BLACK SABBATH

Three separate tales that are introduced by Boris Karloff. “The Telephone” involves Rosy, who continually receives threatening telephone calls from an unseen stalker. “The Wurdulak”: a man named Gorca returns to his family after claiming to have slain a Wurdulak, an undead creature who attacks those that it had once loved. “The Drop of Water” is centered on Helen Corey, a nurse who steals a ring from a corpse that is being prepared for burial and finds herself haunted by the ring’s original owner after arriving home.

Black Sunday was such a huge hit that a follow-up was swiftly demanded, and horror maestro Mario Bava duly devised this three-part horror anthology blending modern and period stories. 19th-century Russian story The Wurdalak comes closest to Bava’s earlier classic, with the great Boris Karloff as a much-loved paterfamilias who might not be entirely what he seems. Bava’s direction is as stylish as ever, and Black Sabbath is almost a compendium of his favourite themes.