HEN IT HAPPENED. Virtually overnight, Mario Bava became an international success.
In February 1961, American International pictures re-
PROMOTIONAL art (we assume) for the original Italian release of ERCOLE AL CENTRO DELLA TERRA— the hardest-to-find Italian poster material for any Bava film.
leased Black Sunday in the United States, where it quickly became the top-grossing film in the company’s history. This was an unheard-of level of commercial success for an Ital- ian picture in America, and it was suddenly the talk of the Italian film community. Achille Piazzi, the producer of Ercole alla conquista di Atlantide, must have been astounded to discover the director of this international hit working anony- mously on his shaky payroll. Furthermore, Bava was the man who had photographed the first two Hercules films with Steve Reeves! While the rest of the Italian film industry scrambled to respond to the success of Black Sunday with the sincerest form of flattery, Piazzi signed Bava to photo- graph, provide the special effects for, and direct Reg Park’s second Hercules picture.
