Black Sunday

Mario Bava's debut as director, and one of the most beautiful horror films ever shot in black and white. A witch executed with a spiked mask hammered onto her face returns two centuries later, and Barbara Steele plays both the witch and her descendant with the same unforgettable eyes.

Bava lit and shot it himself, which is why the fog, the candlelight and the crumbling crypts do so much more than the budget should allow. It made Steele a horror icon and set the template for Italian gothic.

Atmosphere as pure craft. Still eerie.