Mario Bava would certainly belong on a list as one of the Masters of Horror. This was his first and is sometimes regarded as the best Italian Horror film. There’s a lot of Gothic atmosphere to soak in, because Bava started as a Camera Operator he’s a very visual director and knows how much darkness he can get away with. (Light is definitely on the losing end here.) Barbara Steele became a Horror icon as the only character at home in all the spookiness. Two characters in fact, a witch tortured and killed in the memorable opening sequence and her sweet lookalike two hundred years later. Steele has a very memorable look, jet black hair and large eyes, that set the mold for Gothic beauty from here on.
This is the first appearance of a Bava film. He has two more coming up soon and seven titles in the Top 1000. He was a major influence on Tim Burton, who paid tribute to Bava with an Italian flashback in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. I mention this because I am not a fan, and I say that having seen fifteen of his features. I do usually enjoy a few things about his work and that changes as his style changes over time. I very much see his influence over a lot more than Tim Burton, with films that change the course of Italian Horror/Thrillers and helped to create the slasher films of the 1980s.
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