The Whip and the Body

I jumped into vintage horror and watched:

The Whip and the Body (1963)

Directed by Mario Bava and starring Christopher Lee, Daliah Lavi, Tony Kendall, Evelyn Stewart and a couple of others. I do mean only a few others as the cast is very small, not that it is in any way a complaint.

Before watching this movie I was given a warning and I'm paying it forward; Christopher Lee is dubbed. Let me explain. Back in the day, all Italian movies were recorded without dialogue, as they were all dubbed later on in a sound studio. Lee may have been unaware of this, as he had returned home to Switzerland by the time the movie wrapped. He regretted that he couldn't do his own voice as he considered The Whip and the Body to be one of his better movies of that period. Since I was prepared, I could enjoy the movie, so be warned. The voice they used, that of Dan Sturkie, is good, but Lee had a great voice and it is a shame that you can't enjoy it here.

On to the plot. IMDB tells us this:

The ghost of a sadistic nobleman attempts to rekindle his romance with his terrorized, masochistic former lover, who is unwillingly engaged to his brother.

Now this is a minor spoiler and somewhat erroneous as the former lover is in fact married to the brother, and there is some rough rekindling before anyone even becomes a ghost. In essence The Whip and the Body and is a mix of a whodunit and a ghost story. Lee plays Kurt Menliff the oldest son of Count Menliff. One evening he returns to his ancestral home and receives a cold welcome. He wastes no time showing everyone why he had to leave home to begin with, and in the process, people are murdered, ghosts roam the night with muddy boots and unhappy hearts vie with dark lusts. That is all I can tell without going into deep spoiler territory.

Seeing as this is a Mario Bava film, I wasn't surprised that is wonderfully well shot. From beginning to end it is a Gothic love letter. The locations, the clothes, the sounds... everything is on point for a 60's horror movie. If I hadn't known it was directed by Bava, I would have sworn it was made by Roger Corman. He made most of his movies in the same color palette as The Whip and the Body, and he knew his Gothic horror extremely well.

The actors are good, particularly Christopher Lee (of course), and I have no technical complaints. The story is a slight cut above the usual fare, and even though I guessed the ending, it was a good ride from the beginning to the end. The Whip and the Body is tricky to talk about since I don't want to spoil anything, but the name is a clue and anyone with a sensitivity to people being whipped, should probably be careful

So, do I recommend this? Yes, without a doubt. If you hate old movies, sure go ahead and skip it, but any fan of old cinema and Gothic horror in particular, will likely love it. I did.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great and safe week!