StunnaKrypto Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Mischa Redfern I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Lucia Ayala It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Red-Barracuda The Whip and the Body was a controversial film in its day. This was because of its scenes showing Christopher Lee sadistically whipping Daliah Lavi. These may not seem like so much today but back in the early 60's this was pretty edgy stuff to say the least. Nowadays, this film is celebrated mainly for other reasons; chief amongst them being that it is yet another stylish movie from the legendary Italian genre film director Mario Bava. It starts with a sadistic nobleman returning to his family home after years of banishment. He immediately starts pursuing his brother's wife in a lecherous fashion and before long they embark on a secretive sadomasochistic affair. The trouble is, he is soon murdered by a mystery assassin and to make matters even more complicated he subsequently seems to return from the dead as an evil spirit.Like the other Gothic horror films directed by Bava, this one's strength isn't so much in its story as in its presentation. This director is remembered as a cinematic stylist and this is another of his films that illustrates why. It's visually beautiful with excellent compositions and cinematography allied to Bava's typically great use of coloured lighting. Of particular note are the scenes involving Lee's character returning from the grave in the dead of night. These are typified by kaleidoscopic colours and the emphasis on unusual details, such as spider-like hands. Adding to the atmosphere is a lush score from Carlo Rustichelli which was also partially reused in Bava's later cinematic milestone Blood and Black Lace (1964). It all adds up to a film so rich in style an atmosphere that it makes up for deficits such as its slow pace. It's basically yet another film that illustrates how brilliant and important a director Mario Bava was.

BA_Harrison Sadistic scoundrel Kurt (Christopher lee), black sheep of the family, returns home to find that absence hasn't exactly made the heart grow fonder: his father (Gustavo De Nardo), brother Christian (Tony Kendall), ex-lover Nevenka (Daliah Lavi) and housemaid Giorgia (Harriet Medin) still find him utterly loathsome. Unsurprisingly, Kurt winds up being murdered, but even death cannot stop his cruelty...In keeping with its Sadean theme, The Whip and the Body is both a pleasure to behold and a pain to endure: aesthetically, the film cannot be rivalled, with excellent costume and set design, and exquisite direction from Mario Bava, whose camera glides gracefully through pools of coloured light and ominous swathes of shadow to great effect; the story, however, is less impressive, a trite exercise in Gothic cliché, replete with a creepy cliff-top castle continually battered by strong winds and thunderstorms, a raft of morbid characters, all of whom harbour dark secrets, loads of tiresome symbolism, and some ridiculous psychological claptrap.The sado-masochistic nature of the central relationship between Kurt and Navenka (which is surprisingly way ahead of its time) prevents the film from attaining coma-inducing levels, but with extremely long periods where nothing much of interest happens, the film is far from the perfect perverted and poetic love story that its ardent supporters claim it to be.8 out of 10 for the lovely imagery, but 4/10 for the story—so that's an average rating of 6/10.

Scarecrow-88 The suicide of a jilted fiancé holds a scar over the House of Menliff as the black sheep who left her returns, Kurt(Christopher Lee, who is simply outstanding in his limited presence..even dubbed he holds you under his ominous spell)wanting to reclaim his heritage, but receiving scorn from his ailing father(Gustavo De Nardo). His real lover, and sadomasochistic partner, Nevenka(the luscious, ravishing Daliah Lavi)has married his brother Christian(Tony Kendall)who Kurt has always hated. Christian is the caring, straight-as-an-arrow son..the direct opposite of Kurt who seems to cast a malignant shadow over his family. Kurt and Nevenka carry on their passion in a scene where he slashes her with a horse whip and we see that she likes it very much. There's a history of this as we can see. She claims to hate him, but he's perhaps merely a male mirror image of her own ugly side she tries to hold imprisoned in herself. Someone kills Kurt with a dagger..the very dagger that was used by the love he left to stab herself with. This death will haunt the rest of the characters as Kurt reappears to Nevenka setting off a growing madness in her as no one else seems to see his presence, but her. When the patriarch, Count Menliff is killed by the same dagger in the same fashion as Kurt, the idea that Kurt's ghost has returned becomes a looming, frightening possibility. Among the other melodramas, Christian is actually in love with servant girl Katia(Ida Galli), maid Giorgia's(Harriet Medin, the mother of the female suicide that Kurt left to suffer)daughter. Losat(Luciano Pigozzi)is the manservant spooked by the terrifying circumstances emerging after Kurt's demise is often walking the grounds and family mausoleum expecting to find specters. We also call into question whether Kurt's ghost is real or simply imagined by a grieve-stricken(..and guilt-stricken)Nevenka harboring a secret love for the murdered aristocrat and now coming face to face with the inequities she's kept buried inside.Fantastic Gothic masterpiece from one of our treasured Horror directors..the lush color photography is jaw-dropping and awe-inspiring. Every frame of this film looks like it was lifted from one painting or another. Superb uses of red and green, especially when Lee's "ghost" appears to Nevenka. Sure, the whipping S&M aspect adds a naughty flavor to the proceedings, but it's the way Bava brings this castle setting to life with his camera and artistic eye that makes this such a pleasure to behold. I loved how Bava returns to the muddy boots and the prints they leave behind without showing who is treading the floors with them. I think this is Bava's finest film. I hope in time(..and I believe it already is starting to gain an official..and rightfully deserved..following)this film will be mentioned more and more as a classic horror film to be seen. It really is a Gothic horror fan's wet dream. Great atmospheric trappings are benefited by a grand, sweeping score. If there ever was a director who painted a canvas using the cinematic form as his paint brush, it was Bava. And, the way he shoots faces as the characters seek out Kurt in the darkened rooms of the castle at night. Or, the way Bava lights the family crypt as others dare step inside to possibly find Kurt's ghost within. See how Bava uses a tree vine whipping in an open window reminding Nevenka of her sordid past with Kurt. Not only does Bava use color, but symbolism describing the passionate, yet violent, nature between Kurt and Nevenka. Lavi's captivating beauty is wonderfully shot, often in her room, engulfed in darkness, the wind roaring, her frightened eyes constantly veering right & left..she's completely at the mercy of Kurt's presence. I feel Bava establishes the fact that, even though Kurt's dead, his hold over this family is long-lasting, especially Nevenka, who keeps pronouncing her hatred for him even though she's in denial of her true feelings. Perhaps Kurt's *spirit* did truly live and breathe, even if it didn't exactly manifest in our realm, he certainly was real to those still living within the confines of the castle. This is truly a masterpiece.

BaronBl00d I love the work of Mario Bava, but I am not going to get carried away and say this is his best film. It isn't. Nor is it his second best or third best. The story is simple enough: a cruel, sadistic man comes back after his brother married his own flame, a woman still attracted to him because she enjoys being whipped and beat for sensual/sexual gratification. Soon Kurt, the whip-cracking prodigal son is killed amidst a host of possible suspects. The girl starts seeing him return from the dead. Is he still alive? Is he a ghost? Or is there never any explanation? You will have to strain your eyes till the end to find out. Now, don't get me wrong. this movie does have a lot to offer. Christopher Lee gives an excellent performance in a very unusual role as Kurt the whipper-snapper. Bava always showcases a sumptuous buffet for the eyes with his camera lens. He uses color as well and probably much better than any director I can think of at the moment. Every scene for him is a work of art and tackled with that in mind. The Gothic sets, period costumes, and the musical score are all first-rate. All of the actors do decent jobs. Lee is very good. Lavi as "she who must be whipped" is beautiful and acceptable. Luciano Pigozzi, the European Peter Lorre(based on looks not on talent) is in tow as well. But the major and most prominent flaw in the film for me, and one which really reduced my enjoyment of this film, was the incredibly slow pace even for Bava. It seems like forever until something ever happens, and when it does not much happens. The movie is weird in subject matter and purposely vague in much of the storyline. Much is cleared up at the end, but its is a long way for a very small payoff.