这是一部以营造气氛见长的经典恐怖片，讲述1630年一个女巫和她情人被她自己的兄弟杀死。两百年后，两人复活，向她兄弟的后代（其中有一个酷似女巫）复仇 跟多数意大利恐怖片一样，本片的故事并不特别，但哥特式的场景阴森难忘。故事灵感来自果戈里小说。女主角一人分饰两角，暗示善恶之间只有一线之隔，演绎起来的样子就像是神情恍惚的肯尼迪夫人。 * * * * * 众多恐怖电影迷们都以为他们的钟爱己在Universal、Hammer、Roger Corman和其他一些著名的恐怖电影制片室和生产商摄制的各类影片中得到了实现。其实只有当你到阳光灿烂的意大利对满布阴霾的意国电影走走看看时，你才算真正经历了经典的恐怖电影。 Black Sunday (1960) 又名 The Mask of Satan：意大利电影制作者再次着手恐怖电影的拍摄已经是四年以后了，在Renato Polselli同样受欢迎的《The Vampire and the Ballerina》(1960)之后，摄影师Mario Bava首次作为导演浮出水面，创作了一部代表性的恐怖电影，这宣告恐怖电影作为一种电影类型从此诞生。 The Mask of Satan是真正意义上的恐怖电影代表作，故事大致源于果戈里的《the Viy》，它讲述一个处死二百年后的巫婆复活人世开始报复当初处死她的人们的后代，然而这个故事相对于Bava那几乎要跳出屏幕般的特殊视觉效果而言稍显次要，他的构图如此复杂，以至于影片的每一帧都可以被放大并挂在墙上，光与影的强烈对比营造出有什于Universal公司早期作品的恐怖效果，Bava创造出一出惊心动魄的神怪故事，充斥了巫婆、幽灵、秘密通道、凄叫的野狗、恶毒的公车司机甚至包括对着路人张牙舞爪的树枝。每一位看完此片的恐怖电影迷都着实大开眼界。 这部影片在意大利取得成功并预示着Bava执导生涯的开始，它在美国经过删改后冠以《黑色星期天》（Black Sunday），同样大受欢迎。虽说它经过了修改，但基本上还是保证了原作的汁味，并一着被能在首映时有幸一睹的美国电影迷们津津乐道难以忘怀。影片取得成功的一大功劳归于片中的影星Barbara Steele，这部作品标志着Barbara Steele演艺生涯的发韧，之后她又在九部义大利恐怖电影中担纲主演，每一部都因她的表现而亮色。她那阴暗的造型、冷淡的情欲使她自然而然地适演恐怖片，由她演出的多数电影取得成功都与她的表现密不可分，她的另外几部意大利恐怖电影为：《The Horrible Dr. Hichcock》（ 1962）、《The Ghost》（1963）、《Long Hair of Death》（1964）、《 Castle of Blood》（1964）、《Nightmare Castle》（1965）和《She-Beast》 （1965）、 《Terror Creatures from the Grave》（1966）、《An Angel for Satan》（1966）。
The dark holes on the witch’s face is like a nightmare, and her big eyes and dark circles are unforgettable images. I can clearly remember the opening scene when she were forced to put on a mask with sharp spikes inside and when the empty socket slowly refill to reveal the whites of eyes after the doctor left. This film illustrates Mario Bava’s distinct directorial style — his strong ability to control light and shadow, and to build a haunting atmosphere. Bava’s unique style and “consistency of viewpoint” , makes him so different from other European directors. Although Black Sunday is a black and white film, it is second to none in artistic style, and some of its special effects are considered to be quite good to this day. I think it is even better than some color horror movies. I can strongly feel the bloody Italian-styled gothic romance in Black Sunday. Some of the dialogue attracted my attention, like when Katia says to Andre, “In life? What is my life? Sadness and grave, something destroys it day by day, and no one can rebuild it.” It is terrifying in most of the scenes, but I couldn’t help but laugh at the way Andre is obsessed with Katia, especially when his vision fell upon Katia’s body.
Italian horror maestro Mario Bava’s directorial debut, BLACK SUNDAY - also known as THE MASK OF SATAN, a more literal translation from its original Italian titleremains a gothic mood-enhancer par excellence, much obliged to Bava’s own cinematographic experiences and aptitude, its spooky, gnarly, chiaroscuro-heavy, imposingly ornate scenography substantively trumps up the well-worn story template drawn from Nikolai Gogol’s short story “Viy”.nnSet in the 19th century Moldavia, the corpse of Asa Vajda (Steele), executed (with a mask full of sharp spikes hammered into her face) for witchery alongside her lover Javutich (a menacingly vampiric Dominici) two centuries earlier, is resurrected inadvertently by the blood of passer-by Dr. Kruvajan (a four-square Checchi transiting two worlds apart as the unfortunate enabler-cum-victim) in a sepulchral crypt and immediately she tries to actualize the centuries-old curse hexed upon her demise, to exact revenge on the descendants of her brother who put her on the stake in the first place: Prince Vajda (Garrani) and his two children, son Constantine (Olivieri) and daughter Katia (Steele again, comporting herself with assured commitment in this dichotomous star-turn), a dead ringer of Asa herself, whose corporeal body she intends to possess. nnThe plot courses through Isa’s inevitable resurrection and its equally inevitable debacle - effected by a concerted effort from a young doctor Gorobec (Richardson), who takes a shine to Katia and the God-fearing multitude - with steady assurance (without leaning heavily on gore or cheap scare) by nailing its Christianity-vanquishing-Satanism colors to the mast, and boosting an emphatically compelling score by Roberto Nicolosi, BLACK SUNDAY takes the mantle from earlier Hollywood horror and revitalizes the genre with a spellbound aura of chthonic terror, well-honed inevitability and the legerdemain of special effects (Katia’s rapid-aging process is quite a blinder of the magic-making practice), heralding the heyday of Italian “giallo” in the years to come, in which Bava himself would become quite a pioneer along with his younger compatriots Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, Umberto Lenzi, just to name a few.nnreferential entries: Carl Theodor Dreyer’s VAMPYR (1932, 7.7/10); René Clair’s I MARRIED A WITCH (1942, 5.8/10).
资料显示这部电影是基于果戈里的小说VIY创作的。科普viy了解，这是过去英国一个名叫 Little Russia 的地方对侏儒精灵老大的称号，传说这位精灵老大的眼睫毛可以拖到地面（是因为矮还是睫毛长就没有兴趣研究了）。然而果戈里的故事精简概括就是一个学生与女巫、魔鬼在教堂的终极战斗。学生因为对魔鬼的恐惧最终死亡，而邪恶力量因为战斗过瘾没有发现天亮了还待在教堂里（太无脑了吧。。。）被永久封印在教堂里，最终教堂被废弃。
Andre: Princess Katia, I hope I did not interrupt you
Katia: No, I just feel so desperate and alone
Andre: I understand, But you must not fear. You must always have faith in yourself, and in life.
Katia: In life? What is my life ? Sadness and grave, something destroys it day by day, and no one can rebuild it.
Katia walk to a stagnant pool
Katia: Here is the very image of my life. Look at it, it is being consumed hour and hour, like this garden.
Abandoned, and purposeless exists.
Andre: If there is the man who abandoned this castle, or even there is... There should be no reason why you should do likewise to your life and to you. Go far away from here, and you will be happy again, Katia. Forgive me if I call you by name. And remember, I am always ready to help you.
Katia: You are very kind man, Andre. But today, everything seems so hopeless. I fear sense of terror， resemblance of death. I am being destroyed by something inside my body. How I wish I could have your faith and strength.
Andre: You must not be despair, I know it's hard for you. But even in here in this garden, the sun will reach the darkness corner, chase away the shadow of the night.
个人感觉有些类型的电影（比如恐怖片，科幻片）都有一定的时代局限性，（我相信当年此片肯定吓倒了不少人，但作为我，今天来看，一点都没有吓倒）。与之类似，侏罗纪公园，当年我看的是如痴如醉，看了一遍还想看第二遍，被逼真的恐龙完全震撼住了。但现在来看，已经不算什么了。
很多人（尤其豆瓣上）很多人对老片子怀有莫名的敬畏感，有的是唯经典论，认为这是经典，所以五星；还有的是抱着一种“怜悯”的态度，认为1960年能做成这样已经很不错了；最后一种是将太多自己私人的电影以外的感受强加到了电影上，最典型就是童年回忆。
对于第一种，我只能说经典是大家的口碑，你属于大家，你应该有自己的意见，而不是由别人替你发言，当年的经典不一定是现在的经典，别人的经典不一定是你的经典；对于第二种，则我建议好好审查自己的双重标准，任何一个时代的技巧都是不容易的，就像星球大战（老版）的特效当然没有现在做的逼真，但逼真并不是错，并不能因为技巧老就值得更多的尊重与推崇。话说很多人举例当年星球大战上映时多么的逼真，给观众绝对的视听享受，但你要是把那个年代的观众拉到现在的电影院来看最新的星球大战，保准吓的他屁滚尿流呢！
其实，对于老片子，我还是相当的尊敬，毕竟没有他们，就没有现在这么多的电影，但是我们不能停留在那个年代，我们评判时要做到横向比较（同一年代之间的），也应该做到纵向比较（同一题材，不同年代之间的）。
I can strongly feel the bloody Italian-styled gothic romance in Black Sunday. Some of the dialogue attracted my attention, like when Katia says to Andre, “In life? What is my life? Sadness and grave, something destroys it day by day, and no one can rebuild it.” It is terrifying in most of the scenes, but I couldn’t help but laugh at the way Andre is obsessed with Katia, especially when his vision fell upon Katia’s body.
Italian horror maestro Mario Bava’s directorial debut, BLACK SUNDAY - also known as THE MASK OF SATAN, a more literal translation from its original Italian titleremains a gothic mood-enhancer par excellence, much obliged to Bava’s own cinematographic experiences and aptitude, its spooky, gnarly, chiaroscuro-heavy, imposingly ornate scenography substantively trumps up the well-worn story template drawn from Nikolai Gogol’s short story “Viy”.nnSet in the 19th century Moldavia, the corpse of Asa Vajda (Steele), executed (with a mask full of sharp spikes hammered into her face) for witchery alongside her lover Javutich (a menacingly vampiric Dominici) two centuries earlier, is resurrected inadvertently by the blood of passer-by Dr. Kruvajan (a four-square Checchi transiting two worlds apart as the unfortunate enabler-cum-victim) in a sepulchral crypt and immediately she tries to actualize the centuries-old curse hexed upon her demise, to exact revenge on the descendants of her brother who put her on the stake in the first place: Prince Vajda (Garrani) and his two children, son Constantine (Olivieri) and daughter Katia (Steele again, comporting herself with assured commitment in this dichotomous star-turn), a dead ringer of Asa herself, whose corporeal body she intends to possess. nnThe plot courses through Isa’s inevitable resurrection and its equally inevitable debacle - effected by a concerted effort from a young doctor Gorobec (Richardson), who takes a shine to Katia and the God-fearing multitude - with steady assurance (without leaning heavily on gore or cheap scare) by nailing its Christianity-vanquishing-Satanism colors to the mast, and boosting an emphatically compelling score by Roberto Nicolosi, BLACK SUNDAY takes the mantle from earlier Hollywood horror and revitalizes the genre with a spellbound aura of chthonic terror, well-honed inevitability and the legerdemain of special effects (Katia’s rapid-aging process is quite a blinder of the magic-making practice), heralding the heyday of Italian “giallo” in the years to come, in which Bava himself would become quite a pioneer along with his younger compatriots Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, Umberto Lenzi, just to name a few.nnreferential entries: Carl Theodor Dreyer’s VAMPYR (1932, 7.7/10); René Clair’s I MARRIED A WITCH (1942, 5.8/10).
现在已经可以肯定，这是今年我看过的气氛最好的恐怖片：神秘森林里处处是盘根错节的诡异，仿佛下一根枝条就要扼住你的喉咙；黑色的巨犬在午夜绝望的吠叫呜咽，与身边站立着的苍白少女形成鲜明对比；浓雾每每在恶魔出现时渐迷人眼，每走一步腾起的烟雾都像是行走在云端的危险；结满蜘蛛网的半塌城堡承受着诅咒，在人们的恐惧中失去了存在的意义；光影亦正亦邪在人脸上跳跃，在火焰半明半暗间舞出救赎与复仇的姿态；充满了正义感却执行着血腥屠杀的人们绘注了全片的经典，这才知道原来恐怖片《神殿》完全是对本片的一次借鉴与不成功的模仿。
影片以十七世纪一名女巫和其情人被族人杀死开始，戴上面具的经典镜头成为本片的海报，相信每个看过该镜头的人在锤子落下的那一刻都会感到脸疼。两个世纪之后，科学和技术逐渐打破了迷信、削弱了宗教的力量，两名医生仅仅因为兴趣所在而不小心释放了女巫，之后的斗智斗勇在精心营造的恐怖气氛下丝毫没有早期恐怖片的拖沓之感，成功的哥特风格似乎让我闻到了数百年前的中世纪潮湿气息：那些默默的承担了几千年恩怨情仇的建筑、那些沉淀在人们心底受诅咒的恐惧感、那些为爱追寻为情受苦坚定自己看见了整个世界的情痴们，统统被同一个恶魔吞噬，叫孤独。
女主角一人分饰两角，也许是因为长相实在不敢恭维的原因，在她唯一一次捂脸哭泣时竟是极美的。在最后女巫与少女争夺身体时，以一个长镜头表现少女从曼丽到衰老的过程真心精彩，化妆和剪辑配合的天衣无缝，所以当女人再次从老妪变回少女时再欣赏一次这种特效也相当赏心悦目。这种特效同样表现在女巫从一个骷髅慢慢长出了骨碌碌转的眼珠上，红颜枯骨的残酷美几乎令人心碎。
而说到化妆，其实现代人看多了奇形怪状的怪物洗礼后再看片中腐烂掉渣的鬼脸并不足为奇，然而此刻彰显的正是光影和配乐的魅力。在阴影中一张若隐若现的腐烂的脸毫无生气的向你靠近，惊吓的面孔与魔鬼的脸庞交叉出现更加深了观者的恐惧心理，这种效果尤其在黑白电影中展现的最完美。而在森林中那些横生诡异的树枝、看似清澈却深不见底的池塘、在常年不散的浓雾中悄然矗立的墓群、象征着正义的十字架歪歪斜斜无不像一篇复活了的童话，阴冷的缠住童年的噩梦直至窒息。
影片中出现的十字架是大主教十字，又称拜占庭十字，是基督宗教符号圣十字架的一种变体。与拉丁十字基本相似，但上方多了一个小横杠。在拜占庭希腊和东欧十字架中还会在大主教十字下方再加一个倾斜的小横杠，这也是东正教常用的符号之一。东正教符号出现也可以解释影片背景设置在了俄罗斯附近的原因。
话说影片也有一个BUG：女主弟弟从很高的陷阱底爬上来还能双手去抓吸血鬼，这让我想起了《大内密探零零发》周星驰双手转轮还能腾出手点炸弹的场景。
资料显示这部电影是基于果戈里的小说VIY创作的。科普viy了解，这是过去英国一个名叫 Little Russia 的地方对侏儒精灵老大的称号，传说这位精灵老大的眼睫毛可以拖到地面（是因为矮还是睫毛长就没有兴趣研究了）。然而果戈里的故事精简概括就是一个学生与女巫、魔鬼在教堂的终极战斗。学生因为对魔鬼的恐惧最终死亡，而邪恶力量因为战斗过瘾没有发现天亮了还待在教堂里（太无脑了吧。。。）被永久封印在教堂里，最终教堂被废弃。
本部电影借鉴的就是小说中女巫借体复活，以及女巫召唤魔鬼这两个元素。
电影从极刑开篇就使用各种元素，进行对比。导演不愧是摄影师出身，光影对比掌握太好，以至于这部黑白电影在营造恐怖氛围上并不输给任意一帧彩片。
电影手法就不去深入讨论了，随便网上搜搜有大量对这部的分析与膜拜。随手记录几句喜欢的台词侧面膜拜下意大利人充斥着骨血的哥特式浪漫情怀吧。
背景是Katia公主在经历父亲恐怖死亡以及诸多恐怖事件后独自漫步在城堡凄凉的花园遇到钦慕她的医生Andre
Andre: Princess Katia, I hope I did not interrupt you
Katia: No, I just feel so desperate and alone
Andre: I understand, But you must not fear. You must always have faith in yourself, and in life.
Katia: In life? What is my life ?
Sadness and grave, something destroys it day by day, and no one can rebuild it.
Katia walk to a stagnant pool
Katia: Here is the very image of my life. Look at it, it is being consumed hour and hour, like this garden.
Abandoned, and purposeless exists.
Andre: If there is the man who abandoned this castle, or even there is...
There should be no reason why you should do likewise to your life and to you.
Go far away from here, and you will be happy again, Katia.
Forgive me if I call you by name.
And remember, I am always ready to help you.
Katia: You are very kind man, Andre. But today, everything seems so hopeless. I fear sense of terror， resemblance of death.
I am being destroyed by something inside my body.
How I wish I could have your faith and strength.
Andre: You must not be despair, I know it's hard for you. But even in here in this garden, the sun will reach the darkness corner, chase away the shadow of the night.
Katia: Andre, help me. I beg you to help me.
...
最后小感，往往是suffer的越痛苦，魔鬼的力量越强大。而往往是内心越坚定，对抗魔鬼的战斗力越强。修炼强大的内心太重要了。。。