When it comes to horror films, it's impossible to overestimate the importance of Mario Bava's The Mask of Satan, which Arrow have oddly chosen to release under the US title of Black Sunday. It's up there with the early Universal horrors and Hammer's Curse of Frankenstein and Dracula in terms of importance, effectively launching the whole Italian horror cycle, as well as inspiring pretty much the whole of the Euro horror explosion in the 1960s (as well as making a reluctant scream queen out of Barbara Steele). It's quite a history hanging over the film, and it might seem understandable if it turned out to be a bit of a disappointment after all that. So it's all the more impressive that the film not only holds up remarkably well, but in many ways seems to get better and better.

You know you are in for something special with the pre-credit sequence, where condemned witch Asa (Steele) is branded and has a spiked mask hammered into her face – meaty stuff for 1960! It's perhaps unsurprising that the ever-sensitive BBFC took exception to the film and banned it for eight years.

Leaping forward two centuries, a couple of travelling doctors stumble upon her tomb and unwittingly revive her, so she can take her revenge on her family that she had cursed after her brother had condemned her to death. Along with revived servant Javuto (Arturo Dominici), she begins to wreak her vengeance on her descendants (including Steele again, as Princess Katia)...

Shot in crisp black and white, Black Sunday positively drips with atmosphere and menace – while Hammer brought full colour to the gothic horror, Bava here shows that in the right hands, monochrome is hard to beat when it comes to style. It's no exaggeration to say that you could pause this film at more or less any point and frame grab a still image that oozes style. Steele immediately – and possibly to her regret – makes herself a horror icon in a dual role that allows her to be both innocent and sinister, her remarkable appearance (not a conventionally beautiful starlet, but incredibly striking and hypnotic) bringing a real sense of evil to Asa. She effortlessly overpowers everyone else, including John Richardson as a rather ineffectual hero.

Bava's direction is pretty flawless – in a wildly inconsistent career, he made several great films but was probably never quite this brilliant again. His visual eye is remarkable, giving the film style to spare, and interestingly, the crude special effects are remarkably effective – the revival of the decayed Asa still looks impressively grotesque even now.

A pivotal horror film that remains remarkable viewing even now, Black Sunday is a masterpiece of gothic horror. And even if you already own a copy, this new edition is worth the effort of upgrading, and certainly pulls out all the stops to be the definitive edition of the film. There is the European edition, The Mask of Satan, which is the one most widely seen today, and also the re-edited US version (as Black Sunday) that redubs the characters and replaces Roberto Nicolosi's score with one by Les Baxter. You can also watch the Italian language version if you so choose. There's also a deleted scene that adds nothing of importance, but is good to see anyway, and an extensive collection of Bava trailers.

The most significant extra is I Vampiri, a 1956 movie directed by Riccardo Freda and completed by Bava after Freda walked off the project. This is a much less impressive slice of horror / science fiction that, despite the title, has few gothic trappings. Instead, it's a tale of mad scientists and a Duchess searching for the secret of eternal youth, found through transfusions of the blood of others. A dull newspaper reporter is on the case, though no one will believe his suspicions.

Notable for being the first sound-era Italian horror film, I Vampiri rushes through its story within the first 30 minutes and then has to pad things out for the next hour, and shows few of the gothic horror flourishes that both Freda and Bava would display in later works. It's not awful, but certainly nothing special, and you can see why it has been relegated to the role of DVD extra – where it is a very welcome addition – rather than having a stand-alone release. Still, a nice add-on to an already-essential purchase.

DAVID FLINT

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