This Forgotten Horror Anthology Is 63 Years Old, Free To Watch and Utterly Wicked
Horror anthologies are a huge staple of the genre, and with so many classic and modern hits from Creepshow (1982) to V/H/S (2012), it’s hard to remember the ones that did it first. Mario Bava’s Black Sabbath (1963) is a perfect example of a formative horror anthology that more people need to know about.
A classic collection of haunting stories that explore ghosts, vampires, and killers, Black Sabbath has a little something for everyone and is streaming for free on JustWatch TV now. But why should you check out a horror film so iconic that it inspired the metal band of the same name? Read on to find out!
Black Sabbath Is a Formative Anthology Film
Black Sabbath may not be the first horror anthology film—that credit goes to Dead of Night (1945), but it is one that solidified the standards for the sub-genre. With only three stories, Black Sabbath didn’t overstay its welcome, and it's because of this that the movie still holds up.
Decades later, movies like Body Bags (1993) would adopt a similar formula, and by limiting the stories told, it allowed for a deeper impact once the scares started to mount. But there’s a classic quality to Black Sabbath that makes it stand out among its peers. It leans on classic horror ideas such as ghosts and plays on psychological terror that isn’t as abundant in modern horror anthologies.
Black Sabbath plays out like a classic Edgar Allan Poe story, and because of that, the terror that’s present can hit you quickly and never let go. It’s all about humans reaching the breaking point or facing the consequences of their actions, and it makes for a movie with not one but three satisfying endings. Since then, all great horror anthologies take form from what Black Sabbath introduced.
Black Sabbath Remains an Iconic Movie For Many Reasons
When it comes to horror movies with style and staying power, it’s hard not to talk about Black Sabbath and its director, Mario Bava. One of the most influential directors of the Giallo era, Bava is famous for movies like Black Sunday (1960), Blood and Black Lace (1964), and A Bay of Blood (1971). But Black Sabbath was something special.
For starters, it was bookended with host Boris Karloff, most famous for playing Universal Pictures’ Monster in Frankenstein (1931). There, he leaned heavily into the flashy and eerie and delivered an amazing performance that is just as definitive as the lighting that surrounded him and the stories within. The use of vibrant colors didn’t detract from the creepy atmosphere and instead defined it as a staple.
The best example of this was in the film’s final short, “The Drop of Water,” in which a nurse prepares the corpse of a medium for burial and steals her ring. But once home, the spirit of the corpse begins to terrorize her. The imagery of the medium is one of the most terrifying images in horror and is still used today, even if Black Sabbath isn’t credited. Nevertheless, the dead stare of the medium has helped keep the legacy of the film alive.
Why Should You Watch Black Sabbath?
When it comes to a good horror anthology, the thing that matters most is a strong reason to watch it. For every great entry, there are less-than-stellar ones like V/H/S: Viral (2014) that hurt the good faith of such a creative idea. In the case of Black Sabbath, the reason you should watch something that’s over 50 years old in the first place is evident from the opening minutes.
Boris Karloff gives viewers a fun and energetic host who ushers you into his macabre world and warns you immediately that what you’re about to see won’t be for the faint of heart. It’s like a classic horror novel brought to life, and each story creates an amazing atmosphere of horror and psychological terror.
It’s not about blood or demons but more about the feeling you get when you’ve seen the unseeable and how it can break you. Now that it’s free on JustWatch TV, you can experience it yourself, and the one thing that’s certain is that it will raise your standards on horror anthologies as Black Sabbath is one of the most important of them all.
