La Frusta E Il Corpo/The Whip & The Body(1963) is an excellent gothic masterpiece that was ahead of its time in 1963 due to the strong imagery of erotic violence. Christopher Lee plays his most evil and sadistic character up to date(I have not seen his film, The Bloody Judge(1969)). His performance proves that he had an awesome presence within him. One theme that regularly occurs in many of Bava's films is the notion of the double that is present in movies like The Mask of Satan(1960), Kill Baby Kill(1967), and The Hatchet for the Honeymoon(1969). This is a great film that is overlooked by many Mario Bava supporters as it is also his best. The best parts of the film was the use of color and how he utizied color in the beautiful film. This movie is one that hopefully in the near future will get the video treatment that it deserves.
Review of The Whip and the Body
