By TESS HENSON

Let's talk about sex. Let's talk about tainted, painful, obsessive, possessive, sadistic, masochistic, evil sex. A female friend and I, while screening The Mummy Returns in a Theatre recently, were drooling over Arnold Vosloo's portrayal of the evil, resurrected mummy king, Im-Ho-Tep. We were paying no attention at all to Brendan Fraser's Indiana Jones impersonation, which would probably have most females begging for lot's more of the same. Not us.

At one point we looked at each other after one of the luscious scenes of Im-Ho-Tep in a nearly naked state, and said to one another--almost at the same time--"evil sex is great sex!"   Yes, indeed. And for you females out there reading this who agree with that statement, Mario Bava's erotic masterpiece The Whip And The Body (also known as What) will stimulate and titillate, and leave you begging your master for more!

The Whip And The Body (a.k.a. Le Corps et le Fouet, Son Of Satan, Night Is The Phantom, The Way And The Body, The Body And The Whip and La Frusta e il Corpo), is directed by Bava under one of Bava's pseudonyms, John M. Old. It stars the charismatic Christopher Lee as Kurt Menliff, a 19th century nobleman who has been cast out of his family because of his sadistic reputation, who returns home to reclaim his name and his ex-lover Nevenka (Daliah Lavi) who is now married to his brother Christian (Tony Kendall).

Right out of the gate, the viewer is thrown into a bizarre love triangle (Nevenka was also once the mistress of Kurt and Christian's father!), and the erotic tension never really diminishes. Needless to say, no one is really happy to see Kurt, especially Giorgia, a distant relative who is now little more than a maid in the Menliff household, but whose daughter, Tanya, had succumbed to Kurt's dominating charm at some obscure time in the past, and killed herself with a dagger when Kurt had grown tired of her.

The viewer gets the feeling that Nevenka and Kurt had carried on a very passionate and twisted love affair, and when Kurt's father decided Nevenka should marry Christian instead, he substituted Tanya as his lover for awhile, while waiting for his real love to come around. It was after Tanya's death that Kurt left the family in shame, and has now come back to claim what he thinks is his.

Christopher Lee has never looked sexier than in this role. Yes, he was sexy as Dracula, but because he was a horrible supernatural creature, I never felt comfortable with the whole "die to live forever" phase a female has to go through to become Dracula's concubine. However, since I am of a particular sexual ilk, Lee, for me is the perfect sexual mate in "The Whip And The Body". Lee himself has stated that this character, and that of "The Wicker Man" were his two favorite roles to portray--fascinating! Okay, back to the plot. I'll extol the virtues of "Lee as sadist" later.

As I've said, no one was particularly happy to see Kurt return, that is, except Nevenka. From the beginning, she seems to have a storm raging within her--does she hate Kurt? Does he repulse her? Does she love him? Or rather, does she love what he does to her, and then hate herself later for feeling things that she thinks is morally questionable?

To help you develop an answer, let's find out what he does to her. One day, after Kurt's arrival, Nevenka and Katia (Giorgia's other daughter, who is secretly in love with Christian--Nevenka's husband--told you it was twisted), are horseback riding along a beach. They split up, and soon Nevenka takes a break, dismounts and rests on a boulder next to the seashore. Caught up in her thoughts of Kurt, and tracing lines in the sand with her riding crop, she doesn't notice that he has found her.

He takes the whip from her, and reminds her that she was once fond of him, kisses her passionately, then throws her down and starts administering the riding crop to various parts of her body saying "...you always liked violence..." And she does. Instead of begging him to stop, Nevenka writhes around in orgasmic ecstasy as Kurt dominates her with the whip, then falls to the sand beside her and makes love to her.

I would have to say that this is probably the most erotic scene, without nudity mind you, that I have ever seen in a horror film. No wonder this baby was banned in so many countries when it was released in 1963!

Later, back at the castle, the family is worried because it is now dark and Nevenka has not yet returned home. A search is started and she is found unconscious, bruised and battered, where Kurt left her by the seashore. She is carried back to the castle but does not remember what has happened to her. By that time Kurt has returned and stated that he has no idea what happened to her when questioned.

Kurt repairs to his bedchamber and as he is preparing to retire for the night, hears a female voice whispering his name. He investigates the area where the whispers seem to come from, and is suddenly accosted from behind and is strangled by a whip. Then, as he un-knots the whip from around his neck, he is stabbed with the same dagger that Tanya had killed herself with. You see, Giorgia, Tanya's mother, had prophesied that Kurt would die with the same dagger through his heart. Kurt is dead. Is she the murderer?

The rest of the film progresses fairly predictably with Kurt returning from the grave to haunt Nevenka with even more sadistic whippings, and to exact his revenge on those who hated him. The second half of the film basically turns into a whodunit of sorts, but with no real surprises. Everybody has a motive for killing Kurt though, and the interesting thing about this part of the film is learning how all the motives are related in one way or another. Secrets are revealed, pacts are sealed and certain old emotional wounds are healed. I don't want to spoil it for you though, as it is entertaining enough. What I want to get back to now is the evil sex!

If my friend and I thought Im-Ho-Tep was the epitome of evil sex, boy were we ever wrong. Evil sex-lite maybe. Christopher Lee exudes so much evil sexual charm and sadistic charisma that any woman would be a fool not to fall under his spell. This film presents many different sexual themes--not only the sado-masochist angle, but also voyeurism, dom-sub (dominant-submissive), and incestuous themes abound.

If you like to dominate--you will relate to Kurt. I you are submissive--you will want to be Nevenka (being dominated by Christopher Lee could be a particular submissive's fantasy). If you are a voyeur--the scenes of Kurt whipping Nevenka could be titillating. If you are a masochist--again, the Nevenka character would be the one for you. Lee's brooding good looks,  his intense portrayal of this role, and pure dominance in character, make him a submissive's dream come true.

I mean, come on ladies, how many of you have always wanted to be taken, ravished and totally dominated by your man? If this describes you, then The Whip And The Body could be a good training film for your mate! How many of you more romantic females out there have always wanted to be totally possessed by your man? You have to admit, there is a certain sexual charge you can get from a man who wants you completely--body and soul--and comes back from beyond the grave for you!

Yes, this film is about sex, but it is also about love...an undying love (or shall we say undead?). Nevenka certainly loves and hates Kurt, although I don't think she hates him as much as she hates herself for enjoying what he does to her. But does Kurt love Nevenka? While Kurt is very set upon the idea of possessing Nevenka, is it because he loves her, or because she is his perfect sexual mate? I think it is more of the latter, because Kurt never confesses his undying love for Nevenka.

In fact, love hardly ever enters the relationship from Kurt's point of view; it is always about possession, and Nevenka to him is just a sexual toy  that he must have. One wonders how long he would keep Nevenka around if he could truly have her, before discarding her like he did Tanya. Love is one-sided in this relationship, and, like most of it's type, it ends tragically.

While Christopher Lee is cast perfectly for his role, the role of Nevenka, played by Daliah Lavi, could have been better served in my opinion. I kept wanting to see Barbara Steele in the role. However, for you dog-faced boys, that might have been too much sensory overload! Just try to imagine a half-naked Steele being whipped into submission, all the while moaning for more! I suppose that could be any man's fantasy, whether he's into kinky sex or not.

Lavi's performance is rather stilted and wooden--I wanted more sexual sparks between her and Lee--and I think Barbara Steele could have provided those much-needed sparks in a way that is perhaps hard to fathom. I also think she is just a much better actress.

Have I mentioned that this is a Mario Bava film? Curious that I haven't been prattling on and on about the cinematography (which is stunning, as usual), but this is probably one of Bava's most coherent films, in which the storyline is more important than the look of the film. Most Bava films you watch because you want to be transported into a surreal world of color and shadow. Most Bava films are more visually stimulating than substantial. Not so here.

From the opening scene on, you are caught up in a whirlwind story that is so compelling you hardly notice all the signature Bava visual tricks, which are quite prevalent. There are the rich backlit reds and blues, there are the shadowy corners, there are pale faces peering through dark windows, there are elaborate set decorations with the Bava-favored stained-glass backdrops. But somehow, all these Bava-isms pale in comparison with the story, and all that makes this my favorite Bava film yet.

So ladies, if you are of a particular ilk who thinks that evil sex equals great sex, then by all means screen this bit of ghostly erotica. If you think Christopher Lee is a hottie--you really must see him in this stimulating, intense role.

Guys, if you'd like to explore the more painful side of sex with the lady of your choice, might I suggest screening this film as a warm-up. As for me...I just can't seem to get enough of evil sex!

Golly, Tess, after reading your take on The Whip And The Body, old Renfield is just too breathless to comment further.  I gotta watch that flick again, though...

Article copyright © Tess Henson

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