Black Sabbath (1963)/Revisit

It was on and even in the background, the absolute artistry of Bava draws my entire attention to the screen. When Gorca and his family (all turned into Wurdulak by him) are in the ruins surrounding their remaining mortal member, Sdenka, lit by shades of green and seeming to float towards her while Count Vladmir is asleep elsewhere: I still find that deliciously eerie. She has nowhere to escape, and Bava just lights it impeccably. I feel Bava never even attempts to bring any real realism, opting to make it feel like a dark fairy tale all the way. And the entire family, including Damon's Count, are unable to escape the very vampirism Karloff's Gorca meant to purge from his countryside. Just bleak, nightmarish perfection.

Even with "The Phone", where a woman is tormented by the maniac she sent to prison, returning to strangle her girlfriend, looking to finish her off, has those giallo vibes I'm always game for. "The Drop of Water", with its big sets, story of how theft from a corpse might not be the wisest decision, the outside green light blinking in and out (reminding me of the later Blood and Black Lace), the use of water noise to be a burden to the thief's conscience, and the very corpse herself emerging to torment Helen Chester at her home, is just the extra visual and horror punch I need to absolutely adore this anthology, my all-time favorite horror anthology.

Only The Whip and the Body competes with this as my favorite color Bava film, and he has plenty to choose from.