Black Sunday is a classic black and white Italian horror film that not only influenced the Giallo genre of the 1960s best known in films by Dario Argento, but influenced the international film fascination with gore and supernatural elements. You may be inclined to dismiss Black Sunday as tame judged by today’s standards, but I regret not being able to see an uncut, undubbed version of Black Sunday on a big screen to get the full effect of how groundbreaking it was.
Black Sunday is about a witch’s curse on her family’s future descendants as punishment for burning her at the stake. Black Sunday’s villain may be a witch, but there are also vampire, zombie and body snatcher elements in the narrative, and the mishmash works. The final chase sequence to stop the witch is a suspenseful and confusing denouement that I had to rewatch it a couple of times.
Black Sunday may be dated by today’s standards, but I would welcome an opportunity to see it on the big screen using the director’s original version. For those who respect your horror elders, Black Sunday is a must see.