La maschera del demonio (1960)

Country of Origin: Italy
Year of Production: 1960
Running Times: 83 mins (USA)     87 mins (Italy)
Format: black and white
Ratio:
Sound: mono

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Galatea Film / Jolly Films
Executive Producer (US Version): Samuel Z. Arkoff
Producer: Massimo De Rita
Producer (US Version): Lou Rusoff

SCRIPT
Script: Ennio De Concini, Mario Bava, Marcello Coscia, Mario Serandrei
Adaption: Marcello Coscia
Story: Vij by Nikolai Gogol
English Language Dialogue: George Higgins

DIRECTION
Director: Mario Bava
US Version Director: Lee Kresel
1st Assistant Director: Paolo Mercuri
Assistant Director: Vana Caruso

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Ubaldo Terzano, Mario Bava
Camera Operator: Ubaldo Terzano

EDITING AND POST PRODUCTION
Editor: Mario Serandrei

MUSIC
Music: Roberto Nicolosi
Conductor: Pierluigi Urbani
US Version Music: Les Baxter
US Version Music Co-Ordinator: Al Simms

SOUND
US Version Sound: Robert Sherwood
Synchronisation Assistant: Gisella Mathews

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Costumes: Tina Loriedo Grani

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Set Designer: Giorgio Giovannini

MISCELLANEOUS
Translator: Christopher Sven Dietrich

CAST
Barbara Steele (Katia Vajda / Princess Asa Vajda)
John Richardson (Dr Andre Gorobec)
Ivo Garrani (Prince Vajda)
Andrea Checchi (Dr Thomas Kruvajan)
Arturo Dominici (Javutich)
Antonio Pierfederici (priest)
Clara Bindi (innkeeper)
Enrico Olivieri (Constantin Vajda)
Mario Passante (Nikita)
Germana Dominici (innkeeper's daughter)
Tino Bianchi (Ivan)
Antonio Pierfederici
Renato Terra (Boris)

In the 17th century, Princess Asa and her brother Prince Igor Javutich are burned at the stake for practising witchcraft and vampirism. Two hundred years later, Asa is accidentally freed from her tomb by a pair of doctors and, with her reborn brother, she sets about possessing the body of her lookalike descendant, Katia.

Bava's first film and one of the best horror movies ever made. The gorgeous black and white photography almost deliberately flies in the face of Hammer's contemporary Technicolor excesses and perfectly complements the doom-laden gothic ambience. Even this early, Bava was going his own way and not simply copying his contemporaries, though he set an almost impossible standard of excellence - what makes Bava so special is that he rose to his own challenge so brilliantly over subsequent films. A beautiful and haunting film, La maschera del demonio remains one of the crown jewels of Italian horror.

UK
Video Distributor: Vampix; Redemption

USA
Theatrical Distributor: American International Pictures
Video Distributor: Filmfax; Movies Unlimited; Something Weird; Sinister Cinema; Luminous Film & Video Works
Laserdisc Distributor: MCA; Image Entertainment (ID7651HB)
DVD Distributor: Image Entertainment (ID5942AODVD)

Finland
Rating: K-18

Sweden
Rating: 15

UK
Rating: banned; X; 15

USA
Rating: unrated

1960
August
1: Italy - theatrical release

1961
February
15: USA - theatrical release

1963
July
22: Sweden - theatrical release

1964
January
31: Finland - theatrical release

1991
April
4: USA - laserdisc release (Image Entertainment (ID7651HB))

1999
December
14: USA - DVD release (Image Entertainment (ID5942AODVD))

The Undead Demons of Hell Terrorize the World in an Orgy of Stark Horror!

The Mask of the Demon
Black Sunday - US title
The Demon's Mask
Revenge of the Vampire - UK title
House of Fright
The Hour When Dracula Comes
The Mask of Satan

REMAKE
La maschera del demonio (1989)

SEE ALSO
Demoni (1985)
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Terrore nello spazio (1965)

MAGAZINES

Cinefantastique 27:6 p.54 (USA)
review

Cinematographie Francaise no.1913 (15 April 1961) p.31 (France)
review

Cold Sweat 10 p.12 (UK)
review

Film Daily vol.118 no.35 (21 February 1961) p.8 (USA)
review (by H.M.)

Film Francais no.882 (21 April 1961) p.19 (France)
review

Hollywood Reporter vol.164 no.3 (16 February 1961) p.3 (USA)
review

Motion Picture Herald vol.222 no.5 (18 February 1961) p.20 (USA)
review

Shivers 29 p.18 (UK)
review

Variety 22 February 1961 (USA)
review (by Tube)

witches, revenge, crypts, castles, cemeteries, vampires, burned at the stake, masks, satanism

Last Updated: 1 January, 2009