I tre volti della paura
Tags: cult, horror, gothic, murder, atmospheric

Plot synopsis:
Note: this synopsis is for the orginal Italian release with the segments in this certain order.Boris Karloff introduces three horror tales of the macabre and the supernatural known as the 'Three Faces of Fear'.THE TELEPHONERosy (Michele Mercier) is an attractive, high-priced Parisian call-girl who returns to her spacious, basement apartment after an evening out when she immediately gets beset by a series of strange phone calls. The caller soon identified himself as Frank, her ex-pimp who has recently escaped from prison. Rosy is terrified for it was her testimony that landed the man in jail. Looking for solace, Rosy phones her lesbian lover Mary (Lynda Alfonsi). The two women have been estranged for some time, but Rosy is certain that she is the only one who can help her. Mary agrees to come over that night. Seconds later, Frank calls again, promising that no matter who she calls for protection, he will have his revenge. Unknown to Rosy, Mary is the caller impersonating Frank. Marry arrives at Rosy's apartment soon after, and does her best to calm Rosy's nerves. She gives the panic-struck woman a tranquillizer and puts her to bed.Later that night as Rosy sleeps, Mary gets up out of bed, and pens a note of confession: she was the one making the strange phone calls when she learned of Franks escape from prison. Knowing that Rosy would call on her for help, she explains that she felt it was her way of coming back into her life after their breakup. While she is busy writing, she fails to notice an intruder in the apartment. This time it is Frank, for real. He creeps up behind Mary and strangles her to death with one of Rosys nylon stockings. The sound of the struggle awaken Rosy and she gasps in fright. The murderous pimp realizes that he just killed the wrong woman, and slowly makes his way to Rosy's bed. However, earlier that night, Rosy had placed a butcher knife under her pillow at Mary's suggestion. Rosy seizes the knife and stabs Frank with it as he's beginning to strangle her. Rosy drops the knife and breaks down in hysteria, surrounded by the two corpses of her former lovers.THE WURDALAKIn 19th Century Russia, Vladimir D'Urfe is a young nobleman on a long trip. During the course of his journey, he finds a beheaded corpse with a knife plunged into its heart. He withdraws the blade and takes it as a souvenir.Later that night, Vladimir stops at a small rural cottage to ask for shelter. He notices several daggers hanging up on one of the walls, and a vacant space that happens to fit the one he has discovered. Vladimir is surprised by the entrance of Giorgio (Glauco Onorato), who explains that the knife belongs to his father, who has not been seen for five days. Giorgio offers a room to the young count, and subsequently introduces him to the rest of the family: his wife (Rika Dialina), their young son Ivan, Giorgio's younger brother Pietro (Massimo Righi), and sister Sdenka (Susy Anderson). It subsequently transpires that they are eagerly anticipating the arrival of their father, Gorcha, as well as the reason for his absence: he has gone to do battle with the outlaw and dreaded wurdalak Ali Beg. Vladimir is confused by the term, and Sdenka explains that a wurdalak is a walking cadaver who feeds on the blood of the living, preferably close friends and family members. Giorgio and Pietro are certain that the corpse Vladimir had discovered is that of Ali Beg, but also realize that there is a strong possibility that their father has been infected by the blood curse too. They warn the count to leave, but he decides to stay and await the old mans return.At the stroke of midnight, Gorcha (Boris Karloff) returns to the cottage. His sour demeanor and unkempt appearance bode the worse, and the two brothers are torn: they realize that it is their duty to kill Gorcha before he feeds on the family, but their love for him makes it difficult to reach a decision. Later that night, both Ivan and Pietro are attacked by Gorcha who drains them of blood, and then flees the cottage. Giorgio stakes and beheads Pietro to prevent him from reviving as a wurdalak. But he is prevented from doing so to Ivan when his wife threatens to commit suicide. Reluntantly, he agrees to bury the child without taking the necessary precautions.That same night, the child rises from his grave and begs to be invited into the cottage. The mother runs to her son's aid, stabbing Giorgio when he attempts to stop her, only to be greeted at the front door by Gorcha. The old man bits and infects his daughter-in-law, who then does the same for her husband. Vladimir and Sdenka flee from the cottage and go on the run and hide out in the ruins of an abandoned cathedral as dawn breaks. Vladimir is optimistic that a long and happy life lies with them. But Sdenka is reluctant to relinquish her family ties. She believes that she is meant to stay with the family.Sdenka's fears about her family are confirmed when that evening, Gorcha and her siblings show up at the abandoned Abby. As Vladimir sleeps, Sdenka is lured into their loving arms where they bite to death. Awakened by her screams, Vladimir rushes to her aid, but the family has already taken her home, forcing the lover to follow suite. The young nobleman finds her, lying motionless on her bed. Sdenka awakens, and a distinct change is visible on her face. No longer caring, Vladimir embraces her, and she bites and infects him too.THE DROP OF WATERIn Victorian London, England, Nurse Helen Chester (Jacqueline Pierreux) is called to a large house to prepare the corpse of an elderly medium for her burial. As she dressed the body, she notices an elaborate diamond ring on its finger. Tempted by greed, Nurse Chester steals it. As she does, a glass tips over, and drops of water begin to splash on the floor. She is also assailed by a fly, no doubt attracted by the odor of the body. Unsettled but pleased by her acquisition, she finishes the job and returns home to her small East End flat.After returning home, Nurse Chester is assailed by strange events. The buzzing fly returns and continues to pester her. Then the lights in her apartment go out, and the sounds of the dripping water continues with maddening regularity. She sees the old womans corpse lying on her bed, and coming towards her. The terrified woman begs for forgiveness, but she ultimately strangles herself, imaging that the medium's hands are gripping her throat.The next morning, the concierge (Harriet White Medin) discovers Nurse Chester's body and calls the police. The investigator on the scene (Gustavo de Nardo) quickly concludes that its a simple case and that Nurse Chester "died of fright". The pathologist arrives on the scene to examine the body before it's taken away and he notes that the only sign of violence is a small bruise on her left finger, mostly likely caused when someone pried a ring from her finger. As the doctor makes this observation, the concierge appears distressed, as she has apparently took the ring from the dead Nurse Chester, and is further distracted by the sound of a fly swooping about in the air....Boris Karloff makes a final appearance as Gorcha riding on his horse as he concludes the three tales of fear and tells the viewers to be careful while walking home at night for ghosts and vampires have no fear. The image pulls back to actually reveal him sitting on a prop fake horse with a camera crew and various crewmen moving branches around to simulate the scene of riding through the forest from the Wurdalak segment.

Review: This terrifying film plenty of vampires,weird deeds and murders is formed by three stories proceeded in some memorably horrific set-pieces: 1) The telephone by author Snyder : A prostitute(Michele Mercier) terrorized in her flat by phone calls from a broken-out inmate(Milo Quesada) receives visit her lover(Lidia Alfonsi).
3)The drop of water by Chekhov: In the early 1900s, a nurse(Jacqueline Pierreux, mother of actor Jean Pierre Leaud, 400 blows) steals a ring from a medium dead and she seeks avenge, then a ghastly specter arises, exacting cruel revenge for past robbery.Bava's second great hit(the first was Black Sunday or Mask of the demon) surprisingly realized with startling visual content and well scripted by Marcello Fondato and Albert Bevilacqua.
In any case, this anthology is a classic of its kind."Drop of Water" (based on a story by Checkov) is a chilling tale of a nurse (Jacqueline Pierreux) who gets her just desserts after stealing a diamond ring from the hideous-looking corpse of a psychic.
The most personal story of Mario Bava in this anthology.Boris Kalfoff gives his best performance in a horror film since playing the creature in Frankenstein(1931) and Bride of Frankenstein(1933).
The best film Bava ever made is Black Sabbath.After a colourful and campy introduction by the great Boris Karloff, we move straight into The Telephone.
The Wurdulak, featuring a ghastly Boris Karloff in one of his best roles, and A Drop of Water, with Jacqueline Pierreux in the role of a greedy nurse, are both the epitome of Mario Bava's Gothic style in colour.What makes Black Sabbath so vibrant and captivating is the use of colour in lighting.
"Tre volti della paura " is a movie made up of three sketches,linked by Boris Karloff's comments -he plays the lead in the second segment - and all dealing with death following a logical progression:fear of death in the first sketch,some kind of "night of the living dead"cum vampires in the second one and terror around a dead woman in the third.Mario Bava did not need any special effects that mar so many horror films today:his baroque settings (Michele Mercier's flat in the first sketch,the countess's Gothic mansion in the third,and the lunar landscapes in the middle one),his knowing lighting effects,his color research,his incredibly effective use of the depth of field (visually stunning in the final segment)are as impressive today as they were forty years ago and were a strong influence on other Italian directors such as Dario Argento.Worth the price of admission..
the second is the best , very atmospheric and contains a powerful scary performance from Boris Karloff who plays the lead vampire for the only time in his career and this role is one of his best.The last story is short but creepy and features the most scary corpse you'll ever see in a film.This is easily director Mario Bava's best film.only a silly last scene with Karloff dents it a little..
As an anthology of supernatural horror tales, each directed by Mario Bava and introduced by Boris Karloff, 'Black Sabbath' is a film with a lot of promise.
Excellent horror anthology film from Mario Bava with three stories as well as linking segments with Boris Karloff.
Boris Karloff hosts these three tales of terror, and stars in the middle one, 'The Wurdalak', which is the closest in style to Bava's horror classic 'Black Sunday' or Roger Corman's Poe movies of the same period.
Even when I wasn't at least a little scared I couldn't take my eyes off of everything so wonderful in the technical sense- the variety and careful choosing of lights, the lens choice or its zoom in, the methodical dolly to a doorknob or a corpse's face.Ultimately, Black Sabbath should appeal to any serious fan of classic horror fare, and even if it isn't very great it's a fine example of what can be done when a director cares about craft and atmosphere along with story.
However, even in spite of this, there are a number of subtle surface similarities that we can glean from the presentation, including Bava's great use of confinement (again, reminiscent of The Girl Who Knew Too Much, especially in the first and third stories, The Telephone and The Drop of Water), and the subtle way in which he manages to make his characters morally responsible for their own potential downfall.Although the desire amongst fans of Bava's work to choose one story over another will always be there, it is impossible for me to pick a favourite; with the three stories essentially coming together to form a pure master class in horror cinema and a true testament to Bava's genius, not only as a one of the greatest genre filmmakers of the late twentieth century, but as one of the greatest Italian filmmakers of his generation.
The opening and closing scenes - with lead star of the second segment, Boris Karloff acting as the guide to the film - is again filled with a bold visual imagination and the director's typically tongue-in-cheek sense of humour, including the fairly radical final shot, in which Bava breaks the fourth wall and deconstructs the film in a way that is audacious, to say the least.
"Black Sabbath" is, as far as I can tell, the only horror anthology film Mario Bava made.The movie features three stories, as they generally do, introduced by none other than Boris Karloff, who also acts in the second part.The first story, "The Telephone", is about a beautiful woman receiving threatening calls that always start sexual and then turn threatening.
Seeing it again in the original Italian version on DVD was something of a disappointment, though it was fun seeing the film in it's original form."The Telephone," always the weakest of the three tales, is more interesting now with the elimination of the silly supernatural aspect tacked on by AIP, and the more obvious lesbian relationship between the two women."The Wurdelak" has some very chilling and atmospheric sections(love the shots of the vampires looking through the window at the end!), but the acting is more laughably wooden here than in the other two tales - Karloff excepted even dubbed in Italian - and Susy Anderson's eye make-up is awfully heavy for the character of a peasant girl."The Drop of Water" remains the best of the tales - the only one that is truly scary from start to finish.
BLACK SABBATH is a fantasy horror omnibus that shows three different faces of horror.A trio of atmospheric horror tales about: A woman, who is terrorized in her apartment by phone calls from a man from her past; a count in the early 1800s who stumbles upon a family in the countryside trying to destroy a particularly vicious line of vampires in order to save his love and a nurse who makes a wrong decision while preparing the corpse of an elderly medium who died during a seance.A different atmosphere, eerie sounds and changes of rhythm adorn all three stories.A object, around which swirl thematic and human factors, is at the center of the first story.
Typical with anthology films, the stories also vary in quality, which may have led to them being shuffled around and even altered with the American version (which also omitted Karloff's introduction), but this is a review for the original Italian version, which begins with the giallo 'The Telephone'.Rosy (Michele Mercier) is a high-class call-girl in Paris, who gets home one night to be plagued with threatening phone calls by a man claiming to be watching everything she does.
Black Sabbath or I tre volti della paura are both compelling versions of Mario Bava's three tale feature film with Boris Karloff as host.
THREE FACES OF FEAR (aka BLACK SABBATH) is one of the great anthology horror films of all time starring Boris Karloff as the host connecting three stories.
The third and final tale (also the best) is set in the early 1900s, where a nurse (Jacqueline Pierroux) steals a ring from a corpse and gets one of those famous stormy night revenges.The Italian title for this film translates to THREE FACES OF FEAR, and it pretty much describes the whole thing: Three different stories with different themes.
And that's exactly what the penultimate shot, what the dead woman's look, what many weird psychedelic visual effects suggest, Mario Bava had fun making this film, and the film is fun, and I'll never believe that there's not a fun side behind the appeal of horror movies."The Three Faces of Fear" is not perfect but it's got style, atmosphere and a sense of self- derision that I'm sure inspired Tarantino, more than the three-part structure.
Hosted by Boris Karloff, three tales of supernatural horror and terror are presented.The good Stories: The Drop of Water-Called to a remote house, a caregiver asked to prep a body for an upcoming ceremony incurs the supernatural wrath of the owner's spirit when she steals the dead woman's prized ring for herself.
Released in 1963 - This fairly taut and intense little trilogy of terror, from the famed Italian director of horror & suspense, Mario Bava, was actually surprisingly better than I thought it would be.I would never say that Black Sabbath was in any way great, but, its 3 simple and straight-forward stories of a somewhat frightening nature, were very effective and certainly kept this viewer interested, and, yes, sometimes perched on the very edge of my seat.Black Sabbath's brief, opening sequence featured veteran, American actor, Boris Karloff (76 at the time), who, in his usual sinister fashion, delivered a very tongue-in-cheek introduction to the horrors that lay in store for the viewer within this film's next 90 minutes.I think that for anyone to get any real enjoyment out of Black Sabbath's brand of horror they must keep in mind that this picture was clearly a product of the early 1960s.
If one were to unfairly compare it to horror movies of today then they would only find themselves picking this picture to pieces and being left greatly disappointed in the long run.The 3 stories presented in Black Sabbath are - "The Telephone" - A modern-day tale where a young, Parisian call-girl is repeatedly harassed by phone calls from a man who makes serious threats to kill her."The Wurdulak" - A 19th Century tale of vampirism, where a family, living on a lonely farm, are menaced by an evil presence which threatens to destroy them all."The Drop of Water" - Set in Victorian London, this is the best tale of the trilogy.
Trio of macabre terror tales from Italian Horror Master Mario Bava, with the great Boris Karloff opening and closing the anthology.
Recently getting the wonderful chance to chair IMDb's Indian Cinema board's Film Club,I began to think about what would be the most suitable choice as an intro to fellow IMDb'ers to the world of the Giallo.Not wanting to go for a gialli that was too gory,I suddenly remembered hearing a year or so ago about a story in Mario Bava's anthology film Black Sabbath that is credited as being the first ever,colour Giallo.Searching round on online,I was happy to discover,that despite the Italian Uncut version sadly not being on the site,the US cut, (which along with adding an Eng dub and a new score,also changed the order of the stories to: 3,1 and 2,features some additional,extended intros directed by co-writer Salvatore Billlitteri,and also cut out a good amount of the lesbian subtext scenes,and the huge "twist" featured in the Italian cut of "The Telephone")had luckily been fully uploaded,which would hopefully act as a good entrance to the atmospheric world of Mario Bava.The plots: Part 1:The Drop of Water- Settaling in for a relaxing night in,nurse Helen Chester receives an urgent phone come,requesting her to go to a house right away,to prepare a body to be picked up by the undertaker's later that night.Arriving to the house frustrated due to her night now being completely ruined,Chester is met by the concierge of the house,who starts warning her about dealing with the body,due to the –now deceased being a powerful medium.Ignoring the concierge's superstition's nonsense,Helen beings getting the body ready for the undertaker.As she starts to do the "finishing touches" on the corpse,Helen notices that the "medium" is wearing a strange looking ring.Finding herself weirdly transfixed by the object,Chester quietly steals the ring,knowing that with the owner of the ring now being dead,there is absolutely no one who can take it back from her.Part 2:The Telephone-Returning to her apartment after a night out,a call girl called Rosy begins to get set for bed.Suddenly,Rosy's telephone starts to ring.Hearing no sound at all coming from the caller,Rosy starts to think that it must just be a wrong number,until she is given the shock of her life,when a voice comes on the phone claiming to be her dead pimp/boyfriend Frank,who tells Rosy that she can never getaway,and goes into detail about what she is wearing at that minute.Desperate for help,Rosy franticly calls her friend/lover Mary over.Arriving to the apartment,Mary quickly calms Rosy's nerves down by telling her that "Frank's voice" will not get anywhere past that phone tonight.Part 3:The Wurdalk-Riding on his horse to get back home,Vampire slayer Count Vladimir Durfe suddenly spots the laying corpse of a beheaded Vampire.Getting close to the body,Durfe discovers that a Bowie knife which was used to kill it has been left stabbed into its heart.Taking the knife and the body to show others what he has found.Vladimir continues his journey,until he stops at a small rural cottage to rest for the night.
Entering the cottage,Durfe is met by one of the owners of the building called Giorgio.Showing the knife,Vladimir gets completely caught by surprise,when Giorgio shows him that the knife belongs to his Vampire killing father,who has been " missing" for the last 5 daysView on the film:Whilst the screenplay by Mario Bava,Alberto Bevilacqua,F.G. Snyder and Marcello Fondato does make each of the three stories its own entity,thematic themes are cleverly used to build an underlying connection,with objects such as a ring,a red telephone, (a cheeky reference to the popular Telefoni Bianchi movies of the 30's) and a Bowie knife (a reference to a weapon used to kill Dracula in Brian Stoker's novel) being shown as materialistic objects,which leads to the characters getting involved in deadly events that they (mainly) could easily have avoided.Along with the physical theme,director Mario Bava also brilliantly uses an audio thematic theme in each of the stories,from Chester being unable to stop the sound of a dripping tap,to Rosy hearing a bodiless voice on the phone and the residents of the cottage being kept up by the howls from a dog,who like the tap and the voice is out in the wilderness,haunting the closed in environment that the stories take place in.Despite the section having large sections torn from its bone,The Telephone is still able to be a terrific,tense mini- Giallo,thanks to the performance of the ravishing, Michele Mercier,who uses the near one-woman show to slowly build an atmospheric sense of paranoia,as Rosy finds the voice worryingly getting deep into her head,despite her brightly lit, high-class apartment having the appearance of keeping any darkness at bay from entering the building.For the great look of The Drop of Water,Bava showers the story with dripping colours to create a claustrophobic feeling to the plot,which suggest that Nurse Helen Chester's (played by the charming,late Jacqueline Pierreux) own growing fears may get to her before the "dead medium" makes a less than welcomed comeback.Sending the film out on a creepy,intently atmospheric mood,Bava impressively uses the setting of The Wurdalak to create a strong,almost Horror-Western feel,as Vladimir and the other residents of the cottage find themselves trapped by Vamp who wants to make sure that things stay in the family.Along with the eye- catching,heavy breathing performance by the stunning Suzy Anderson,Boris Karloff gives an amazing performance as the horrifying "lost father" Gorca.Along with unexpectedly making the appearance and behaviour of Gorca be possibly the only faithful take on Brian Stoker's original,final description of Dracula,Karloff makes sure that Gorca does not stand in any dark shadow,by showing that Gorca will use all of his family ties to quench his thirst,which leads to this being a gripping,constantly atmospheric and chilling Sabbath that you will never forget attending..
Black Sabbath (1963) - The Good, the Bad and the Cinematic BeautySynopsis: A trio of Italian cinema giallo/horror shorts: "Il Telefono" - the story of a woman driven to madness by disturbing phone calls, "I Wurdelak" - a period piece of a family driven to destruction by a vampire-like being, "La Goccia d' Acqua" - translated as a "A Drop of Water", it centers around a nurse who steals a ring from a corpse who comes back for revenge.The Good: A beautifully crafted set of films that each show unique qualities, yet somehow feel cohesive.
Best segment of the film, it looks stylish and eerie, just like The Drop of water, a ghost story also set in 19th century, about the woman who steals the ring of the dead medium, with the huge price..
I Tre Volti della Paura, or Black Sabbath as it was retitled by AIP for English speaking audiences, is hosted by the one & only Boris Karloff who introduces three ghastly tales...First up is 'The Drop of Water' where a nurse named Helen Corey (Jacqueline Pierreux) receives a phone call late one stormy night from a maid (Milly Monti) whose mistress has died...Then it's 'The Telephone' where a young attractive woman named Rosy (Michele Mercier) starts to receive frightening phone calls from her ex-boyfriend, problem is he's been dead for months...Finally it's 'The Wurdalak' which is about a man named Vladimir (Mark Damon) who encounters a dead body & seeks assistance in a nearby house but will eventually wish he hadn't...This Italian, French & American co-production was co-written & directed by Mario Bava & I Tre Volti della Paura is a good solid horror film although I didn't think it was the absolute masterpiece many seem to think it is.