"The Whip and The Body" is basically Mario Bava in a nutshell. It has all of his strengths in spades, and is classically undercut by all of his weaknesses.
Let me try to explain the plot:
A group of typically bloodless upper class types live in a castle by the sea shore, in some unnamed European country. The year is sometime in the 19th century. Kurt, a sadistic nobleman played by Christopher Lee, was supposed to marry a lady, but he had an affair with a servant girl who killed herself over the situation. He comes back to the manor home to claim what's his but apparently the lady he was supposed to marry wants to marry someone else? She's also into masochism, which helps, because Kurt is a sadist. Kurt is murdered one night (not a spoiler I don't think) and then his spirit comes back to haunt the woman he was supposed to marry.
And that's only about the first half hour. The story is typically confusing and muddled. Bava never really could tell a story very well. He cut his teeth as a cinematographer, and it shows here, and in most other movies he made (see also "Hercules and the Haunted World" and "Blood and Black Lace"). He had a real flair for striking images and atmosphere, but just no idea how to tell a story with these things. I totally lost interest in "The Whip and the Body" toward the end. I don't mind style over substance, but here the plot keeps getting in the way.
Let me try to explain the plot:
A group of typically bloodless upper class types live in a castle by the sea shore, in some unnamed European country. The year is sometime in the 19th century. Kurt, a sadistic nobleman played by Christopher Lee, was supposed to marry a lady, but he had an affair with a servant girl who killed herself over the situation. He comes back to the manor home to claim what's his but apparently the lady he was supposed to marry wants to marry someone else? She's also into masochism, which helps, because Kurt is a sadist. Kurt is murdered one night (not a spoiler I don't think) and then his spirit comes back to haunt the woman he was supposed to marry.
And that's only about the first half hour. The story is typically confusing and muddled. Bava never really could tell a story very well. He cut his teeth as a cinematographer, and it shows here, and in most other movies he made (see also "Hercules and the Haunted World" and "Blood and Black Lace"). He had a real flair for striking images and atmosphere, but just no idea how to tell a story with these things. I totally lost interest in "The Whip and the Body" toward the end. I don't mind style over substance, but here the plot keeps getting in the way.