La maschera del demonio (1990) Reviews

• Some good ideas and a Lovecraftian touch

  rundbauchdodo2002-06-18

  This is one of the many made for cable horror films that Lamberto Bava directed at the end of the 1980s and that sadly disappeared in oblivion short after their making. Of course, these TV-productions don't belong to Bava junior's best works, but most of them are decent (except for the tedious "Dentro il Cimitero" and "La Casa dell' Orco"), and "La Maschera dell' Demonio" belongs to the best ones. Even though the title suggests a remake of Mario Bava's 1960 landmark gothic horror film of the same title, this one has not much to do with it. Only the "historical background" is the same: the protagonists stumble over an old body of a witch with a mask on her face - and as soon as the mask is removed, evil things happen. The rest of the film is quite different to Bava senior's masterpiece. The setting is in the snowy mountains, and it's about possession, a hapless love relationship, demonic seduction (including a really nasty "date with a demoness") and surreal happenings. The surreal effects work by Italian master Sergio Stivaletti is very well done, remarkable for a rather low budgeted TV-production. The film suffers a little bit from a slow pace halfway through it, but the climax which boosts some fine Lovecraftian ideas (that spawn most of the surreal effects work) makes up for it and is the real highlight of the movie. Add to that comparably decent acting (especially from Klaus Kinski's ex-girlfriend Deborah Caprioglio) and a good score by Simon Boswell, and You have a surprisingly good film that would have deserved far better distribution than it suffered a decade ago. 6 out of 10, and let's hope that "La Maschera del Demonio" won't be completely forgotten in the years to come.

• Not So Much A Remake As An Homage, Maybe

  Squonkamatic2006-11-09

  There is a mistaken impression that Lamberto Bava's LA MASCHERA DEL DEMONIO aka "Demons 5: Devil's Veil" from 1989 is a remake of his father Mario Bava's pivotal LA MASCHERA DEL DEMONIO aka "Black Sunday" from 1960. Not quite, though the two do share the same basic story premise of a cruelly executed witch exacting her revenge from beyond the grave. Sadly, the younger Bava's film has never been translated into English and the only way to see it is on Italian language home video releases. A group of five or six or seven friends go skiing in the Alps and get trapped in a crevasse cave-in that uncovers the long frozen tomb of a heretic executed eons before for practicing blasphemy after a Demon's Mask was nailed onto it's head (an actual form of Inquisitional torture, by the way). One of them decides it would be a really good idea to chip the hideous Ozzy like mask free of it's ice and take it home as a memento of the occasion, unleashing a series of events that finds the coed group of tight ski panted friends trapped by a second cave-in, and forced to take refuge in an ancient monastery or something like that, long buried by the arctic snows and ices. So much so good, except then plot takes over and my grasp of Italian extends to various kinds of pastas & sauces. There are plot intrigues galore that I can only guess on: The long dead body of an Inquisitional priest is resurrected, various members of the ski troupe are possessed by demons unleashed by the freeing of the mask, various breasts are bared and assorted people find themselves tortured, falling in love, or skewered by giant falling icicles. Meanwhile the soul of the heretic embarks on a mission to (I guess) avenge and resurrect herself using the body of one of the pretty Italian actresses -- who just happens to have the same surname -- and induct the surviving skiers into her coven of the undead. If that sounds like a busy movie, it is. It's essentially Italian Gothic shocker formulas updated to the late 1980s and with a teen to college aged audience in mind. A fellow commenter pointed out the Lovecraft angle and yes, I can totally see that going on here too. I liked the underground monastery or whatever, loved the topless Italian actresses sweating on the torture racks, and was impressed by a stop motion animation sequence where an architectural gargoyle comes to life (way before CGI effects, which would have ruined the film's hands-on feel). The film ultimately owes as much to Fulci, Stuart Gordon and THE NAME OF THE ROSE as it does to Bava the Elder's film, mixing ecclesiastical pyrotechnics with disco neon new wave makeup -- and yet it still works even if you don't speak a word of Italian. But it's NOT an update of "Black Sunday"; Lamberto should at least be credited to giving a nod to his father's breakthrough movie without necessarily defaming the memory. Nothing wrong with borrowing a little bit of thunder from your old man, and no it has absolutely nothing to do with the movies called DEMONS 4 or DEMONS 6, other than being released as yet another cash-in on the success of Lamberto's DEMONS, which marked the high point of the modern Italian horror craze. Like father, like son. 7/10; Try to find a 99 minute Japanese made video release, the cover is absolutely wild too.

• Disappointing 'Demons' style "homage" to Black Sunday

  The_Void2009-05-04

  Like almost every other late eighties Italian horror film with a plot that even slightly has anything to do with demons; this film is labelled as a part of the 'Demons' series, started by Lamberto Bava in 1985. This 'series' is very hard to keep up with once you get past the first (and only official) sequel. The title 'Demons 3' was given to Umberto Lenzi's "Black Demons", Michele Soavi's "The Church" and Lamberto Bava's "The Ogre"; while Michele Soavi's "The Sect" (which had nothing to do with demons!) was released as "Demons 4", and this film; released two years BEFORE The Sect, gets the title "Demons 5". Oh, and let's not forget the 'sixth instalment'; Luigi Cozzi's The Black Cat, also released in 1989. Anyway, naturally this film has nothing to do with Lamberto Bava's other two (or three) Demons films, and is actually something of a homage to his father's 1960 masterpiece Black Sunday. The plot focuses on a group of friends skiing in the Alps. They fall into an ice cave and one of their number is killed. The also find a body with a devil's mask nailed into its head; and decide to remove the mask...which naturally unleashes demons and stuff. After hearing the plot summary, I was convinced that the story, along with the fact that we have a director homaging his own father, would lead to an at least interesting film. However...the result really couldn't have been much more disappointing. As mentioned, the film is not really a homage to Black Sunday at all; there's the obvious similarity of both films having a witch killed by having a mask nailed into her skull, but that's about the end of the similarities. The tone and style of the film is much closer to the aforementioned Demons films; which obviously makes this one very trashy indeed. The one thing I did like about it is the fact that it's set in the snow covered Alps - this provides a refreshingly different location for an Italian horror, and credit must be given. The film was made for television, and as such the gore is kept down to a minimum. There's a few disgusting sequences...but nothing to write home about. This film has become very hard to find; and an English language version is even more difficult to find...so I wouldn't recommend anyone but the most ardent Lamberto Bava fans goes to any lengths to track down a copy.

• So-so remake of dad's classic

  udar552011-11-12

  Lamberto Bava decides being his own man isn't going to cut it and remakes one of his father's best known films, Black Sunday (1960). Because what was Mario Bava's film really in need of? Teen skiers! A group of 8 teens go skiing and fall into a huge hole after an earthquake. Once inside they discover a woman encased in ice wearing an iron mask. Naturally, they pull it off and it causes another earthquake with one of their friends being impaled by a huge ice shard (literally no one cares). The group of now 7 find the earthquake has unearthed some ancient city where a blind priest, who killed the witch centuries ago, lives with his dog. The kids soon start acting possessed and David and Sabina, the two virgins of the group, must fight to survive. This is Bava doing Black Sunday mixed with Demons (1985) to so-so effect. On the plus side, there is some good design work and cinematography. They also have some great snow in this. The downside? Pretty much everything else. Bava would have fared better just doing a teen horror flick rather than a weak attempt at the Nikolai Gogol story, which will only draw comparisons with his father's superior work. Look for Michele Soavi as one of the kids.

• Ice. An underground city. Possession. Mediocrity.

  Zbigniew_Krycsiwiki2013-07-16

  Review based on the 83 minutes long Spanish version titled la mascara del demonio. My first impression is that this has TV-movie-like graphics and font. Then, the question "horror on the slopes?" came to my mind and gave me a bit of hope for this one. A group of skiers on the Swiss Alps fall into a chasm opened during an avalanche. Inside, they find a metal mask of some sort, but more digging reveals a body hidden under the ice, the body of an executed witch, buried in the ice for centuries. Another avalanche seals them in. As they begin exploring this cavernous pit in the snow, they discover a strange underground city buried in the ice and snow, the same place the witch was executed. From then on, witch tries to avenge her death, possessing members of the ski group. Great set designs and lighting, plus the unique setting of the snow-covered Alps, but overall the film is lackluster, with a slow pacing and not much action.