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Black Sabbath

Play trailer Poster for Black Sabbath 1964 1h 39m Horror Play Trailer Watchlist
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89% Tomatometer 19 Reviews 76% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
Karloff introduces tales of a haunted nurse (Jacqueline Pierreux), a stalked call girl (Michèle Mercier) and a vampire (Boris Karloff).
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Black Sabbath

Critics Reviews

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Budd Wilkins Slant Magazine 10/16/2023
Mario Bava’s ominous omnibus Black Sabbath is equal parts stunning and chilling. Go to Full Review
Noel Murray The Dissolve 07/16/2013
3.5/5
Even with Boris Karloff providing a lighthearted introduction and sign-off, Black Sabbath is fraught with fatalism. Go to Full Review
Nick Schager Lessons of Darkness 02/14/2008
A-
An exemplar of expressionistic visual storytelling. Go to Full Review
Eddie Harrison film-authority.com 09/24/2024
4/5
…as intense and highly charged as anything in Mario Bava’s illustrious career, and the whole package is an ideal selection of brief, to-the-point horror… Go to Full Review
James Kendrick Q Network Film Desk 12/18/2023
3/4
while not Bava's best work, it is nevertheless a compelling assemblage of horrific scenarios that take full advantage of all the genre has to offer Go to Full Review
Matt Brunson Film Frenzy 10/28/2023
3/4
This is most effective in its original sequencing, which progresses in story terms from good to better to best. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Joel H Oct 14 While Black Sabbath’s biggest legacy may be the heavy metal band that appropriated its name, it’s actually an entertaining movie. Well, it’s actually three short horror films in one. “Drop of Water” is by far the strongest & scariest story, and images from that tale will be haunting me for a while. The plot for "The Telephone" felt slightly disjointed and confusing, though Michèle Mercier gives a compelling performance. And "The Wurdulak" wandered a little too slowly for my tastes and didn’t have a satisfying ending. Black Sabbath may be uneven, but it’s worth watching, especially for that one segment. See more Kalissa H @kali_416 Aug 27 The telephone was the best followed by a drop of water and the wurdulak. See more Steven M Feb 26 The first tale will give you nightmares. See more Omar G 10/27/2024 I tre volti della paura (1963), rating 6/10 stars. I thought the best story was the third one, but the first one is the best story. It features the sexiest sexy girl in this movie, Michèle Mercier. I've always liked the direction style of the Italians Sergio Leones, Franco Zefirelli, Mario Bava, Dario Argento and even Tinto Brass. Before When a Stranger Calls (1979), Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994), Scream (1996) there is this sordid giallo noir story of lesbians where one of them is a successful manipulator. I had seen several films on TV or VHS as a child but I rediscovered Mario Bava, Dario Argento, John Carpenter through TV documentaries in 2005. The best performance was Rika Dialina, a sensual manipulative mother. There were many attractive women, perhaps with rhinoplasty. Susy Andersen or Michèle Mercier. Tim Burton plagiarized The Demon's Mask (1960) and I tre volti della paura (1963) in Sleepy Hollow (1999). I find the middle segment of the anthology film a bit boring in the Gothic story of wurdulaks. Black Sabbath took the name for their band from watching this film. When the child Wurdulak begs to be let in because he is cold, it was the best moment of the segment. The Mediums are recurrent in Bava's filmography. The third story is about how his conscience bothers him because of guilt. Jacqueline Pierreux is French, her typical chin and her good derriere. The Medium's face was plagiarized by James Wan's films Dead Silence (2007) and The Conjuring (2013), also Annabelle (2014). See more Christian K @ckacar 10/10/2024 A decent anthology set in the capable hands of Bava, I really enjoyed the middle Wurdolak story. See more Michael B 07/25/2024 The Drop Of Water Was The Best Story In this Film they Could Have Made A Movie On This Story Alone,Wonderful.🥰🥰🥰 See more Read all reviews
Black Sabbath

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Movie Info

Synopsis Karloff introduces tales of a haunted nurse (Jacqueline Pierreux), a stalked call girl (Michèle Mercier) and a vampire (Boris Karloff).
Director
Mario Bava
Producer
Salvatore Billitteri, Paolo Mercuri
Screenwriter
Mario Bava, Alberto Bevilacqua, Marcello Fondato
Distributor
American International Pictures
Production Co
Alta Vista Productions
Genre
Horror
Original Language
Italian
Release Date (Theaters)
May 6, 1964, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 25, 2017
Runtime
1h 39m
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