Қара Сабат (Qara Sabat)

1963 film by Mario Bava
the horror film
the 1963 anthology horror film directed by Mario Bava

Black Sabbath is a 1963 Italian horror anthology film directed by Mario Bava. The film consists of three separate tales that are introduced by Boris Karloff. The order in which the stories are presented varies among the different versions in which the film has been released. In the original, Italian print, the first story, titled "The Telephone", involves Rosy (Michèle Mercier) who continually receives threatening telephone calls from an unseen stalker. The second is "The Wurdulak", where a man named Gorca (Karloff) returns to his family after claiming to have slain a Wurdulak, an undead creature who attacks those that it had once loved. The third story, "The Drop of Water", is centered on Helen Corey (Jacqueline Pierreux), a nurse who steals a ring from a corpse that is being prepared for burial and finds herself haunted by the ring's original owner after arriving home. Being a low budget horror film with multiple stories, an international cast and foreign financial backing, Black Sabbath follows numerous trends of 1960s Italian film productions. The film is credited to various writers, including Anton Chekov and Aleksey Tolstoy, but is predominantly based on several uncredited sources, and changes were made to the script after filming commenced. American International Pictures and Titra Sound Corporation suggested changes to Bava during filming to make the film palatable for American audiences, and created their own English language version of the film, which replaced Roberto Nicolosi's score with music by Les Baxter, removed several depictions of graphic violence and made alterations to other scenes. This version greatly changed the plot of "The Telephone", giving it a supernatural element and removing all references to lesbianism and prostitution. Black Sabbath was a commercial failure upon release in Italy, and performed below expectations in America. A spiritual sequel to the film, based on "The Dunwich Horror" and provisionally titled Scarlet Friday, was set to reunite Bava with Karloff and co star Christopher Lee, but AIP distanced themselves from Bava following the failure of Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs and eventually produced the film without Bava, Karloff or Lee's involvement. Plans for a remake were announced in 2004 with Jonathan Hensleigh attached to write the script. Since its original release, Black Sabbath has received positive reviews from critics, and was placed at number 73 on a Time Out poll of the best horror films.

Note: This plot summary refers to the original Italian version of the film.

Rosy, a French call girl, returns to her basement apartment at night. She receives a series of strange phone calls. The caller eventually identifies himself as Frank, her former pimp who has recently escaped from prison. Rosy is terrified knowing that it was her testimony that sent Frank to prison. Rosy phones her friend and former lover, Mary for solace. The women have been estranged, but Rosy is certain that only Mary can help her. Mary agrees to come over that night. Seconds later, Frank calls again, promising that no matter what Rosy does he will have his revenge. Rosy doesn't realize that Mary is impersonating Frank on the telephone. Mary arrives at Rosy's apartment and attempts to calm Rosy's nerves. Mary provides Rosy with a large knife for protection before she goes to sleep. As Rosy sleeps, Mary writes a confession explaining that she made the calls to force a reunion, knowing that Rosy would call on her for help. While she is writing Frank quietly enters the apartment and strangles Mary, believing her to be Rosy. The sound of their struggle awakens Rosy, and Frank realizes he murdered the wrong woman. Frank approaches Rosy's bed, but she seizes her knife and stabs Frank. Rosy drops the knife and breaks down in hysteria.

In 19th century Serbia, Vladimir D'Urfe is a young nobleman who finds a beheaded corpse with a dagger plunged into its heart. He takes the blade, and finds shelter in a small farmhouse. Durfe is approached by Giorgio, who explains that the knife belongs to his father, who has not been seen for five days. Giorgio offers a room to D'Urfe and introduces him to the rest of the family: his wife Maria, their young son Ivan, Giorgio's younger brother Pietro, and sister Sdenka. They all await the return of Giorgio, Pietro and Sdenka's father, Gorca, who has gone hunting for a Turkish brigand who's actually a wurdalak, a living cadaver who feeds on human blood, especially of loved ones. At midnight, Gorca returns to the cottage with a sour demeanor and unkempt appearance. After the family goes to sleep, Ivan and Pietro are attacked by Gorca, who flees the cottage with Ivan. Giorgio chases after Gorca but only returns with Ivan's corpse. Giorgio plans to stab Ivan in the heart as he has done for Pietro to prevent him from reviving as a Wurdalak, but is prevented from doing so by his hysterical wife. The two agree to give their son a burial. That same night, their child appears outside and begs to be invited in. Giorgio is stabbed by his wife while she attempts to let in her son. On opening the door, she is greeted by Gorca, who bites her. Vladimir and Sdenka flee from their home and hide in the ruins of a deserted monastery. As Vladimir sleeps, Sdenka walks outside and finds Gorca and his family surrounding her. Vladimir awakens and searches for Sdenka, finding her lying in her bed at home. She begs him to leave but Vladimir refuses, saying he would rather die than lose her. As Vladimir embraces her she bites his neck while the rest of her family watch through the window.

In 1910s London, Nurse Helen Chester is called by the maid of an elderly medium to prepare the latter's corpse for burial. As she dresses the body, she notices a sapphire ring on its finger. Chester steals it, accidentally tipping over a glass of water which drips on the floor; she is then annoyed by a fly. Chester takes the ring home to her flat and witnesses strange events. The fly returns and continues to pester her and the lights in her apartment go out as the sound of the dripping water is heard from various locations. Chester sees the woman's corpse lying on her bed. It rises and floats towards her. Chester begs for forgiveness but the corpse appears to strangle her in reality she strangles herself. The next morning, the concierge discovers Chester's body and calls the police. The pathologist arrives to examine the body and only finds a small bruise on her left finger where the ring had been. As the doctor announces this observation, the concierge appears distressed and hears the dripping of water.

In a contemporary review of the American International Picture's edit, The Globe and Mail stated that "The Drop of Water" and "The Telephone" were "a good deal more sophisticated than usual horror fare" while "The Wurdulak" "bears no trace of [Bava's] manner of directing" and that the acting was "rudimentary". The Boston Globe gave the film a negative review, referring to the Black Sabbath as "three short films botched together". The Monthly Film Bulletin stated that "the eeriest thing about the picture is its decor (especially the heavy, dusty interiors of [The Drop of Water]" while noting the "acting is very unstylish and made worse by dubbing". The review stated that Bava could "do better than this with less obvious material" and that he seemed "determined to spell everything out with a sudden zoom shots and shock cuts." Time Out compared the film to anthology horror films made by the British production company Amicus noting that "If only Amicus had taken heed they might have got some ideas as to what can be done with the format." Kim Newman wrote in a retrospective review of the English dub, that "The Drop of Water" is the best of the three stories, and was described as "Bava's most simply frightening work." In contemporary reviews of the Italian language version, The Dissolve gave the film three and a half stars out of five, stating "There are small twists in all three stories, but for the most part, the segments suggest where they're headed early" and that the dialogue in the film is "sparse, and doesn't shy away from any exploitable elements, from scantily clad women to bloody wounds and warped faced ghouls. But even more terrifying is the movie's atmosphere of doom [ ] Black Sabbath is fraught with fatalism." Total Film awarded the film four stars out of five, referring to it as a "wonderful horror anthology". Online film database AllMovie praised "The Wurdulak" stating that Karloff's "ghostly visage provides several unforgettable scares" and that "The Drop of Water" is short but "remains scary and suspenseful throughout" Black Sabbath placed at number 73 on their top list.