-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Black Sunday (1960) [La maschera del demonio]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

STARS...........: Barbara Steele, John Richardson, Andrea Checchi
DIRECTOR........: Mario Bava
WRITERS.........: Ennio De Concini, Mario Serandrei
GENRE...........: Horror
IMDB............: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054067
RUNTIME.........: 1h 26mn
SIZE............: 4.02 GB
VIDEO CODEC.....: HEVC (Main10@L4)
BITRATE.........: 6000 Kbps (2-pass)
RESOLUTION......: 1824x1080
ASPECT RATIO....: 1.66:1
FRAMERATE.......: 23.976 fps
AUDIO1..........: Italian FLAC 1.0
AUDIO2..........: English FLAC 1.0
AUDIO3..........: German AAC 1.0
AUDIO4..........: Commentary by film historian Tim Lucas 
SUBTITLES.......: ENG, GER
SOURCE..........: Koch Collector's Edition Blu-ray [European Cut]
ENCODE DATE.....: 2021-04-29


Generally considered to be the foremost example of Italian Gothic horror, this darkly atmospheric black-and-white chiller put director Mario Bava on the international map and made the bewitching Barbara Steele a star. Steele plays Princess Asa, a high priestess of Satan who is gruesomely executed in 1600s Moldavia by having a spiked mask hammered into her face. Before she dies, Asa vows revenge on the family who killed her and returns from the grave two centuries later to keep her promise. In a striking resurrection scene replete with bats, scorpions and fog, Asa rises from the tomb to claim her bloody vengeance. With vampires, bubbling flesh, dank crypts, undead servants and torch-bearing mobs, the plot is a little ripe, but the visuals are Bava's primary consideration. The atmosphere is so heavy and the imagery so dense that the film becomes nearly too rich in texture, but the sheer, ghastly beauty of it all is entrancing. Although this was only the second of Bava's twenty-six films as director, it is undoubtedly his best and the one upon which most of his considerable reputation rests.


Extras

• Audio Commentary by film historian Tim Lucas
• Italian, US and UK Theatrical Trailers
• TV Spot
• Still Gallery