The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

The reigning masterpiece of Italian horror cinema, Mario Bava's Black Sunday remains one of the most stylishly photographed of all horror films, ranking with any other black-and-white film of lasting repute. This was the master cameraman's official directorial debut, and his striking compositions are the work of a genuine artist in peak form. Loosely adapted from a story by Nikolai Gogol, this chilling vampire tale begins in 17th-century Moldavia, where the evil Princess Asa (Barbara Steele) is executed for witchcraft and vampirism, along with her brother Javutich (Arturo Dominici). Two centuries later, a pair of traveling doctors discover Asa's crypt and inadvertently revive the evil princess, whose scheme of vampiric revenge is aimed at her own identical descendant Princess Katia, an innocent beauty (also played by Steele) whose lifeblood will ensure Asa's immortality.

Although the "Buy Black Sunday" prompt takes you to Amazon, the American version was censored and I do not know whether the Amazon version is the American version of the film or the earlier British version of the film. The British version includes the censored portion. It is not at all graphic but completely symbolic. This uncensored British version is available through Sinister Cinema. The phone number I have for them is 541-773-6860. I believe they also have a website but I do not know it.

This is the movie that launched the great Barbara Steele and is a black and white classic.