65 - Black Sunday (The Mask of Satan)

    A witch curses her executioners.  A long time later, the witch and her servant attempt attempt to come back by possessing some descendants.
    This showed up on a list of classic horror.  I really thought I had already seen it, but I’m not sure what I was confusing it with.  This is a noteworthy movie.  The direction is remarkably compelling.  Fantastic shadows, remarkable effects, but the whole thing just looks incredible.  It looks like the whole thing was shot on a soundstage, and it actually looks spectacular for it.
    The effects work is remarkable, especially for the time period, and the fact that it’s an Italian production that may have been cheaply made.  The violence is toned down by modern standards, but if you consider how shocking Psycho was at the time, this would have been far more violent and gory.  But more importantly, the effects are remarkably smooth.  Some of the effects are just makeup jobs, but there are a few shots of both getting older and younger in front of the camera, and those are incredibly well done.
    The one area where this movie suffers is the script.  I wonder what the movie is like if it weren’t dubbed.  There’s an unusual flourish for the script, something that doesn’t play right to an English-speaking ear.
    I’m not surprised that this would get recognized as a notable horror achievement.  Along with Peeping Tom, this helped pave the way for a wide range of horror movies.