"The Whip and the Body" is an amazingly kinky film--and it surprised me a bit in this regard. It has scenes of sado-masochism, as a female character in the film likes to be beaten before having sex. Because of this you MIGHT wanna think twice before showing this to your kids or grandma.
This is a Gothic horror film with a nice ambiance and excellent music--though the same tune is overused a bit through the course of the film. The fun begins when the long-disgraced older son (Christopher Lee) arrives after a long absence. Exactly what he'd done isn't spelled out all that clearly, but you know it resulted in the death of a servant and that he's been disinherited. Soon, Lee is off having fun, beating a member of the family and making love to her...and she likes it! Now you THINK Lee has returned to get some sort of revenge on his family, so I was surprised he took out time for this kinky tryst. And, surprise, surprise, before he can start his plans of revenge, he's stabbed to death! But, through the course of the film, it seems as if he's returned from the dead, and very bad things start to happen...along with some more kinky whippings.
The payoff for this tale is pretty good and it's a good film with a nice print. But, it's also a bit uncomfortable watching the kinky stuff, so I certainly can't recommend it without some reservations.
By the way, the DVD for this Italian film is dubbed, not subtitled. And, oddly, although you can tell that Lee was speaking English, it's NOT his voice--it, along with the rest, have been dubbed. As for me, I always prefer subtitled.
