Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

Sienna-Rose Mclaughlin The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Skyler Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Prichards12345 It's pretty clear that director Mario Bava took a leaf from Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe films, for Corman's Gothic look is faithfully replicated in a shimmering and lushly coloured period piece. There are some similarities of plot, too - particularly from Pit And The Pendulum. It's mostly left up to the viewer to decide if the return from the grave of Christopher Lee's Byronic villain is just in Nevenka's imagination or real. The end could be read as her lapsing into madness - or is she really possessed? Daliah Lavi plays Nevenka, whipped and seduced by Lee's Kurt, and possibly then haunted by him after he has been stabbed. Lavi is superb - just as she was in The Demon, an Italian pre-Exorcist movie about an exorcism which actually has a "Spider Walk". Lavi is astonishing in that movie and she's just as good here. Lee's greenish and ghostly appearance at a window, appears to have been modelled on Peter Wygarde's in The Innocents, but this stately Gothic hangs together extremely well. Bava directs with a moody and atmospheric hand, and the film is beautifully lit.I avoided seeing this for a while as I assumed it was an over the top S&M flick. Glad to discover I was wrong! Yep there are a couple of flagellation scenes, but these too, are somewhat poetically handled. I watched the English dubbed version, so I don't know if the original Italian film is more graphic.I enjoyed this movie; it's slightly heavy going in places, but like Corman's early Poe films it's all in the aid of mood. Stylish and memorable.

MARIO GAUCI My acquisition of this one was almost as tortuous as the movie's own release/distribution history (due to various censor boards worldwide): the first copy I purchased (in tow with Bava's subsequent effort BLOOD AND BLACK LACE {1964}, upcoming in my ongoing tribute to the Maestro) would not access the Bonus Features on my Pioneer DVD player (the same was true of that "Giallo" landmark); I took it out on VCI, who promptly issued me replacements, plus one freebie disc from their back catalogue in apology (for which I chose the 1961 Best Actor Oscar-nominee THE MARK)…but the package got lost in transit, so I voiced another complaint, which saw them sending out additional copies at their own expense – and this time around, all went well, including playback! At the time, their edition was considered top-tier in terms of supplements and the sheer fact of the film's rare availability in its unadulterated form; 14 years down the line, however, it has not only been reportedly surpassed by subsequent digital releases, but the sloppiness (for which, alas, VCI would come to be known!) is much in evidence – not only errors in the text of their multiple biographies and filmographies abounded but, one thing which I did not recall had bothered me so much before, the audio of the main feature was a mess: the booming score gave a thorough workout to my TV monitor's speakers, with the dialogue coming off distorted as a result! As for the movie itself, with the sadomasochistic relationship at its centre (a veritable case of "amour fou" virtually unprecedented in genre cinema!), it showed a definite maturity in Bava's themes (in this sense, it is arguably the most dense psychological study in the realm of Italian Gothic Horrors) – perhaps inspired by Riccardo Freda's similarly-eyebrow-raising depiction of necrophilia in THE HORRIBLE DR. HICHCOCK (1962), also written by the prolific Ernesto Gastaldi, and already hinted at by the exploration of both lesbianism and child murder in Bava's previous work i.e. BLACK SABBATH (1963). Artistically, too, the film was a departure in that it gave vent to aesthetic quality over plot logic (which would be taken even further in Bava's next venture up this alley with KILL, BABY…KILL! {1966}): thus, any number of carefully-crafted and unforgettable images – unrealistically bathed in shadows and painterly hues – keep one's mind off the narrative which is mainly rendered through exposition often involving the obligatory romance by bland second leads and, one of the genre's undisputed pitfalls, characters roaming aimlessly along dimly-lit sets…both of which invariably take their toll on the inherently sluggish pacing of such period fare! The irreproachable casting of Daliah Lavi (who followed this with a no-less-demanding role in the same year's little-seen IL DEMONIO) and Christopher Lee (easily the most satisfying of his many European ventures, despite the actual brevity of his appearance here!) results in ample sensual and dramatic fireworks (beautifully capped by the concluding shot of a lash slithering, almost in spite of itself, as it burns) – given greater validity by the passionate strains of Carlo Rustichelli's score (cues from which were reprised in the ultra low-budget KILL, BABY…KILL! itself) and Bava's glorification of their unwholesome liaison (several seaside and graveyard trysts that are prone to whip-and-dagger-happy violence, sometimes captured in extreme close-up or sudden zooms!). Incidentally, I sensed a "Giallo" element in the death scenes and the internal probing into them – but, while two characters are patently made out to be suspects (one of them the second victim himself), there was always one conceivable guilty party (with the others' cognizance of a possible ghostly manifestation explained in terms of Lavi's obsession with/possession by Lee)! Notable among the supporting players are "mad" housemaid Harriet White Medin (interestingly, she was in virtually the last scene of BLACK SABBATH – or, rather, the original THE THREE FACES OF FEAR version – and the opening one in this instance!) and Luciano Pigozzi as the inevitable hobbling caretaker (given his affectionate tag of "the Italian Peter Lorre", he feels more like a Dwight Frye substitute amidst a Gothic ambiance!).

Woodyanders Cruel and sadistic nobleman Kurt Menliff returns to his swanky seaside family estate after years of traveling abroad. The vile, yet charismatic Kurt gets his sick kicks mistreating the ladies. The lusty and passionate Nevenka (a superb performance by the ravishing Daliah Lavi) in particular enjoys Kurt's rough-house ways. Kurt gets killed, but his ghost returns to haunt the castle. Director Mario Bava, working from a bold and intriguing script by Ernesto Gastaldi, Ugo Guerra, and Luciano Martino, does his customary aces job of creating and maintaining a beautifully eerie and brooding gloom-doom Gothic atmosphere while relating the compelling story at a slow, yet steady pace. The creepy and mysterious tone keeps you guessing to the very end what's really going on. Moreover, Bava deserves credit for handling the kinky subject of S&M in a classy and tasteful manner. Of course, the visuals are stunning throughout, with the sumptuous use of the vibrant Technicolor format and the opulent sets both vividly shot by cinematographer Ubaldo Terzano. This film further benefits from capable acting from the sturdy cast, with especially praiseworthy work by Ida Galli as the regal Katia, Harriet Medin as bitter, vengeful housekeeper Georgia, and Luciano Pigozzi as crippled, limping servant Losat. Only Tony Kendall's hopelessly wooden acting as the loyal Christian Menliff and the fact that Lee's distinctive voice is dubbed by another actor detract a little from this otherwise excellent and highly recommended movie.

Michael_Elliott Whip and the Body, The (1963) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Christopher Lee plays a sadistic nobleman who returns home to terrorize his family after leaving home years earlier after forcing his girlfriend to commit suicide. Soon he is found dead with his throat slit and soon after he ghost begins to appear as more bodies start to pile up. All the praise thrown on director Bava is certainly needed because it's obvious he could take some mud and make it look wonderful but that doesn't mean all his films turn out great. I think the biggest flaw with this film is the rather weak story, which doesn't really contain any shocks and it's fairly simple to figure out what's going on so in the end, when the climax happens, there's no real shocks. Christopher Lee turns in a terrific performance, even though, for some reason, his voice is dubbed in the English language version. That fantastic look that Lee brings says all we need to know about his character. The supporting cast isn't as impressive but they fit their roles just fine. The cinematography is top notch and the use of lighting is also what makes this film stand apart from others in this era.