The Whip and the Body

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.