Italy, France, USA, 1963
88m, 2556 metres
35mm film, Technicolor, 1.78:1
mono, Italian
An Italian/French/American horror film directed by Mario Bava.
Plot Summary
An anthology of three short horror stories. The Telephone: a young woman is terrorized by an escaped prisoner from her past who taunts her in vicious telephone calls. The Wurdulak: in the nineteenth century, a Russian count becomes involved in a family’s ongoing struggle with a vicious clan of vampires. A Drop of Water: a nurse steals a ring from the body a recently deceased old medium, only to face a terrifying visitation from beyond the grave.
Credits
* = uncredited
Crew
Directed by: Mario Bava
© 2000 The Alfredo Leone Trust [re-copyrighted]
© MCMLXIII [1963] Alta Vista Productions [US prints]
Alfredo Leone presents [2000 version only]. A Galatea S.p.A. exclusive. An Emmepi Cinematografica, Lyre Cinematographique, Galatea S.p.A. production. American International Pictures [logo] [US prints]. James H. Nicholson and Samuel Z. Arkoff present [US prints]. Produced by American International Pictures, Emmepi Cinematografica, Lyre Cinematografica, Galatea S.p.A. [US prints]. An American International picture [US prints]
Producers: Salvatore Billitteri *, Paolo Mercuri *
Written by: Marcello Fondato
In Collaboration With: Alberto Bevilacqua, Mario Bava
Free adaptations of stories by Cechov [real name: Anton Chekhov] [The Drop of Water], Tolstoi [real name: Aleksei Tolstoy] [Sem’ya vurdalaka], Maupassant [real name: Guy de Maupassant] [* Fear]
Directors of Photography: Ubaldo Terzano; Mario Bava *
Editor: Mario Serandrei
Music by: Roberto Nicolosi
Music by: Les Baxter [US prints]
Sound: Mario Messina
Costume Designer: Tina Grani
Make-up: Otello Fava
Hair: Renata Magnanti
Art Director: Giorgio Giovannini
Studio: Titanus [Rome, Italy]
Cast
US version opening credits
Boris Karloff
Mark Damon
Jacqueline Soussard
Michele Mercier
Il telefono
Michele Mercier (Rosy)
Lydia Alfonsi [real name: Lidia Alfonsi] (Mary)
Milo Quesada [Frank – uncredited]
I wurdulak
Boris Karloff (Gorca)
Mark Damon (Vladimire d’Urfe)
Susy Andersen (Sdenka)
Massimo Righi (Pietro)
Rica Dialina (Maria)
Glauco Onorato (Giorgio)
La goccia d’acqua
Jacqueline Pierreux (Helen Chester)
Milly Monti (Miss Perkins’ maid)
Harriet Medin (neighbour)
Gustavo De Nardo (police inspector)
Alternative Titles
Black Christmas
Black Sabbath – USA
Die Drei Gesichter der Furcht – Germany
Der Ring der Verdammten – Austria
I skräckens klor – Sweden
The Three Faces of Fear
The Three Faces of Terror
Las tres caras del miedo – Spain
Les Trois visages de la peur – France
Links
Extracts included in
Don’t Scream It’s Only a Movie (1989)
Il rosso segno della follia (1969)
Shiver and Shudder Show (2001)
References
Periodicals
- Cinematographie Francaise no.2138 (27 November1965) p.11 – review
- Fangoria no.198 (November 2000) p.65 – DVD review (by Michael Gingold)
- Film Francais no.1121 (3 December 1965) p.15 – review
- The House of Hammer vol.1 no.2 (1976) pp.46-47 – illustrated article (Horror around the world by Barrie Pattison)
- Kine Weekly no.2980 (12 November 1964) p.8 – credits, review
- Monthly Film Bulletin vol.31 no.371 (December 1964) pp.179-180 – credits, synopsis, review
- Monthly Film Bulletin vol.53 no.624 (January 1986) pp.24-25 – credits, synopsis, review
- Video Watchdog no.5 (May/June 1991) pp.32-59 – illustrated article (Black Sabbath: The UnMaking of Mario Bava’s The Three Faces of Fear by Tim Lucas with translations by Alan Upchurch)
Books
- American International Pictures: A Comprehensive Filmography by Rob Craig pp.63-64
- American International Pictures: A Filmography by Robert L. Ottoson p.103
- The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror by Phil Hardy (ed.) p.158 – credits, review
- Boris Karloff: A Critical Acount of His Screen, Stage, Radio, Television, and Recording Work by Scott Allen Nollen pp.312-316; 395 – illustrated review; credits
- British Gothic Cinema by Barry Forshaw p.172
- Cinematic Vampires by John L. Flynn p.132
- Classic Horror Films and the Literature That Inspired Them by Ron Backer pp.289-292 – illustrated review
- English Gothic: A Century of Horror Cinema by Jonathan Rigby pp.140, 148
- Euro Gothic: Classics of Continental Horror Cinema by Jonathan Rigby pp.5, 121-23, 125, 130, 134, 136, 247
- Faster and Furiouser: The Revised and Fattened Fable of American International Pictures by Mark Thomas McGee p.303
- Feature Films, 1960-1969: A Filmography of English-language and Major Foreign-language United States Releases by Harris M. Lentz III p.40 – credits
- Frightfest Guide to Ghost Movies by Axelle Carolyn p.82
- The Haunted World of Mario Bava by Troy Howarth pp.75-87; 334-336 – illustrated review; credits
- Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death by James Marriott & Kim Newman p.111
- Horror and Science Fiction Films IV by Donald C. Willis p.48 – credits
- Horror Films by Subgenre: A Viewer’s Guide by Chris Vander Kaay and Kathleen Fernandez-Vander Kaay pp.13-14 – review
- Horrorshows: The A-Z of Horror in Film, TV, Radio and Theatre by Gene Wright p.265 – credits, review
- House of Psychotic Women by Kier-La Janisse pp.111, 155
- Italian Gothic Horror Films, 1957-1969 by Roberto Curti pp.78-86 – credits, review
- Italian Horror Films of the 1960s: A Critical Catalog of 62 Chillers by Lawrence McCallum pp.22-31 – credits, review
- Mario Bava by Alberto Pezzotta pp.60-45; 106-107
- Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark by Tim Lucas pp.481-511 – illustrated review, synopsis, production notes, credits
- Reference Guide to Fantastic Films by Walt Lee p.38 – credits
- Rock ‘n’ Roll Monsters: The American International Story by Bruce G. Hallenbeck pp.170-174; 291
- Sixties Shockers by Mark Clark and Bryan Senn pp.56-57
- Top 100 Horror Movies by Gary Gerani pp.110-111 – illustrated credits, synopsis, review
