Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Donald Seymour This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Curt Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

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.

Witchfinder General 666 With Italy being my favorite Horror-producing country, and Gothic Tales and Gialli my favorite sub-genres, it is not surprising that I regard Italian Horror-pioneer Mario Bava, sublime master of the first- and inventor of the second category, as one of the greatest geniuses in the history of Motion Pictures. Unlike any other Horror director, Bava made most of his films so ingeniously that it is very hard to name favorites, simply due to the fact that this great man's repertoire includes so many flawless masterpieces. Bava's doubtlessly most brilliant film is the 1960 masterpiece "La Maschera Del Demonio" (aka. "Black Sunday"), which is, as far as I am concerned, one of the greatest films ever made, but the man created several other flawless films that no Horror lover or even cinema-fan in general could afford to miss. Such as this overwhelming film, for example. In 1963, the same year in which he invented the Giallo-sub-genre with his milestone "La Ragazza Che Sappeva Troppo" and furthermore created the arguably most memorable Horror omnibus ever with "I Tre Volti Della Paura", Bava also brought us this wonderful Gothic gem named "La Frusta E Il Corpo" (aka. "The Whip And The Body"), a film which perfectly illustrates what a brilliant director he was. "The Whip And The Body" is the absolute proof that, unlike any other director, Mario Bava had a unique talent of combining beauty and terror in a most mesmerizing manner. The need of a a high quality copy is something i seldom find essential, and yet I would highly recommend to watch "La Frusta E Il Corpo" in the highest possible quality. Whenever using the pause-button on the remote control, one has the impression of looking at a beautifully haunting painting. This is no exaggeration, but merely the only proper description of how visually overwhelming this dream-like Gothic masterpiece is.Horror-icon Christopher Lee, as far as I am concerned one of the greatest actors ever, gives a brilliant performance as one of his most haunting and sardonic characters here. The ravishing Daliah Lavi is as stunningly beautiful as the film itself, and she also delivers a stunning performance in the female lead. The supporting performances are also great, the cast includes Italian genre-regulars as Tony Kendall and Ida Galli. I will not give a long plot description as everybody should be capable of drifting into the dreamlike Horrors of Castle Menliff on their own. I do want to say though, that "The Whip And The Body" is a unique and fascinating mix of Gothic Horror and S&M love-story. The eerie castle is the perfect setting for this wonderful film, which takes place in the early 19th century. The brilliant score is as mesmerizing and hauntingly beautiful as the film's visual style - "The Whip And The Body" simply is a film that overwhelms all senses a film possibly can. This was originally intended to resemble the story of Roger Corman's 1961 masterpiece "The Pit And The Pendulum" (another favorite of mine), but it turned out entirely different, the brilliant Gothic eeriness, castle setting and great acting being the only mutual elements. Mario Bava created many masterpieces in his impressive career, and all of them have something particularly essential about them. "La Frusta E Il Corpo" is a film that shows this man's unique talent for atmosphere and the combination of the beautiful and the uncanny. This is one of the most visually overwhelming Horror films ever made, and easily deserves the highest rating of 10/10!

ferbs54 The director's credit at the beginning of 1963's "The Whip and the Body" is for somebody named John M. Old, but the film's deliciously morbid atmosphere and superb use of lighting quickly attest that the director here can really be none other than Italian master Mario Bava. His third horror masterpiece in four years, following the seminal works "Black Sunday" and "The Evil Eye," "Whip" tells the story of Kurt Menliff, a sadistic brute who returns to his father's moldering castle by the sea in a nameless, timeless land and renews his sadomasochistic relationship with sister-in-law Nevenka...even after he himself is murdered! But has Kurt's ghost really returned from the grave, or is this all a figment of Nevenka's obsessed mind? Suggesting nothing less than an Italian Gothic version of a Harlequin romance as written by the Marquis de Sade, "Whip" features impeccable acting by Christopher Lee as Kurt (one of his best roles, he long maintained, despite the fact that he is offscreen half the time) and Israeli actress Dahlia Lavi (who I've never seen look more beautiful) as the masochistic, lash-loving Nevenka. The film is deliberately paced for maximum atmosphere, and Bava's camera work and pools of lurid lighting really are things of beauty to behold. Matching the stunning visuals perfectly is a lush, romantic score by Carlo Rustichelli that, in a just universe, would be recognized as a classic on the order of "Lara's Theme" from "Doctor Zhivago." This gorgeous composition for piano and strings gently surges through the film and adds immeasurably to its already moody, dreamlike aura. The great-looking DVD from VCI that I just watched features the full European cut of "The Whip and the Body," with all the (once controversial, now fairly tame) S&M whippings intact. The film has been excellently dubbed, and comes with a raft of fine extras. It is a perfect picture for the discriminating horror fan looking for a challenging, beautiful entertainment. Highly recommended.

capkronos Made around the same time as Mario's classic horror anthology BLACK SABBATH, this deserves the same accolades as his other more famous work. Upon release, WHIP was unfairly neglected, hacked up, censored and critically frowned upon for the subject matter (sexual violence). Next to RABID DOGS (1974), it was also the most difficult of Bava's genre films to acquire in America; I'm not even aware of an accessible home video release until just recently. All but forgotten for decades, but now finally available in a gorgeous restored cut on DVD from Sinister Cinema, WHIP is an absolute must see for Bava fans and very highly recommended for aficionados of Gothic horror. It is also a film that demands to be seen by any person interested in film-making as art - in set design, costume design, lighting schemes, color, shadow and music used for the creation of atmosphere and mood. Every single frame is composed with the utmost care and every inch of the screen exhibits such astonishing attention to detail that it almost begs to be watched in slow motion to soak it all in. Bava is a rare cinematic artist; a true visionary who uses celluloid as his palate; painting all the colors of the dark on drab, dank and dreary castle walls and corridors. Even though the story slips into the routine at times, it also is above average; progressive, serious, entertaining and even extremely ballsy for the 1960s in that it dares to romanticize sexual violence and sadomasochism.Christopher Lee (who considers this one of his best films) is perfectly hateful as Kurt Menliff, a cold-eyed sadist who returns home to his family's seaside castle after being banished years earlier. His ailing father (Gustavo De Nardo as "Dean Ardow") calls him a serpent, his brother Christian (Tony Kendall aka Luciano Stella) has since married Kurt's beautiful raven-haired ex-fiancé Nevenka (Daliah Lavi) and the loyal housekeeper Giorgia (Harriet Medin), whose daughter, Tanya, had taken her own life after being seduced and abandoned by Kurt, quietly plots her revenge. Also in the house is a pretty, but plain, young cousin named Katya (Ida Galli as "Isli Oberon"), who is actually in love with Christian and would undoubtedly make a much better mate for him. No one exactly welcomes Kurt home with open arms, so when he's found dead with a dagger driven into his neck (the same fashion Tanya ended her life) it isn't a surprise, though it does create a shroud of suspicion over every person in the castle. Even worse, Kurt seems to have returned from the dead to haunt, terrorize and inflict damage via the lash on poor, emotionally fragile Nevenka.The most interesting and complex character in the film turns out to be Nevenka herself. Her love-hate relationship with Kurt is unique and memorable. Though Christian is handsome, gentle and devoted to his bride, she obviously has the strongest passion (and love) for the cruel Kurt, who claims the reason he came back to the castle in the first place was that he heard his brother had married his former lover. Kurt's return has nothing to do with guilt over his immoral actions, but everything to do with control over Nevenka. It is made very clear during a beach love scene right before Kurt is murdered that the two do share a deep personal bond and a sexual secret. Right before his death, Nevenka is reminded by her former lover, "You haven't changed... You always loved violence!" before he alternates viciously whipping her with his passionate kisses. And she likes it so much you get the strong feeling that her 'straight' life with Christian was miserable for her. Kurt and Nevenka's love is a love of pain and mutual violence, but also of understanding that their mutual love for the sadism is a hard thing to come by. Their love is forbidden, but it is still distinctly, uniquely theirs... even into the grave.As he proved in THE HORROR OF Dracula (1958) and other horror films, Lee is a tall, towering, menacing figure, even when given little to no dialog. He's killed off fairly early here and appears sporadically throughout the film as a silent 'ghost,' but is all the more effective in his elusiveness. Dark beauty Daliah Lavi, who was a former Miss Iran, is excellent in the role and should have gone on to a career similar to that of Barbara Steele, who in many ways she resembles. Both ladies are able to embody Gothic horror to a T. The entire supporting cast, especially Medin, is very good. And Bava's mastery of the medium, like I said, really make the film incomparably intoxicating. He offers up twisting doorknobs, disembodied voices, creaking floorboards, secret passageways, muddy footprints, hands reaching out at you from the darkness, horse rides along the beach and other Gothic trappings with his exquisite flair for the visual, making this a painfully underrated gem of Euro-shock cinema.Some notes: * Bava used aliases all around - "John M. Old" for director and "Dick Grey" and "David Hamilton" for his cinematography. * A scene of Lavi moaning in ecstasy as she's being whipped by Lee was so controversial that it was excised from most prints when originally released * It was filmed on location in France * Co-writer Ernesto Gastaldi also wrote THE HORRIBLE DR. HICHCOCK, THE SCORPION'S TAIL, TORSO and many other notable Italian horror films from the 60s, 70s and 80s. The DVD comes with a few trailers for Bava films (including the French version of WHIP), four bios, photo and lobby card gallery, soundtrack access and the original U.S. main titles (under the name WHAT!).