THE MASK OF SATAN (1989) (Severin Films Blu-ray Review + Screenshots)

THE MASK OF SATAN (1989) 

aka La Maschera del Demonio

Label: Severin Films

Region Code: Region-Free 

Rating: Unrated 

Duration: 98 Minutes 18 Seconds 

Audio: Italian or Spanish DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles 

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.66:1) 

Director: Lamberto Bava 

Cast: Mary Sellers, Debora Caprioglio, Michele Soavi, Giovanni Guidelli, Alessandra Bonarotta, Laura Devoti, Stefano Molinari, Ron Williams

The Mask of Satan (1989), directed by Lamberto Bava (Demons, Demons 2), is a very loose adaptation of his father's film Black Sunday (1960), which itself was based on the Russian story of Viy, which was itself adapted into a same-titled movie in 1967. The project started off as one of six planned made-for-Italian-TV films about witches, which was cancelled so this ended-up being a one-off, with the film having been little scene since it's original theatrical screenings.   

In it a group of skiers, Sabina (Deborah Capriogli aka Deborah Kinski, Paprika), David (Giovanni Guidelli, The Tourist) Alexandra (Mary Sellers, Stage Fright), Nora (Alessandra Bonarotta, Sweets from a Stranger), Irma (Laura Devoti, The Devils of Manza), Bebo (Michele Soavi, Alien 2 on Earth), Andrea (Stefano Molinari, Hudson Hawk) and Sergio (Ron Williams, Beyond the Door III), becomes trapped in an ice cave after falling into a crevasse while skiing. There they discover the long-dead frozen corpse of of young woman with a peculiar iron mask that's seemingly been impaled onto her face. They're young and stupid so of course they decide to pull it off and have a bit of fun with it. That's when there's an earthquake, the crevasse rumbles violently and Sergio is killed after being impaled with a huge stalactite-sized icicle, and Sabina's leg is broken. The survivors seeking shelter deeper in an underground cave that reveals itself to be the back entry of an ancient church.  They explore the church and find it's sole inhabitant, a blind albino priest (Stanko Molmar, A Blade in the Dark) and his canine companion. David tells the priest of the frozen corpse and how they removed the mask, the priest telling him that they've unmasked an ancient evil, and have unwittingly unlocked the Satanic vengeance of the dreaded witch Anabis (Eva Grimaldi, Rat Man), dooming them all. 

What follows is members of the group slowly being possessed by the spirit of Anibas, they start acting wickedly and maliciously, cackling maniacally, and tormenting the the poor blind priest. It seems only the virginial David and Sabina are unaffected, but just before the priest is torn apart by demon she warns David to keep an eye on Sabine, whose broken leg has miraculously healed. 

This was made in the waning years of the Italian genre cinema boom, and I was a bit worried that it being somewhat of an obscurity that it would mean that the flick might be a bit of letdown, and was perhaps forgotten for reasons of it's quality or lack thereof, but I am pleased to say that this is a pretty fun later 80's Italian entry, and I am glad to see it get a proper HD release. While it's loosely based on Mario Bava's seminal witch-flick Black Sunday the connection is minor at best, in so far as it's a story about a ancient witch coming back from beyond the grave to have her revenge. The setting in the Alps is quite different as is the time period, the only real connection are flashbacks to Anabas having the mask sledgehammered onto her face in ancient times. The rest of the film feels much more like Lamberto Bava's Demons and Demons 2, in fact, in some markets this is known as Demons 5, and having a score by Simon Boswell (Demons) certainly adds more of the demonic flavor to it. As I said, the Black Sunday connection is pretty tenuous, and it makes much more sense as on of the many unofficial Demons sequels. 

The setting in a secluded, snowbound ancient church and village high up in the mountains  looks terrific, it's a tad over lit but I loved the garish colors, it's a vibrant looking flick, from the ski outfits worn by the group to the set design of the church it's bleeding color left and right. The make-up effects, done by Sergio Stivaletti (Cemetery Man) are low-budget but quite wonderful, the highlights for me are a chicken-legged witch with a grotesque face and titties seducing poor David, and when the full witch is later revealed we get a blue-skinned, Medusa-styled snake-headed fright that had me cackling with glee. On top of that we get writhing possessed people, some not unappreciated nudity, and a very cool looking iron mask that I wish would have been used just a little bit more. 

This was a terrific watch, if you're a fan of late-80s Italian horror, especially Demons and Demons 2 and the myriad of unofficial sequels that came after this entry from Lamberto Bava is gonna be a banger for sure, I give this a high recommend. 

Audio/Video: The Mask of Satan (1989) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Severin Films, scanned in 2K from the original camera negative for the first time ever in North America, framed in 1.66:1 widescreen. This looks terrific, the film was lost in a film vault for over thirty years and the new scan looks almost pristine, there's a few very faint vertical lines in the opening scenes, but we get a fine layer of film grain throughout that has some terrific detail and texture. The close-ups of Anibas's frozen face in ice revealing textures of the bandages and the puncture wounds beneath her mask. Colors look terrific, well-saturated and accurately garish. Audio comes by way of Italian or Spanish DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo, the track is robust, the sounds of cackling, effects and the Simon Boswell score are never less than pleasing, optional English subtitles are provided. 

We get a trio of fascinating extras for this release, all in Italian with English subtitles. We start of with the 37-min The Curse Of The Mask – Interview With Director Lamberto Bava, wherein the director discusses the genesis of the film, the casting, the producers he worked with, the score, and how the film has long been forgotten and considered lost for over 30 years, mentioning that he felt perhaps Mario Bava, his late father, had perhaps cursed the film, unhappy that his son was remaking it! 

In the 12-min Una Americana A Roma – Interview With Actress Mary Sellers, the actress discusses working in New York where she met her husband Fabrizio Laurenti (The Crawlers, Witchery aka La Casa 4), falling in love with him while shooting his first short film The Immigrant (1986), and meeting  Lamberto Bava who suggested her for a part in Michele Soavi's Stage Fright, which kicked off her career. She talks about working with various directors including Bava, Soavi, and making Ghosthouse aka La Casa 3 with Umberto Lenzi, who she had an unpleasant experience with. It's quite a spirited and humorous talk, and she still looks terrific. . 

Next up is the 12-min Sabina The Teenage Witch - Interview With Actress Debora Caprioglio, this looks like an archival interview, I am unsure of the date, but she is still looking great, she talks a bit about dating Klaus Kinski, taking his last name to give her name some marquee value at the time. She speaks of the extensive make-up process and how intense the shoot was, and the later success of Parika which she made with Tinto Brass. She also gets into how you are best remembered for the successful films you made, not so much the TV series. 

The single-disc standard release version of The Mask of Satan arrives in a black keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork featuring a terrific new illustration highlighting the witchy and quite busty Debora Caprioglio and the unique iron-mask seen in the film. 

 

Special Features:
- The Curse Of The Mask – Interview With Director Lamberto Bava (37:06) 
- Una Americana A Roma – Interview With Actress Mary Sellers (12:29) 
- Sabina The Teenage Witch - Interview With Actress Debora Caprioglio (11:54) 

Screenshots from the Severin Films Blu-ray: 

Extras: 

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