A.K.A. What! (its ridiculous United States release title) and Night is the Phantom (its much more understandable United Kingdom release title).
It's hard to care about a movie's flaws when the aesthetics are this good.
Not only is The Whip and the Body a stylistic masterwork, complete with sumptuous sets, gorgeous lighting, vivid colours, a lush score (even if that main theme is probably repeated once too often), and some thick, heavy atmosphere, but it's also a mix of some of my favourite horror subgenres. The movie's a ghost story, a whodunit, and a gothic romance rolled into one.
I mean, when all those ingredients are on the table, on top of a fun Christopher Lee performance (though I think Daliah Lavi is the real standout here), I can forgive some awkward emoting and an occasionally meandering pace. Hell, even the ending is exactly what I was anticipating it to be, but I think the whole thing plays out with such hypnotic visual mystery, and utilizes such a fiery blend of strong emotions (which hits especially hard in this Italian soap opera setting), that I simply got lost in how beautiful and powerful and striking it all is.
Black Sunday and Blood and Black Lace may not've grabbed me much on a first viewing (we'll see how the rewatches go), but this one certainly did. You're back in my good graces, Bava.
Grade: A
No comments:
Post a Comment