BADass SINema Unearthed - Blu-ray 4K UHD Review

Originally titled The Mask of Satan, Mario Bava’s feature length debut, released here in the United States as Black Sunday, was a gothic-sized hit for Roger Corman’s American International Pictures.  The hype was all about its shocking images. 

While tame when compared to today’s horror, Bava’s film certainly is the trailblazer it claims to be and, as voted on by Bravo TV Network, one of its sequences was voted number 40 among the "100 Scariest Movie Moments" on film.  The black-and-white gem is a must-see for any hound of horror and its stateside blu-ray debut, released by Shout Factory, is a definite must-own.

The atmospheric film opens in Moldavia, in the year 1630, as Princess Asa (Barbara Steele) is convicted of being a witch.  Her vow of revenge – before a mask of spikes hammered to her face silences her – is carried out two hundred years later upon the descendants who burned her to death.  Doctors Thomas Kruvajan (Andrea Checchi) and Andre Gorobec (John Richardson) discover a crypt after their carriage is wrecked and find Asa’s tomb.  Dun dun duuuun!!!

Blood is spilled.  A bat appears.  And Ana is back in action after that spiked mask is gruesomely peeled from her face.  Dun dun duuuun!!!

Leaving the crypt, the two doctors are confronted by Katia (Barbara Steele again) in a shot that has graced the insides of numerous film books and magazines ever since.  It’s not long before Asa has taken possession of Katia and is exacting her long-planned revenge.  Dun dun duuuun!!!

Written by Ennio de Concini and Mario Serandrei, Black Sunday is a classic of the genre.  It’s beautifully filmed and gorgeously atmospheric throughout.  It still manages to hypnotize its audience.  Some critics call it spellbinding.  Some just don’t get it at all.  Heavy on the violence, Bava’s film made a name for itself among audiences due to the controversy surrounding some of its more brazen gore effects.  So much so that the movie, singlehandedly, launched both Bava and Steele’s career in film.

Of course, in order to make the film more “accessible” to American audiences, AIP trimmed over three minutes' worth of violence and "objectionable" content when it was originally released here.  This version is, fortunately, NOT the “safe for American audiences” cut and is most definitely trimmed with virgin eyes in mind.  Asa's flesh and blood spewing from the mask after hammered onto her face, the moist eyeball impalement and the flesh peeling off another’s face as he burns to death in the fireplace are all here!

Now a part of Shout Factory’s The Mario Bava Collection, Black Sunday is European gothic horror at its most exciting.

Shout Factory Exclusive / Limited Deluxe Edition / Blu-ray - 2,500 copies

Home Video Distributor: Shout Factory
Available on Blu-ray - July 31, 2025
Screen Formats: 1.66:1
Subtitles: English SDH
Video: MPEG-4 AVC
Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; Twelve-disc set
Region Encoding: blu-ray locked to Region A

In 17th-century Moldavia, the evil Princess Asa is condemned to death for witchcraft and vampirism, along with her brother Prince Igor Javutich. Two hundred years later, two doctors discover her crypt and accidentally set her resurrection in motion! With the help of Javutich and others whom she enthralls with her cold, dead kiss, Asa sets her sights on her ultimate victim: Princess Katia, her own doppelganger descendant!

In 1960, Mario Bava made his directorial feature debut with La maschera del demonio (The Mask Of Satan), a film that achieved worldwide commercial and critical success under its better-known title ... Black Sunday.

VIDEO

The film is presented with a 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer using an aspect ratio of 1.66:1.  The ambitious scale of Bava's atmospherics is represented in absorbing style with an image that is surprisingly clean given the age of the film, without any over-processing lending the picture an artificial appearance.  Certainly, despite the clarity of the presentation, the film is still allowed to breathe and retains a level of grain that ensures an authentic and credible appearance.  Even dark scenes are rarely problematic, with the blacks proving extremely solid, and the level of accuracy ensuring that this gothic masterpiece is visually absorbing throughout.

AUDIO

The audio is presented in a solid English DTS-HD Master Audio English With English SDH Subtitles.

Supplements:

Commentary:

• There are several.  See the breakdown below!

Special Features:

Shout Factory includes several NEW commentaries, each one presenting the film with its long and labored release history.

BLACK SUNDAY (INTERNATIONAL VERSION – 1.66:1, 87 MINUTES):

• Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio English With English SDH Subtitles
• NEW Audio Commentary With Writer Dr. Rebekah King
• NEW Audio Commentary With Dr. Karen Stollznow, Matt Baxter, And Blake Smith
• NEW Audio Commentary With Film Critic Brian Keiper
• NEW Audio Commentary With Film Critic Meagan Navarro
• Trailers From Hell – Interview With Filmmaker Larry Cohen
• International Trailer
• US Trailer
• Poster Gallery
• TV Spot

	Movie
	Video
	Audio
	Extras
Composite 4K UHD Grade

Black Sunday (1960)

MPAA Rating: Approved.
Runtime: 87 mins
Director: Mario Bava
Writer: Ennio De Concini; Mario Serandrei
Cast: Barbara Steele; John Richardson; Andrea Checchi
Genre: Horror
Tagline: Discover deep within them the unspeakable, terrifying secret.
Memorable Movie Quote: "You, too, can feel the joy and happiness of hating."
Theatrical Distributor: American International Pictures
Official Site: https://shoutfactory.com/products/the-mario-bava-collection-limited-deluxe-edition#
Release Date: February 15, 1961
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: July 31, 2025
Synopsis: Decades after being executed for witchcraft, vengeful Princess Asa Vajda and her fiendish servant are resurrected and begin a bloody campaign to possess the body of Asa Vajda's beautiful look-alike descendant Princess Katia.