Monday, December 8, 2008

They don't make 'em like they used to; in honor of Black Sabbath

Mario Bava's totally awesome Black Sabbath (1964) was on Monsters HD earlier, and I just had to watch. His bright, lavish colors; the tension that builds gradually and meticulously, like watching a game of Jenga in slow motion. I wish the majority of the music used wasn't such campy jazz, but no biggie. Still works. It took me some time to get into Bava's stuff, but once I did, I understood all of the fawning and accolades; the man was sick with it. Viva Italia!

This goes down as one of my favorite scenes, like ever. Black Sabbath is an anthology, meaning multiple tales in one film. The first is "Drop Of Water," with a bitch of a nurse whose crazy-old-lady patient dies. The elderly dame was known for her belief in and practicing of the occult, to boot. On her deathbed, the woman's precious ring is stolen by the nurse, who lives to regret it hours later. Here's the payback, in glorious Bava-shot wonder:



Untouchable.

****I fucking love horror anthologies, by the way. Especially the ones from the '70s, courtesy of the British. Any one with Peter Cushing in a role = golden.

When will somebody make a new, actually-good one? I hear Trick R Treat is the answer, but who the hell knows when I'll get to see it. Geez, Hollywood is a bunch of pussies when it comes to horror, huh?

No comments: