NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (March 2024): Kino have transferred Mario Bava's The Whip and the Body to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "2023 4K Scan and 2K Restoration by 88 Films". We compared the 2013 Kino Blu-ray to DVDs HERE. It's easy to see that this new transfer a highly pleasing bump over the previous Blu-ray (which in-turn was a giant leap over the DVDs.) The source can appear very textured in 1080P - almost noisy in the darker scenes. This is in the accurate 1.85:1 (where the decade old BD was 1.78:1). The new transfer is brighter, has less of the heavy blue, and shows more detail. The film can look a shade soft on digital but this is easily the best I have seen it look - and we expect that the 88 Films (UK) Blu-ray image quality will be very similar.

NOTE: We have added 84 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino offer DTS-HD Master dual-mono tracks (24-bit) in both Italian (original) and English post DUB. The Whip and the Body has few aggressive moments that come through with modest depth and score by composer Carlo Rustichelli (The Facts of Murder, The Gang, Night Ripper, The Long Hair of Death, Seduced and Abandoned, Divorce - Italian Style, The Secret War of Harry Frigg, 1974's Ten Little Indians) and the frequently used The Windsor Concerto theme (one of Rustichelli's favorite compositions.) It sounds fine with the Italian language as default and the English still has the somewhat distracting DUB. Kino offer English (SDH) translation and English ( for the DUB) subtitle options on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers the previous utilized commentary by, our favorite, Tim Lucas (Nozone – Reviews of Art, Cult, and Genre Cinema, 2003-2012) originally on VCI's DVD from 2000. (NOTE: This is not the newer Lucas commentary on the 2014 Odeon Entertainment UK Blu-ray HERE) Tim talks about the credit pseudonyms, The Whip and the Body having as fine as an ensemble cast you will find in Italian horror, the poor quality DUB'ing, the symbolism of the roses, that Gustavo De Nardo (playing Count Vladimir Menliff) has had more bit parts in Mario Bava films than any other actor, plenty on the director as Tim literally wrote the book; Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark, and also relates information on writer Ernesto Gastaldi, actors Daliah Lavi, Christopher Lee, Harriet Medin and much more. The commentary still has plenty of value 20+ year later. Also included is a 3.5 minute French trailer. The package has an O-card slipcase. 

This is the longer, unrated, version of Mario Bava's The Whip and the Body and was initially seen as a 'B' film but time has elevated it beyond it's themes of obsessive desire and sadomasochism. This is accentuated by Bava's lush, atmospheric, visual style. It may have, 21-year old, Daliah Lavi's best performance - as libidinous 'Nevenka'. There are strong echoes of Edgar Allan Poe in The Whip and the Body and the result is a ravishing gothic horror and psychological thriller that I could watch at any time. I love the dimly lit crypt, a ghost lover, secret passages, mysterious mud-caked boots and the film's dark revenge and perversity themes. The new 4K restoration on the Kino Blu-ray makes this a must-own for fans of Bava or Italian Gothic horror magnificence. Very strongly recommended.

Gary Tooze