La frusta e il corpo (1963)

Director:

Mario Bava

Writers:

Ernesto Gastaldi (screenplay)
Ugo Guerra (screenplay)

Release Date:

10 December 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

The most deliriously romantic horror picture ever made!

Plot:

In the 19th century, a sadistic nobleman terrorizes the members of his family. He is found dead, but his ghost soon returns to haunt the residents of his castle.

Plot Keywords:

Castle | Ghost | Dagger | Sadist | Abused Woman

Cast

Daliah Lavi	...	Nevenka Menliff
Christopher Lee	...	Kurt Menliff
Tony Kendall	...	Christian Menliff
Ida Galli	...	Katia (as Isli Oberon)
Harriet Medin	...	Giorgia (as Harriet White)
Gustavo De Nardo	...	Count Menliff (as Dean Ardow)
Luciano Pigozzi	...	Losat (as Alan Collins)
Jacques Herlin	...	Priest

Also Known As:

Le corps et le fouet (France)
Night Is the Phantom (UK) (dubbed version)
Son of Satan
The Body and the Whip
The Way and the Body
The Whip and the Body
The Whip and the Flesh (International: English title)
What (USA)

Runtime:

France:85 min | Italy:91 min | UK:78 min | USA:87 min | West Germany:86 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Germany:12 (re-rating) (2005) | Australia:MA (2009) | Argentina:16 | France:-18 | Italy:VM14 | USA:Unrated | West Germany:18 | UK:X

Filming Locations:

Tor Caldara, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Francinor-PIP

Trivia:

Christopher Lee's voice was dubbed by another actor even though the film was shot in English.

Quotes:

Kurt Menliff: [to Nevenka] You haven't changed, I see. You've always loved violence.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Bones (2001)

Horror Film With An S & M Twist

Kurt Menliff (Cristopher Lee) returns home to his ancestral castle which he was forced to leave after he whipped a village girl nearly to death. He finds that his fiance (Daliah Lavi) has married his brother, as well as having become the mistress of his father. (Don't panic, there's worse to come). He follows her to the beach and whips her savagely. She loves it and they end the session making love. The next day Kurt is found dead and Daliah soon begins experiencing nightly flagellations at the hands of his ghost. Christopher Lee has stated that this is one of his best films. It is certainly one of the most brilliantly bizarre horror films ever made. Directed by cult icon Mario Bava, Italy's finest cinematographer (if not one of their finest directors), it rises as far above an S & M fantasy as can be imagined. It was censored in every country in the world for its sexual violence and what remained was almost incoherent for most audiences and re-released under various titles: WHAT! in the US; NIGHT IS THE PHANTOM in the UK, etc. Until video (with somewhat faded color) it was impossible to see in its original form. Even now it remains a profoundly misunderstood film and should be seen in a theater in its complete form instead of on video.

J.F.