''The Whip and the Body'' ( it, La frusta e il corpo) is a 1963
gothic horror
Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror in the 20th century, is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name is a reference to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of ea ...
film directed by
Mario Bava
Mario Bava (31 July 1914 – 27 April 1980) was an Italian filmmaker who worked variously as a director, cinematographer, special effects artist and screenwriter, frequently referred to as the "Master of Italian Horror" and the "Master of the M ...
under the alias "John M. Old". The film is about Kurt Menliff (
Christopher Lee) who is ostracized by his father for his relationship with a servant girl and her eventual suicide. He later returns to reclaim his title and his former fiancée Nevenka (
Daliah Lavi
Daliah Lavi (born Daliah Lewinbuk or Levenbuch, he, דליה לביא ; 12 October 1942 – 3 May 2017) was an Israeli actress, singer, and model.
Biography
Daliah Lewinbuk (or Levenbuch) was born in Shavei Tzion, British Mandate of Palestine ...
) who is now his brother's wife. Menliff is later found murdered, but the locals believe his ghost has returned to haunt the castle for revenge.
Italian censors removed the film from cinemas due to its sadomasochistic themes. The international cut features some significant changes, and runs for 77 minutes. It was released theatrically as ''What!'' and ''Night Is the Phantom'' in the United States and United Kingdom, respectively.
Plot
An isolated castle on the
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...
an coast. Kurt (
Christopher Lee), the older son of Count Menliff (Gustavo De Nardo), was in marriage preparations with Nevenka (
Daliah Lavi
Daliah Lavi (born Daliah Lewinbuk or Levenbuch, he, דליה לביא ; 12 October 1942 – 3 May 2017) was an Israeli actress, singer, and model.
Biography
Daliah Lewinbuk (or Levenbuch) was born in Shavei Tzion, British Mandate of Palestine ...
). However, Kurt had an affair with Tania, the daughter of Menliffs' servant Giorgia (
Harriet Medin), and Tania committed suicide because of Kurt's prospective marriage. Count Menliff rejected Kurt and he left the castle. Meanwhile, Nevenka married Cristiano (
Tony Kendall), Kurt's younger brother.
One day, Kurt arrives at the castle, superficially to celebrate Cristiano and Nevenka but in fact he is to reclaim his title and fortune, which supposedly also includes Nevenka. During an evening on the beach and following a session of
flogging
Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, flogging has been imposed on ...
and sex, masochistic Nevenka understands that she is still in love with Kurt. Frustrated, she does not return to the castle and is eventually found unconscious by the butler Losat (Luciano Pigozzi). On the same night, Kurt is killed under curious circumstances, with the same dagger Tania had committed suicide with. Now, Kurt is dead but a series of events hints that his ghost has started to haunt the castle for revenge.
Cast
*
Daliah Lavi
Daliah Lavi (born Daliah Lewinbuk or Levenbuch, he, דליה לביא ; 12 October 1942 – 3 May 2017) was an Israeli actress, singer, and model.
Biography
Daliah Lewinbuk (or Levenbuch) was born in Shavei Tzion, British Mandate of Palestine ...
as Nevenka
*
Christopher Lee as Kurt Menliff
*
Tony Kendall as Christian Menliff
*
Ida Galli
Ida Galli is an Italian film actress best known for her roles in Spaghetti Western and giallo films in the 1960s and 1970s. Galli has appeared under several pseudonyms, including Arianna, Evelyn Stewart and Isli Oberon.
Extremely prolific, som ...
(as Isil Oberon) as Katia
*
Harriet Medin (as Harriet White) as Giorgia
* Gustavo De Nardo (as Dean Ardow) as Count Menliff
*
Luciano Pigozzi
Luciano Pigozzi, also known professionally as Alan Collins (10 January 1927 – 14 June 2008), was an Italian character actor. A long-time staple of Italian genre cinema, Pigozzi was noted for his resemblance to Peter Lorre and appeared in s ...
(as Alan Collins) as Losat
*
Jacques Herlin
Jacques Herlin (17 August 1927 – 7 June 2014) was a French character actor.
Born in Paris as Jacques de Jouette, he appeared in an impressive number of films from the early sixties. He was also active on stage and on television. He died i ...
as the Priest
Sources:
Production
The credited screenwriters are
Ernesto Gastaldi
Ernesto Gastaldi (born 10 September 1934) is an Italian screenwriter. Film historian and critic Tim Lucas described Gastaldi as the first Italian screenwriter to specialize in horror and thriller films. Gastaldi worked within several popular ge ...
(as Julian Berry), Ugo Guerra (as Robert Hugo), and
Luciano Martino (as Martin Hardy). Gastaldi has stated that he had written the script himself with Guerra possibly contributing to some of the story early on, whilst Martino made no contribution to the script. Gastaldi was shown an Italian print of ''
The Pit and the Pendulum
"The Pit and the Pendulum" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe and first published in 1842 in the literary annual ''The Gift: A Christmas and New Year's Present for 1843''. The story is about the torments endured by a prisoner of ...
'' (1961) by the producers who requested a similar film to be made. Gastaldi is credited as an assistant director in the film's credits, but has stated he was never even on the set of the film.
Mario Bava
Mario Bava (31 July 1914 – 27 April 1980) was an Italian filmmaker who worked variously as a director, cinematographer, special effects artist and screenwriter, frequently referred to as the "Master of Italian Horror" and the "Master of the M ...
was brought in to direct the film through Ugo Guerra's suggestion as he could both direct the film and photograph the film. Bava took care of the cinematography for the film while his regular camera man
Ubaldo Terzano Ubaldo Terzano is an Italian cinematographer and camera operator, possibly best known for his numerous collaborations with Mario Bava.
As a cinematographer, his film credits include Bava's ''Black Sabbath'' (1963), ''The Whip and the Body'' (1963 ...
is credited as the cinematographer.
The film was shot for under
₤159 million
Italian lire
The lira (; plural lire) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was first introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually f ...
on a six-week shooting schedule with one more week for special effects. The film was shot in both
Anzio
Anzio (, also , ) is a town and ''comune'' on the coast of the Lazio region of Italy, about south of Rome.
Well known for its seaside harbour setting, it is a fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine Islands ...
and
Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome.
Release
The film's
sadomasochistic
Sadomasochism ( ) is the giving and receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation. Practitioners of sadomasochism may seek sexual pleasure from their acts. While the terms sadist and masochist refer ...
theme caused trouble with censors in Italy. The board of censors demanded no cuts to the film, but gave it a V.M. 18 rating meaning that it was forbidden to minors. This was appealed by the production companies for the film who cut parts of the film on their own and later earned a V.M. 14 rating. ''The Whip and the Body'' was released in Italy on 29 August 1963 through Titanus. The film was seized on 12 October 1963, with charges of obscenity. The film was declared that it contained "several sequences that refer to degenerations and anomalies of sexual life." The film was then later re-released in January 1964. The law court of Rome ordered the confiscation of several scenes that were described as "contrary to morality". The film poster was to be destroyed and condemned the chief press officer at Titanus to three months on probation. The film grossed a total of 72 million Italian lire.
''The Whip and the Body'' received a release in France under the title ''Le Corps et le fouet'' on 26 January 1966. A 77-minute version titled ''What!'' was released in the United States in 1965. This version was dubbed in English with none of the actors dubbing their own voices. The 77 minute version was nearly identical to the British edit of the film released under the title ''Night is the Phantom''. Both the American and English versions of the films were heavily edited, in particular having all the whipping scenes removed, causing the film to be incomprehensible.
Home video
A
Region 1 DVD of ''The Whip and the Body'' was released by VCI on 31 October 2000 with an 88-minute running time.
The DVD was sourced from a 35mm print of the film.
The disc included an audio commentary with
Tim Lucas
Tim Lucas (born May 30, 1956) is a film critic, biographer, novelist, screenwriter, blogger, and publisher and editor of the video review magazine ''Video Watchdog''.
Biography and early career
Lucas, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, was the only ...
, isolated soundtrack, photo gallery, cast and crew biographies and filmographies.
A
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...
of the film was released by
Kino
Kino may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasters
* KINO, a radio station in Arizona, U.S.
* Kino FM (98.0 FM – Moscow), a Russian music radio station
* KinoTV, now Ruutu+ Leffat ja Sarjat, a Finnish TV channel
Fictional entiti ...
on December 17, 2013.
The Blu-ray contained a Tim Lucas audio commentary and theatrical trailers.
Reception
In contemporary reviews, The ''
Monthly Film Bulletin
''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with ...
'' reviewed the 77-minutes English-dubbed version titled ''Night is the Phantom'' in 1965.
The review referred to the film as "slow, repetitive, verging on parody" and that either "censor or distributor cuts have rendered much of the plot incomprehensible, thought one doubts if it ever made sense entirely."
The review compared the film to other genre films of the era, calling it "another of Italy's prankish simulations of British horror movie" as well as stating that "Mario Bava copies
iccardoFreda almost slavishly" but "still pulls off some arresting pictorial compositions".
"Hogg." of ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' noted that "for sophisitcated audiences, the gothic-novel atmosphere and trappings of secret passages, muddy footprints from the crypt and ghost lover, probably will draw more laughs than gasps. But genuine suspense is maintained throughout."
The review commented on the technical elements of the film, stating "superb" cinematography but that the script had "many preposterous lines, and is far too cluttered with cliches such as screams in the night, hurried chases and mystery lights in the crypt."
In 1970, screenwriter
Ernesto Gastaldi
Ernesto Gastaldi (born 10 September 1934) is an Italian screenwriter. Film historian and critic Tim Lucas described Gastaldi as the first Italian screenwriter to specialize in horror and thriller films. Gastaldi worked within several popular ge ...
stated that the film disappointed him. Gastaldi described that he felt about the story “in terms of a psychological nightmare, in the style of
Clouzot's films, but Bava saw in it a baroque and decadent drama, and emphasized such tones beyond belief.”
From retrospective reviews,
Slant Magazine gave the film four and a half stars out of five, stating that the film found "Bava at the peak of his visual prowess"
Online film database
AllMovie found that Bava's "exceptional visual style helps to lift an otherwise gloomy picture". The review noted that the film contained a "strong, witty script and one of the finest casts the Italian director ever worked with" resulting in "a solid horror film that works on multiple levels."
See also
*
Christopher Lee filmography
The following is the filmography of English actor Sir Christopher Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015).
With a career spanning nearly seven decades, Lee was well known for portraying Count Dracula in a sequence of Hammer Horror films, beginning wit ...
*
List of French films of 1963
A list of films produced in France in 1963.
See also
* 1963 in France
Notes
External links
French films of 1963at the Internet Movie DatabaseFrench films of 1963at Cinema-francais.fr
{{DEFAULTSORT:French Films Of 1963
1963
Films
...
*
List of horror films of 1963
A list of horror films released in 1963.
References Notes
Bibliography
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:1963
External links
Most Popular Horror Feature Films Released In 1963at the Internet Movie Database
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movi ...
*
List of Italian films of 1963
Following is a sortable list of films produced in Italy in 1963.
See also
*1963 in film
References Footnotes
Sources
*
*
*
*
External linksItalian films of 1963at the Internet Movie Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Italian Films Of 1 ...
References
Footnotes
Sources
*
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whip and the Body, The
Films directed by Mario Bava
Films scored by Carlo Rustichelli
1963 films
Italian horror films
French horror films
1960s Italian-language films
1963 horror films
Titanus films
Gothic horror films
BDSM in films
Films set in the 19th century
Films shot in Rome
Films with screenplays by Ernesto Gastaldi
Censored films
1960s Italian films
1960s French films