The Whip and the Body

The eldest son, thrown out years ago, returns to a castle by the sea. Kurt treats nobody well, and Nevenka, whom he once had, is now married to his brother. In a scene on the beach he whips her and she does not resist. That same night Kurt is killed. Then he begins walking the castle at night and only Nevenka sees him. The subject is not the ghost but whose head the desire is in. The film never says outright whether the dead man is really returning or whether the woman is turning her own wish into an apparition. The second reading converts it from a horror story into an account of psychological collapse. The form is built entirely on colour and light. Mario Bava uses red, green and blue filters within a single scene; corridors are painted with coloured light and the space moves away from realism. He shot the film himself as well as directing it. It ran into the censors in Italy on release; the whipping scenes were cut and the film circulated in different versions in different countries. Christopher Lee played the role in English and was dubbed by another actor in the Italian version. Daliah Lavi plays Nevenka. Who it is for: viewers who like Italian gothic horror and the use of colour. Who it is not for: anyone who will find the violence in its premise troubling; the objection is fair and the film does not examine it.