- Messages
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The Whip and the Body (1963)
Disappointingly Christopher Lee isn't in this Mario Bava Gothic Horror for very long and he's dubbed by somebody else anyway (even in English). He plays Kurt, the estranged "mad, bad and dangerous to know" son of a wealthy Count, who gets bumped off in the first 15-minutes, then the rest of the movie is mostly in a holding-pattern of general spookiness, as he (possibly) haunts the occupants of the castle. The lack of any real plot made it difficult to stay awake and focused. The terrible quality print on the blu-ray I watched didn't help because I couldn't even enjoy Bava's lurid coloured lighting. 'The Whip and the Body' is notable because it features sadomasochistic themes, in which Kurt whips his lover... until her clothes fall off. The film was declared "contrary to morality", scenes were heavily cut in some versions (rendering the story incomprehensible), copies of the poster were ordered to be destroyed and the studio's press officer was given three months probation.
Kill, Baby... Kill! (1966)
A Mario Bava Italian Gothic horror in the Hammer style about a village being terrorised by a ghostly blood-letting child. The use of vivid stylized coloured lighting looks fantastic in HD. This and all the cobwebs, shadows and ominous music create a really scary atmosphere. The English dubbing on the version I watched on Amazon Prime is some of the best I've heard. There is too much going round in circles plot wise, made worse by all the sets looking kinda similar. If it had started before the main character arrived in the cursed village and then only taken us to the evil Villa in the last act, it might have felt like there was a bit more direction to the story. The sequence where the hero runs repeatedly through the same room, faster and faster, until he catches himself was very cool. I think it was done with doubles and hidden cuts.
Disappointingly Christopher Lee isn't in this Mario Bava Gothic Horror for very long and he's dubbed by somebody else anyway (even in English). He plays Kurt, the estranged "mad, bad and dangerous to know" son of a wealthy Count, who gets bumped off in the first 15-minutes, then the rest of the movie is mostly in a holding-pattern of general spookiness, as he (possibly) haunts the occupants of the castle. The lack of any real plot made it difficult to stay awake and focused. The terrible quality print on the blu-ray I watched didn't help because I couldn't even enjoy Bava's lurid coloured lighting. 'The Whip and the Body' is notable because it features sadomasochistic themes, in which Kurt whips his lover... until her clothes fall off. The film was declared "contrary to morality", scenes were heavily cut in some versions (rendering the story incomprehensible), copies of the poster were ordered to be destroyed and the studio's press officer was given three months probation.
Kill, Baby... Kill! (1966)
A Mario Bava Italian Gothic horror in the Hammer style about a village being terrorised by a ghostly blood-letting child. The use of vivid stylized coloured lighting looks fantastic in HD. This and all the cobwebs, shadows and ominous music create a really scary atmosphere. The English dubbing on the version I watched on Amazon Prime is some of the best I've heard. There is too much going round in circles plot wise, made worse by all the sets looking kinda similar. If it had started before the main character arrived in the cursed village and then only taken us to the evil Villa in the last act, it might have felt like there was a bit more direction to the story. The sequence where the hero runs repeatedly through the same room, faster and faster, until he catches himself was very cool. I think it was done with doubles and hidden cuts.