Der Dämon und die Jungfrau (1963) a.k.a The Whip and the Body

After the sucess of Black Sunday (1960), Mario Bava went on to direct a couple of adventure films, before shooting giallo prototype and Hitchcock tribute The Girl Who Knew too Much (1962). The next year saw a return the gothic horror settings of his debut film:

Kurt Menliff (Christopher Lee) returns home to the family estate after years in exile. His abandonment of the caretaker's daughter had led her to suicide. During his absence, Kurt's brother Christian had married Kurt's former lover Nevenka (Daliah Lavi). Encountering Nevenka on a beach, Kurt reminds her of the time they spent together and how she always enjoyed punishment - a quick whipping and some love-making follows. That evening, Kurt is murdered in his room - but after the funeral, Nevenka is convinced that he has returned, and as more people are killed, Christian has to discover what is going on...

As with Bava's earlier Black Sunday (1960), The Whip and the Body has a flawed plot, although this time it is even worse and geniunely distracting, with complete lack of characterisation and all manner of missed opportunities. This is clear from the begninning with Kurt and Nevenka's encounter on the beach, where Kurt is introduced with a nice long shot panning up from his feet to his face, a scene that would have been perfect to introduce the character - however, since they have already met several times earlier in the film, it serves no purpose. The backstory between these two lead characters is far too quickly espoused - we are told that they have a history but its depth is never revealed, yet within moments of meeting on the beach (and a couple of whippings) they are making love, Nevenka never makes any resistance or even hints of loyalty to her husband. Similarly, although Christian states that he was forced to marry her, no indication is given of any motivation that Nevenka would have had to marry Christian and why she did not merely persue Kurt when he went into exile.

The character of Christian becomes the 'hero' of the piece in the second half, taking the role that in most films of this type would be the lead role - this late focus means that he has had little characterisation or build up in the first half and there is no tension over whether he lives or dies. Even the much hyped 'sadomasochistic' themes in the film, consist of a couple of very mild and implausible whippings, a million miles from the true sadean meanings of a text like Philosophy in the Boudoir (Marquis de Sade), while hints of incest seem completely gratuitous to the story. Although Black Sunday (1960) had a flawed plot, it worked as a horror film - The Whip and the Body doesn't. Most of the 'scary' scenes turn out to be fake scares with the bumbling manservant Losat continually appearing in random places, destroying what is left of the film's atmosphere. The climax is predictable from the start and awkwardly exposed, and like many psychological thrillers it leaves a whole bunch of implausible events unexplained.

Bava's direction is all that keeps the film from being a complete waste of time, with some nice subtle themes that reward careful viewing, although his solid camerawork and elaborate lighting is not as good as in Black Sunday (1960) - the memorable grave rising and camera-drifting through corridor scenes are never matched here. The soundtrack by Carlo Rustichelli is unremarkable and indicates tension by merely being played louder.

Christopher Lee was quickly becoming one of the top names in horror thanks to the highly sucessful quartet of Hammer Horror films at the end of the 1950s, he moved into European cinema in the early 1960s, appearing in Bava's earlier Hercules in the Haunted World (1961) and his distinctive presence was an obvious choice for the dark and imposing Kurt although sadly his voice was not used on the English audio track. Bava's previous horror lead Barbara Steele rejected the top role and instead Daliah Lavi was cast - her similar facial features and presence helping the film, although her acting is rather poor. The beautiful Ida Galli, with darkened hair, also returns from Hercules in the Haunted World (1961) and gets a limited role.

Often considered Mario Bava's best work, The Whip and the Body is a decently shot film that lumbers under a slow paced plot with almost a complete lack of characterisation - a serious problem for what is in essence a character driven film. Not recommended.

Anyone famous in it?	Christopher Lee - A horror icon of the 1960s who made his name in Britian but worked widely in Europe.
Directed by anyone interesting?	Mario Bava - Often considered to be one of the best European cinema directors he directed a wide range of films, but was most at home in the horror genre.
Is it scary?	There are a number of atmospheric scenes that are intended to scare.
Any violence/gore?	Some bloody deaths.
Any sex?	Some very tame whipping scenes.
Who is it for?	Fans of classic horror might enjoy this although it is not recommended.
Good Soundtrack?	A rather unimpressive track that does the film few favours.

Visuals	Original Aspect Ratio - 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. Colour The print is decent with good colours and detail but lots of scratches and some notable print damage. Always watchable.
Audio	German, Italian and English mono. The Italian track sounds slightly muffled and the German rather tinny. English sounds best. The German track is missing several scenes which play in English or Italian.
Subtitles	German - translation of the Italian track. German - infill of the missing scenes.
Run-time	Feature: 1hr 23m 26s (PAL)
Extras	The disc includes: Audio Commentary by Tim Lucas containing a lot of facts and details about the film. English. Original Italian, German and French cinema trailers. (3m 26s + 3m 25s + 3m 25s) Still galleries - photos, posters and advertising. Presented as a video file with film soundtrack over the top. Chapter scrollable. German VHS and American (under the title What!) alternate opening credits (1m 47s + 1m 03s) Very detailed biographies (German text) of Lavi, Lee and Bava. Bonus trailers for Bava's Blood and Black Lace plus Oblong Box and Laurin. (1m 58s + 2m 19s + 3m 11s) 8 page liner notes booklet - German text only.
Availability	German release. DVD Title: Der Dämon und die Jungfrau
Packaging	A standard Amaray case contained within a cardboard slip-cover.
Region	Region 2 (UK, Europe) - PAL
Other regions?	American VCI DVD includes the same audio commentary, plus English subtitles and some alternate footage. Image comparison - E-M-S vs. VCI at Sense of View.
Cuts?	The film is believed to be uncut. The print used is Italian.

Whip and the Body (1963)

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