Personally, I really like horror anthologies. Horror, by its very nature, has trouble sustaining an epic scale. A good portion of horror movies have a really great section of the film and then a lot of fluff. The justification behind the fluff is that excess fat is that it builds the character so we care about him or her when the tension is actually created. Mario Bava's Black Sabbath proved that concept incorrect. You watch this horror anthology and you care about these characters, despite their brief introductions.
I'm not saying that there shouldn't be time for character development in movies. Not that at all. But most horror movies are just trying to run the clock down to an hour-and-a-half so it can be accepted more than a mere splatterfest. But Bava keeps all of his stories at a tight, well-paced half-hour. Probably the best way to review it is to just go story by story down the line until I cover all of them. It almost seems unfair to review this movie as a whole anyway.
"Boris Karloff's Intro" -2 minutes. What a sweet deal. I'm sure Karloff really knew what he was getting into with this. Now, I'm normally all for subtitled movies over dubbed films. But I don't want subtitled of dubbed Italian over English. What the hell, Anchor Bay? Good thing that most of the movie is in Italian.
"The telephone" -This is just a terribly creepy short story. The scary telephone stories have really gone downhill since the advent of cell phones and caller ID. It always becomes less scary knowing that they have to explain away why the technology is not working. This is another half-hour story and the first half is just dynamite. Once we find out who the "killer on the phone," it becomes a little disappointing, but there is a hell of a payoff. Not only that, but Bava doesn't over-indulge the revelation at the end. It's a very solid short story and gets right to the creepiness factor extremely quickly.
The Warderlack -This was my favorite of the bunch just because I've never heard of a warderlack. Everyone has made a thousand ghoul, vampire, demon story a thousand times so much so that the entire subgenre of whatever creature you might be talking about has just gone downhill. This is a very creepy concept behind this beastie and I like the fact that the evil is somewhat personal in nature. It causes you to question your family. Sure, there's the scene with the stupid mother who knows that there's evil out there, but still decides to embrace it. Also, putting Karloff as the patriarch of the family is just the best decision possible. He has this really old Eastern European vibe to him that just makes the movie scary as hell. Him riding through the night is terrifying and you have to respect that. He really is creepy and the master of horror, regardless of age.
"A Drop of Water" -This might be my least favorite story out of the three, but it still is extremely fantastic. There's no denying that the story takes a lot from "The Tell-Tale Heart," but that's okay. The spookiness really comes from the absolutely horrific doll that they use for the corpse. Bava really doesn't try to cover up the fact that the corpse looks fake, but just relies on the general distrubingness of the doll itself. I mean, that thing shows up all over the apartment amongst the echoing of water dropping throughout the night. Sure, the idea of stealing the ring off of a dead person is different than cutting someone's heart out and putting it under the floorboards, but it was pretty solid nonetheless.
This is my favorite Bava so far. I was completely overwhelmed by it and recommend it for any good horror evening.
I first saw this movie when I was about 7 years old at a film showing in grammer school during the spring, and while the last of the three stories was not so good, the first, A Drop Of Water, scared the hell out of me. If you never watched this, check it out. Boris Karloff was mostly the narrator and only showed up in the last story of vampires.
Meh, this was really unsatisfying. The first two stories were irritating in that there would have been no story had the main characters had common sense e.g. The Telephone: who WOULDN'T have called the police by the 2nd threatening phone call or The Wurdalak: you know you had to kill the man when he came back, you can only blame yourselves... ugh- and the woman crazy over her kid was just plain ridiculous. The third one, the shortest, was actually the best one IMO. It is a tale most kids would remember from "Scary Stories to tell in the Dark" - similar to the old woman with the coins placed over her eyes, only this one is of a ring that was stolen. The corpse in it is plaint beautiful in it's hideousness, the creepy dolls stewn about and the woman's ties to witchcraft- and at 20 minutes, it doesn't overstay its welcome like the previous 2.
Overall, I'd say mediocre and is probably now better viewed on TCM around Halloween when you've nothing else to watch.
Black Sabbath is one of my favorite Bava movies. It consists of three different shorts put into one movie hosted by Boris Karloff. And I must say that the first one had tons of suspense, the second was creepy, and the third was very scary. But I like the third the best.
Those Italian directors sure do have a good sense of style and lighting. There wasn't a whole lot of substance overall, but that wasn't what I was looking for.
Part 1 - This was the weakest entry into the trilogy, but wasn't bad. If Wes Craven has never seen this movie, then he's lying because "The Telephone" episode definitely resembled the opening to "Scream". It's not a bad concept, of someone threatening over the phone, but the ending kind of had me say to myself : "ok".
Part 2 - I like this take on vampires. It utilizes the idea of not knowing who is a monster or a real person. Boris Karloff plays the father and his ghastly looks into the camera were caught perfectly. The ending was pretty predictable, but I liked the atmosphere of this episode.
Part 3 - One of the scariest 20 minutes I've seen in a movie. A nurse is called to take out a corpse from a home, and steals a ring from the dead woman...who happened to be involved in the occult. A warning to those who haven't seen this movie, you will not be able to get that old hag's face out of your head. A very creepy ending to a well done horror trilogy.
A damn fine trilogy of terror w/ my personal favorite smack-dab in the middle (& a little longer than the others to boot). All three tales could have stood on their own weight as full length features but placed together w/ a dab of Karloff's delightful sour cream on the red herring @ the end was priceless...plus the purple lighting was immaculate; I wish my nightmares looked so good
To put it simply this is one of the best horror films ever made, without a doubt. I thought I was too old to have a film scare me, but this proved me wrong; The Drop of Water segment made all my hairs stand on end, and the best thing is it isn't gore or violence that made it happen but pure atmosphere, I think the last time a film scared me was back when I saw 13 when The Blair Witch had came out, obviously at the time without the internet I was fooled in to thinking it was real and I'm definitely glad I was fooled because it made the ending one of the best moments in horror. It's taken me 6 or 7 years to find another film to scare me. If The Drop Of Water didn't make all your hairs stand on end you must be emotionally numb.
I really enjoyed this one. I really liked the "Drop of Water" tale...that old lady coming back to life is incredibly freaky! "The Wurdulake" is true gothic horror at it's best!
A brilliant horror flick, the first one is like a thriller, not brilliant but still very good, the next is expressionistic Gothic horror and the last is spine-tingling creepy. They don't follow a plot just a smooth rhythm, a basic story and let the emotions work it out. Another great effort from Mario Bava, well-arranged too.
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
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.
A 3-piece Gothic extravaganza to show Bava's great talent in manipulation audiences. The Telephone and Drop of Water are simple amazing and even when the one in between is not as solid, it is still pretty good.
The Telephone: Wonderful use of tension. Obviously influential in giallo-terms. The twists were a little predictable, but not so much so that they had any sort of negative effect on the viewing experience. The fact that it all takes place in one apartment, and still is interesting is just a testament to how intense this one gets. And the lesbian bit was fun (silly, but enjoyable)
The Wurdalak: Overall this is the weakest. The building of tension isn't really on the same level as the other two. The frights aren't really there. The only thing that really got me was the part where the little boy is banging on the door ("I'm cold!", etc... very creepy) The ending was a little... meh. As with the rest of Black Sabbath, the visuals are really stunning. Amazing lighting, beautifully framed shots, etc.
The Drop of Water: The mood created visually is eerie as hell (even beyond the dead old lady... which is going to keep me from sleeping tonight XD) The camera movement is awesome (long shots that move around a room, establishing the space AND serving as a means of exposition) The sets are also gorgeous to look at (so much interesting detail)
Okay. And the real thing that gets me. Holy shit. The old lady. The very first shot of her is the most terrifying thing I've ever seen. (on top of that, my cell phone started vibrating in my pocket at the exact moment that the curtain is opened... I almost pissed myself.) She reminds me of Captain Howdy (her makeup), except... less subliminal. Which makes it so much more frightening.
I definitely recommend this to anyone and everyone who wants to see a beautiful film that is still one of the scariest things I've ever seen.
Three very stylish horror films in one. A Drop Of Water - the first of the three tales - is far and away the strongest, but the other two are certainly well worth seeing.
Perhaps the ONLY film to have truely scared me!!! From time to time a nightmare still lingers in my dreams ever since I first saw this gruesome horror classic twenty years ago.
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...
The best horror anthology movie ever made. Each story is complex enough to work and garner simpathy for its characters. The old lady who comes back to life to get her ring back is perhaps one of the scariest things I've ever seen in a film. A great movie.
This flick is a wonderful anthology of terror with each segment being scarier than the one before!
Stylistically speaking, the second sketch is probably my favorite though. It showcases Boris Karloff as a man who turns into a vampire (a wurdulak, to be more precise) and subsequently decimates the members of his family one by one. Ain't that neat? :P
Basically, it's Gothic horror at its best: filled with creepy medieval ruins and misty sets. You can't go wrong with this one!
Also, stay tuned for the third sketch (entitled "The Drop of Water")! It's guaranteed to send shivers down your spine!
MCT:September 25, 2008
MCT:September 4, 2008
MCT:May 19, 2008
MCT:May 10, 2008
MCT:March 23, 2008
MCT:September 28, 2007
MCT:September 17, 2007
