Euro-gothic for the giallo graduate

1known

Black Sunday

Bava's debut as director. Barbara Steele and a mask full of spikes.

2known

Black Sabbath

Three stories, one Karloff. The Wurdulak segment is the best thing Bava shot.

3cult

Kill, Baby... Kill!

A ghost child with a white ball. Fellini and Scorsese both stole from it.

4known

The Whip and the Body

Bava and Christopher Lee doing sadomasochism the censors did not catch.

5cult

Castle of Blood

Barbara Steele in a haunted house on a bet. Better than it sounds.

6cult

The Horrible Dr. Hichcock

Barbara Steele married to a necrophile surgeon, and Freda smuggling it past the 1962 censors on innuendo alone.

7cult

Lisa and the Devil

Bava's most personal film, and his strangest. Telly Savalas as the devil, holding a lollipop.

8cult

Daughters of Darkness

Delphine Seyrig as Bathory in an empty Ostend hotel. Genuinely elegant.