The Red Circle

By Tom Nix

I can’t tell you that BLACK SABBATH is Mario Bava’s best film, or even that every segment in this mini-trilogy is completely effective and scary. What I can attest for is that Boris Karloff is genuinely creepy in this film, that Mario Bava knows how to frame the hell out of his shots, and that this movie contains one of the most truly frightening shots of all time.

There are two different versions of this film. The original Italian, and the American version. If possible, The Italian version is the one worth watching. Most notably, because the order of the shorts is the most effective (going from least to best), there is a little more violence, and the plot of “The Telephone” is completely changed and much more interesting. The original focused around a lesbian couple who are on the rocks. When one of their ex-lovers, a pimp, who has just gotten out of prison, starts making threatening phone calls, they are brought back together in an uneasy situation.

In the American remake, the lesbian subplot is dropped entirely, and it’s turned into a fairly standard, shitty ghost story. In fact, the only benefit to the American version is the use of Boris Karloff’s real voice in “The Wurdulak,” a period vampire story set in Russia. In the Italian version, he is overdubbed in Italian (Shocking).

The Wurdulak showcases some great chops by Karloff, and is notable for the eerie atmosphere it creates. Wurdulaks, according to lore, are vampiric creatures who can only feed on the ones they love the most. As much as Karloff sells this notion, there is little else that can compare to a small child, wailing out in the cold night, asking his mother to please let him in the house. He’s freezing and he just wants to be held.

And this is the cycle of the Wurdulak. Despite everyone knowing they are inviting in the monster, they cannot help but be kind to the people they love the most – ending in tragedy for everyone.

Finally, there is “A Drop of Water.” I am assured that no matter how experienced you are in horror, this film will get under your skin in ways that no other one has. The story is about a nurse who is in charge of a very sick, old woman. When the woman, a powerful gypsy, dies,the Nurse is charged with preparing her body for the funeral. During this process, she notices a large and valuable ring on the corpses finger and steals it. In the process, she knocks over a glass of water and incurs the woman’s undead wrath.

Even after the uncomfortable scenes involving the dead woman being dressed for her grave, what follows is perfect, textbook horror. Using brilliant sound editing, effective lighting, and the most diabolically scary makeup job ever applied, the final moments of the nurse’s life are some of the most intense moments of horror filmmaking ever projected in a theater or in a home.

BLACK SABBATH is unfortunately better known for a mumbling musician than it is an incredible triptych of varied horror shorts, each more frightening than the next.

Mario Bava is one of the most celebrated names in horror for good reason, but I do not think he has ever topped the fifteen minute nightmare that is “A Drop of Water.” Watching it is an invitation to staying awake.

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