mill of the stone women

Warning: SPOILERS!!! First a word of warning: If your copy of this Italy/France co-production runs 85 minutes or less, stop watching it immediately. The only version worth watching is the one that runs 95 minutes, as the 85 minute version is the TV print, which excises some very important visual information, including some surprising female nudity. While the 85 minute version doesn't hurt the plot of the film, the full version offers the viewer something they usually don't see in a film from 1960, namely the sight of female nipples and some very graphic gore (at least for the time). The film opens with writer Hans von Arnim (Pierre Brice; The Germany/France WINNETOU Western films [1962 - 1998]) arriving in 19th Century Holland to do a monograph on Professor Gregorius Wahl (Herbert Boehme; THE SECRET (PUZZLE) OF THE RED ORCHID - 1961) and his family's one hundred years of operating and creating a strange carousel of female serial killers throughout history, which takes place in a windmill. When Hans asks a local where Professor Wahl lives, he replies in the Mill of the Stone Women. When Hans asks the local why he calls it that, he says he doesn't know, it has been called that ever since he can remember, as people come from all over to watch the weird carousel of realistic-looking stone women display their crimes. When Hans arrives at the windmill, he meets housekeeper Selma (Olga Solbelli; THE THIRD EYE - 1966), who brings him inside and tells him to wait there and not wander off. Hans hears some piano music playing in the background and when it stops, a beautiful, yet pasty-faced, young woman peers out of the curtains and looks at Hans with lust in her eyes. Before Hans can approach her, Selma again appears and shows him to a room, locking the door so Hans cannot leave (or to stop someone from getting in). Hans begins hearing a woman scream as if she is in severe pain, but before he can do anything Professor Wahl appears and tells Hans that he is very busy, so he will only give him six days to write his monograph, showing him to a secluded room in the windmill where he will work. He is under no circumstances to leave the room except to leave the windmill at night when he is finished for the day. On the first day Hans is there, the beautiful white-faced woman appears again and tells him her name is Elfie (Scilla Gabel; BASTARD, GO AND KILL - 1971), the Professor's daughter. She tells Hans she must see him tonight at 11:00 PM and not to worry about anyone catching them because everyone will be asleep. Hans agrees and then goes to a restaurant to meet his girlfriend Liselotte (Dany Carrel; THE HANDS OF ORLAC - 1960) and his best friend, the womanizing Ralf (Marco Guglielmi; HOW TO KILL A JUDGE - 1974). Both Liselotte and Ralf are students at a university where the Professor teaches sculpture and life classes (i.e. drawing the naked human body). Hans asks Ralf if the Professor has a daughter and he says yes, but no one has ever seen her, as the Professor never lets her leave the windmill. Liselotte leaves in a huff because Hans is talking about another woman, so Hans sends Ralf to go to her and talk some sense into her (Yes, send a womanizer to talk sense into a hurt woman!). At 11:00 PM, Hans meets Elfie in her bedroom, where she professes her love for him and they make love. The next morning, Liselotte and Ralf meet Hans at the windmill, and when Elfie sees Hans hugging and kissing Liselotte, she becomes instantly jealous, writing Hans a threatening note and leaving it in his work room. When Liselotte and Ralf leave, The Professor pulls Hans into his office and tells him he is to have no further contact with Elfie. The Professor explains that Elfie suffers from a rare blood disease and any excitement will kill her, which is why Dr. Loren Bohlem (Wolfgang Preiss; THE BLOODSTAINED BUTTERFLY - 1971) also lives in the windmill. He is there to make sure his daughter doesn't die, but the Professor doesn't know that Dr. Bohlem loves Elfie, even though she can't stand him. Dr. Bohlem is trying to create a formula to cure Elfie of her disease, but her blood type is so rare, it is almost impossible to duplicate it or find someone with the same type blood. That afternoon, Liselotte and Ralf come to the windmill to watch the carousel in action, but it becomes too frightening to Liselotte (The stone female figures look real to her) and she passes out. The Professor gives smelling salts to Ralf to administer to Liselotte and when she comes to, the Professor sees that one of her hatpins has scratched her face, so he uses his handkerchief to wipe off the blood (HUGE clue!). While Hans is working in his room, Elfie comes in and apologizes for writing the threatening note, saying she got mad when she saw him kissing another woman. Hans tells Elfie that he can never love her and Elfie is fine with that, telling him that her love for him will sustain her. When Hans refuses to kiss her, Elfie falls down unconscious and Hans carries her to her bed, He uses a mirror to check her breathing when he sees blood trickling out of the side of her mouth, only to discover that she is dead. Not wanting to lose his job or tell the Professor what happened, he just leaves Elfie in her bedroom and says nothing, but guilt begins to drive Hans insane (he has quite the "freak-out" scene!), especially when he goes down into the windmill's basement and sees Elfie strapped to a table next to a red-haired woman, who is strapped to a table next to her. Hans' mind snaps and a doctor puts Hans on bedrest for a few days to hopefully recuperate, with Liselotte seeing to his every need. When Hans returns to his normal self, Liselotte disappears and he tells Ralf what he saw in the windmill's basement. A black & white photo in Liselotte's room shows her standing next to a woman, the same woman that Hans saw strapped to a table next to Elfie. When Hans tells Ralf she has red hair, Ralf has no other choice but to believe him, since the woman, named Annelore (Liana Orfei; HERCULES, SAMSON AND ULYSSES - 1963), was a model in one of Liselotte and his life classes that the Professor taught and Hans could only know she had red hair if he actually saw her, since the photo was in black & white. We then see how Dr. Bohlem brings back Elfie to life time after time. This time, using Annelore, they drain her of all her red blood cells and put them onto Elfie's body, but it is only a temporary solution. Professor Wahl then mummifies Annelore's body (we watch as he does it step-by-step and it's quite hard to watch) and turns her into one of the carousel's exibits, something he has done to all of the victims who brought Elfie back to life. Hans and Ralf race to the windmill, knowing that Liselotte is going to be the next victim, but what they don't know is the Liselotte is to be the final victim, as she has the type of blood needed for Dr. Bolem to create the formula to cure Elfie of her disease (Dr. Bohlem tested the blood on the Professor's handkerchief). With Liselotte strapped to the table (her naked nipples prominently displayed! If you don't see them, you have the edited version), Dr. Bohlem tells the Professor that he will cure Elfie under one condition: She will become his wife. The Professor laughs and says that will never happen; his daughter deserves someone much better than a disgraced doctor he saved from the gallows. This results in a fight where the Professor kills Dr. Bohlem. As the Professor starts the blood transference and is about to use the formula to cure his daughter, he can't find the syringe where he saw Dr. Bohlem place it, not knowing Dr. Bohlem pocketed the syringe just before he made his demands. As Elfie's life drains from her body, the Professor finds the syringe in Dr. Bohlem's lab jacket, broken during their fight. Feeling defeated, the Professor sets fire to the windmill, as Hans and Ralf rescue Liselotte and flee the burning windmill. The Professor carries a dying Elfie and they sit atop the carousel, watching the female serial killer figures burning (including Annelore's) and revealing they all have human skulls, as the fire burns all around them (try to ignore the shot of the burning windmill, which is obviously a miniature model). THE END. This very colorful Gothic horror film, directed by Giorgio Ferroni (THE TROJAN HORSE - 1961; SECRET AGENT SUPER DRAGON - 1966; NIGHT OF THE DEVILS - 1972) and co-written by Ferroni, Remigio Del Grosso (JOURNEY BENEATH THE DESERT - 1961), Ugo Liberatore (director/writer of DAMNED IN VENICE - 1978) and Giorgio Stegani (DEATH ON THE FOURPOSTER - 1964), is an adult foray into the perverse, showing us things we never thought we would see in a 1960 horror film (The more that I watch these early-'60s Italian Gothic horror films, the less surprised I become!). The nudity shown in this film comes out of left field, especially when showing Liselotte's nipples as she is strapped to the table. If you aren't looking specifically there, you may miss them, as the camera doesn't linger, but there are two scenes that show them, so it was no mistake. The TV version of this film specifically edits them out, as well as scenes of the stone figures burning and revealing their skulls (I mistakenly watched the edited version on YouTube before I found the unedited version streaming on Amazon Prime, which I had to pay for.). It even edits out a head falling off one of the figures. It shows us nothing, even though Hans picks it up, looks at it and tells Ralf that it is a mummified human head, before dropping it to the floor (the edited version does show the head lying on the floor, though). This is still a well-made film full of atmospheric sequences, especially the first time we see the carousel in action, as women in various freaky poses slide across a track, revealing themselves one-by-one. There's a woman who has her head on a chopping block, ready to have it separated from her body, another tied to a stake and ready to be burned and still another with a noose around her neck, the look on her choking face horrifying. This was one of those films that use to be a staple on TV during my childhood, but it's nothing quite like what you will see in the unedited version, including frank talks about sex. There's enough weirdness in this film for me to give it a big thumbs-up, so catch it if you can, but remember to avoid the edited version. Shot as IL MULINO DELLE DONNE DI PIETRA (a literal translation of the review title) and also known as DROPS OF BLOOD, this film gained a 1963 theatrical release in the United States by Parade Pictures Releasing, yet it had only one legitimate VHS release in the U.S. in 1985 from Paragon Video, the rest relying on gray market VHS releases by companies like Something Weird Video and Threat Theater and they were all the TV version of the film (Paragon's sleeve lists a running time of 93 minutes, but I can assure you it is the 85 minute version). There was only one legitimate disc release of the unedited film in the States, that being a DVD in 2004 by Mondo Macabro, which is long OOP. There have been no updated discs since then. While this film can be found streaming on YouTube, most prints are the 85 minute version, yet there is also an unedited version, but it is in French language only. I did manage to find the unedited version streaming on Amazon Prime, so I purchased it for $7.99 ($1.99 for a rental, even for Prime members). It's actually a widescreen version from Sinister Cinema that is blemish-free and very colorful, well worth the $7.99, because I will watch this frequently, as it has plenty of replay value. Also featuring Alberto Archetti (THE MONSTER OF THE OPERA - 1961/1964) as Konrad, the Professor's assistant. Not Rated.

Really, this is the best horror film in history. You have all of the elements. The windmills of the Netherlands. Boatswains in their nautical caps ferrying passengers to and fro the Dutch canals. Farmers plowing their fields behind them. No where else do I believe you have such a unique cultural combination. It is an Italian production about a horror story set in a windmill in the Netherlands by a (fictitious) Flemish author. There are visual clues everywhere including self-portraits of Rembrandt and painter's palettes hung upon the walls to symbolize that you are in the country of visual artists. Mind you you are also under the sea level so that the "land" you are seeing has most likely been reclaimed from the sea. And then there are the women. Such women as one could only see in an Italian production about a Flemish horror story. Throw in a couple of mad scientists and a male suitor or two and you have the quintessential horror film. These are the things of which nightmares are made. There are some campy sequences such as when one of the "stone" women loses her head in the carnival like procession put on in the windmill's gallery of horrors and the male leads scamper away as if in fright. But, it is the darker, surreal horror of "Mill of the Stone Women" which earns it its five star rating and moniker as greatest horror movie of all time. This is nothing that you would ever see in an American horror picture. The film earned an "X" rating in England according to one trailer. It was 1960 and so ratings were different, but only an Italian company of that time would dare to subject audiences to the kind of horror witnessed here. It is highly atmospheric and suggests horrors which one does not actually see but only imagines. That is a subtext of the film as the protagonist, Hans, thinks that he is imagining the horrors he finds in the windmill which is part of the plot of the mad scientists and macabre artists. What it suggests I will leave to the viewer to decide. But, bring your mind and imagination to this windmill of horrors. You may be glad or regret the day that you did!

Old fashioned Hammer-style Italian/French "horror" film from 1960, and set in 'windmill country' near Amsterdam. I use the term "horror" loosely to describe it as there is really nothing horrific about it. No gore at all. And really why is it called Mill of the Stone Women when the women are encased in wax and not 'petrified to stone' as it says on the cover. Really a case of false advertising. There are some really incomprehensible moments such as when the waxworks head falls off to reveal it is a corpse when in reality this wouldn't happen, somebody's head doesn't just fall off their neck! And what strange disease is the girl afflicted with its never explained? So a strange little script which is however pretty well filmed and acted for the era. The macabre carousel scenes are really terrific though however the rest of the film I feel it is a little overrated by other reviewers on here so i'm awarding it 3 stars.

A good box set with soft cover book.

Un film à posséder dans sa collection DVD un grand classique du cinéma européen! Le seul hick quelques passages anglais dans la version francaise. Mais ca reste un bon film pareil.