trash. This is because with an anthology film, you need to tell a story even if as a whole, the thing feels uneven. It's damn hard to make a good anthology film; one that makes sense and is worth the viewer's valuable time. But they've done it before, and by golly, they've done it here. "Black Sabbath" is a delightful, delirious creep-show; a magnificently macabre anthology film kept together by master filmmakers doing what they love to do: make horror films. This film is a winner in a number of ways, and I could tell that from the very beginning. I'm not so sure if it's a genre classic, but I admittedly enjoyed myself quite a bit. The first story: The Telephone. Well, I guess it wouldn't be doing you no harm to spoil most of the plot for this one. The premise says it all; a woman gets terrorized from a man who will not stop calling her. Speculations that this man is a serial killer? Yes, I guess so. The first part of the film is pretty good, and has some really good moments of tension; almost Hitchcock-like in their whimsy. The ending isn't as incredible as it wants to be, but hey: at least it works. The second story: The Wurdalak. The first thing you may be wondering about is the name. A "Wurdalack" is some sort of demonic presence within the film, which takes form of a child and then a vampire-like man. The story follows a family who gets paid a visit from a creepy old man who turns out to be a vampire. That night, he runs off and takes the child of the house. The child returns in a rather ghastly state, and what happens from there I will not say, for it is not worth spoiling. Perhaps the best of the three parts, this one does not pull any punches; it is what it is. I can't complain. The third and final story: The Drop of Water. A woman prepares a corpse for its burial by laying it down on a bed. When she sees a good-looking ring on the corpse's finger, the woman takes it out of greed, and the ghost of this woman, or some ghost (I don't know) comes back to haunt her for her humane greediness. Pretty good, with a nice feeling to it. Better than the first part, not as good as the second. Atmosphere will never get old; and the best horror films will always rely on it. There are masters of suspense (Hitchcock) and masters of the macabre and all things horrific (Argento). This film was directed by the well-known Italian horror filmmaker Mario Bava, and it is one of his finest pictures. "Black Sabbath", as a whole, is pretty creepy and has a good number of scares. Horror fans should be pleased, and really, anybody else should too. This film does not exactly have limited appeal, but most horror films are made for those with a certain passion for the genre. Here's a movie that will exercise some sort of charm for those who admire good horror, and I'm one of those people who just couldn't resist. This is not a perfect film, nor is it a really great one, but "Black Sabbath" is still thoroughly entertaining and creepy enough to be called a horror film. Unlike many films within the genre, it does not abuse the term.

• John M

  
  Black Sabbath is a good one visually stylish flick, courtesy of one of Italy's finest; Mario Bava. It presents three terrific tales of terror: "The Drop of Water" very atmospheric from start to finish. 3/5 "The Telephone," the weakest of the three tales.… More
  Black Sabbath is a good one visually stylish flick, courtesy of one of Italy's finest; Mario Bava. It presents three terrific tales of terror: "The Drop of Water" very atmospheric from start to finish. 3/5 "The Telephone," the weakest of the three tales. 2.5/5 "The Wurdelak" I personally found it to be the best of the three. It has some very chilling and atmospheric sections. 4/5 3+2.5+4/3=3.16= 3 stars Worth a check!!!

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