The Mask of Satan (1989) finds writer/director Lamberto Bava (Demons) paying tribute to his father, Mario, and his 1960 gothic horror classic Black Sunday, originally titled The Mask of Satan. The connecting thread is a resurrected witch who was killed with a metal mask hammered to her face by an angry mob. The rest is something all his own and thanks to Severin Films it has been saved from obscurity and presented in a fine 2k scan from the original camera negative.
Buy The Mask of Satan Blu-rayA group of young skiers (including Giovanni Guidelli, Mary Sellers, Michele Soavi, and Debora Caprioglio) gets dropped off by helicopter on a deserted ski slope and fall into a crevice where they uncover the frozen body of a witch with a metal mask nailed to her face. Of course, these fools have to pry off the mask and prance around with it like jerks, setting all kinds of bad things in motion. They also stumble upon a strange church long buried under the ice and its adjoining town. The only inhabitants are an ancient (but still rather young-looking) blind, albino-like priest (Stanko Molnar) and his dog. From the priest, the kids learn that they have set free a powerful demon by unmasking the frozen body. The priest relates that hundreds of years ago a busty witch named Anibas (Eva Grimaldi) cursed the village as she was tied to a stake and burned after having the iron “mask of Satan” pounded into her face by an angry torch-wielding mob.
As Anibas thaws out, things get weird and the youngsters become possessed by the spirit of the ice witch. Of special interest to Anibas is the busty young Sabina (Caprioglio) and her beau Davide (Guidelli). While the others go wild with devilish insanity, it seems only Davide and Sabina have kept their wits about them but we soon see that Anibas has consumed the soul of Sabina (spelled backwards is…). Davide must fight to save them from Satan and resist the evil powers of Anibas as she tempts him with sins of the flesh. Will the young skiers survive this ice ordeal alive? Or will they all be devoured by the medusa-like dark lord Satan?
The Mask of Satan is also known as Demons 5 as it follows the familiar Demons formula of having people stuck in some enclosed place, like a church, as they face off against a long hidden unholy being they’ve somehow awakened. Once set free, the demon/witch/evil being causes all hell to break loose as it consumes all but the hero and perhaps one other. There’s some gore and creative creepy scenes before the place comes crashing down around them after many dirty deeds have been performed.
Bava employs vibrant colors, camera angles, imaginative set designs and good practical effects to help create some disturbing, eerie moments. The special effects by Sergio Stevaletti are well done and hold to the standard of being mildly scary and oddly funny. Stevaletti’s Satan is a frightening creature with dreadlock-looking snakes for hair while his resurrected, old hag Anibas, complete with spike-holed face, shows off her grasshopper legs during the seduction of Davide. Bava’s use of color and creativity are very much in the vein of his mentor Dario Argento. What fans of Italian horror movies from this time period will also pick up on is that actor Michele Soavi is the very same who will direct his own unique horror movies, (The Church and The Sect) which would also be included in the loose line of Demons sequels due to their use of the aforementioned formula.
For years this one was feared lost, buried in some vault somewhere but fortunately, it’s been found and released on Blu-ray by the folks at Severin Films. Bava was originally asked to take part in a series of made-for-TV movies with a theme of witch tales from around the world. His was the only one in the works when the plug was pulled on the series before it was fully finished. Thus putting Bava’s film in limbo as its focus transitioned from small screen to silver screen. This last-minute switch also led to it having a very small theatrical release and a limited VHS printings, which furthered its descent into obscurity.
Special Features are:
- The Curse of the Mask – Interview with Director Lamberto Bava
- Una Americanna A Roma- Interview with Actress Mary Sellers
- Sabina the Teenage Witch – Interview with actress Debora Caprioglio
All three interviews are in Italian with English subtitles, like the movie itself, and are informative and entertaining. The ladies provide their personal reflections on what it was like to work on a horror movie with Bava and also discuss some of the other films they have been in. Bava’s interview is most interesting as he provides in-depth details as to how the project came about, why he wanted to pay tribute to his father, and why he believes the movie was buried for so many years. He also talks about his relationships with the actors and how his friend Dario Argento influenced him and the movies made by Soavi.
The Mask of Satan isn’t a bad movie and for 98 minutes I was captivated by its witchy charms and creative visuals. Bava’s homage to his father mostly suffers from the constraints of a smaller budget and one is left to wonder what Bava could have done if this had been aimed at a worldwide audience from the jump.
