
- Year
- 1963
- Country
- Italy · France
- Runtime
- 95 min
- Director
- Mario Bava
- Updated
- 9 Aug 2026
- Obscurity
- known (24/100)
- Also known as
- The Three Faces of Fear · The Three Faces of Terror
Black Sabbath
Three stories, one Karloff. The Wurdulak segment is the best thing Bava shot.
Bava's horror anthology, three stories introduced by a gleeful Boris Karloff, and the film that gave a certain heavy metal band its name. The standout is The Wurdulak, in which Karloff plays a patriarch returning to his family as something no longer human, shot in Bava's saturated gothic colour.
It is one of the most beautiful horror films of its era, each segment a small masterclass in atmosphere. The American International recut is inferior; find the Italian version with Karloff's original framing.
Bava at the height of his powers as a stylist.
Trailer
The numbers
Nobody has rated this yet. Be the first to make a claim you'll have to defend.
Your call
Where to watch
Legal options in USA
Links open in a new tab (↗). Availability data via TMDB and changes constantly, so confirm on the service. Legal options only. Checked 9 Aug 2026. All options ↗
Discuss with AI
Open a chatbot with a question about this film already typed out. Useful for a second opinion, plot detail, or where to find a copy.
Filed alongside
Horrors of Malformed Men
Suppressed by Toei for decades. Butoh dancing, an island, and total delirium.
The Brainiac
Not a Santo film. A forked-tongue demon eating brains with a spoon.
The Curse of the Crying Woman
The Mexican gothic at its cobwebbed peak, Universal horror with the fog cranked up.
Spider Baby
Jack Hill's first, Lon Chaney Jr's last good role. Very odd and very fond.
Ganja & Hess
An art film that was sold as a vampire picture. Recut and buried for decades.
The Blood Beast Terror
Cushing called it the worst film he ever made. He was being generous.