History Film / BlackSunday1960

A 1960 Italian horror classic directed by Creator/MarioBava. It was his first film where he received actual credit for his work. It was an adaptation of the short story ''Literature/{{Viy}}'' by Nikolai Gogol. The movie's style, cinematography and story harkens back to older GothicHorror films of the 1930s. ''Black Sunday'' (originally titled ''La maschera del demonio'', "The Mask of Satan") itself would go on to influence later films such as Creator/TimBurton's ''Film/SleepyHollow1999'' and ''Film/BramStokersDracula''.

Not to be confused with another movie about... [[Literature/BlackSunday a blimp.]] Also see ''Film/BlackSabbath'', another Mario Bava horror movie with a similiar title.

Not to be confused with another movie about... [[Literature/BlackSunday a blimp.]]

* MohsScaleOfViolenceHardness: An 8 for the shot of [[spoiler: Prince Vadja's zombified body being burnt to a crisp]] and [[spoiler: Asa briefly exposing her chest cavity with exposed organs.]] A hard 6 otherwise for the unpleasant satan mask, which kills Asa by stabbing her face, leaving unrealistic holes, various wounds, moderate bloodshed and a brief shot of a [[spoiler: a dead hanging servant]]. This is comparatively tame for [[Film/Zombi2 Italian]] [[Film/CannibalHolocaust horror]] [[Film/TheBeyond standards.]]

* AristocratsAreEvil: Princess Asa and Prince Javutich are servants of the Devil. Their brother, the inquisitor, isn't so nice either.

%%* [[BookcasePassage Fireplace Passage]]

A 1960 Italian horror classic directed by Creator/MarioBava. It was his first film where he received actual credit for his work. It was an adaptation of the short story ''Literature/{{Viy}}'' by Nikolai Gogol. The movie's style, cinematography and story harkens back to older GothicHorror films of the 1930s. ''Black Sunday'' itself would go on to influence later films such as Creator/TimBurton's ''Film/SleepyHollow1999'' and ''Film/BramStokersDracula''.

* AdaptationNameChange: Khoma Brut becomes Choma (with a 'C') Kruvajan, Tibery Gorobets becomes Andrej Gorobec, and the Viy (who's unnamed in the original story) is named Asa Vajda.

** The AIP dub changes Choma's name to Thomas (which is the Anglicized form of Choma), Andrej to Andreas, and Igor Javutich to Javuto.
* AristocratsAreEvil: Princess Asa and Prince Javuto are servants of the Devil. Their brother, the inquisitor, isn't so nice either.
* BackFromTheDead: Asa and Javuto are killed by a mob at the start of the story. Due to her dark magic, Asa is able to bring them back to life many years later.

* {{Bowdlerise}}: The American International Pictures release of the film, which cut down on some of the gore, as well as turning Javuto into the servant of Asa, removing the incest angle. The original title 'The Mask of Satan' was also removed.

* EvilMinions: Javuto is Asa's servant and helps her carry out her plans.

* IncestSubtext: Asa and her servant Javuto are brother and sister in the original Italian version with the incestuous subtext being played up.

* OminousFog: A fog immediately rolls in when Asa's servant Javuto comes for Dr. Kruvajan.

* OurZombiesAreDifferent: Javuto seems to be a type of revenant zombie-vampire, obeying Asa's commands and shambling about. He is actually more similar to folkloric vampires than the classic incarnations of cinema and literature.

** The AIP dub changes Choma's name to Thomas (which is the Anglicized form of Choma) and Andrej to Andreas.

A 1960 Italian horror classic directed by Creator/MarioBava. It was his first film where he received actual credit for his work. It was an adaptation of the short story ''Literature/{{Viy}}'' by Nikolai Gogol. The movie's style, cinematography and story harkens back to older GothicHorror films of the 1930s. ''Black Sunday'' itself would go on to influence later films such as Tim Burton's ''Film/SleepyHollow'' and ''Film/BramStokersDracula''.

* BrotherSisterIncest: Asa and her servant Javuto are brother and sister in the original Italian version with the incestuous subtext being played up.