Mill of the Stone Women

Most people who write about the 1960 French-Italian coproduction "Mill of the Stone Women" can't seem to resist comparing it, and quite rightly, to "House of Wax" (1953) and "Eyes Without a Face" (1959); I guess I've just done so myself! But "Mill" has a lot more to offer than just a mashup of those two great pictures. In it, handsome Pierre Brice plays Hans van Harnim, a writer in what appears to be late 19th century Holland, who goes to the windmill home of one Prof. Wahl to do a story on his unusual abode and the professor/sculptor's carousel collection of grotesque female statues. What follows, for van Harnim, is quite the nightmarish experience, as he discovers the secrets of both this statuary and Wahl's mysterious daughter, Elfy. While not nearly as classic or seminal as two other horror films that premiered that year--Mario Bava's "Black Sunday" and Uncle Alfie's "Psycho" (then again, how many pictures are?)--"Mill" still manages to provide some shudders. The film begins quite eerily, and its unusual backdrop, that of the misty canal district in Holland's countryside, is a unique one for a horror film. An hallucinatory freakout sequence that transpires roughly halfway in is truly disorienting, before the picture turns to more conventional, albeit still quite fun, mad-scientist fare. The film also gives us handsome sets, nicely muted colors, interesting direction by Giorgio Ferroni, and perhaps the most inspired use of a creepy windmill since Uncle Alfie's "Foreign Correspondent" (1940). And almost stealing the show, in her role as Elfy, is Scilla Gabel, a gorgeous actress with Sophia Loren-type looks and the otherworldly air of the young Barbara Steele. In all, a very fine horror outing, nicely presented on this DVD from the good folks at Mondo Macabro, and with loads of fine extras, to boot.

Based on a Flemish short story by Pieter Van Weigen, Mill of the Stone Women is an excellent slice of Eurocult Gothic horror. The film is along the same lines as films by Mario Bava; most notably Black Sunday and Kill Baby Kill, and just like the aforementioned masterpieces; bathes in its own atmosphere and most of the horror is drawn from that. Horror is a genre that people often mistake for not having many ideas, but films like this prove otherwise. Here, we have a story that couldn't be further away from the 'norm' in horror, and on a technical level, Mill of the Stone Women is both inventive and influential. The macabre plot follows a young journalist named Hans who travels to Holland to write an article on the mysterious sculptor, who lives in a mill, that the locals have nicknamed "The Mill of the Stone Women". While there, he meets the Professor's beautiful daughter; but she's damaged goods, as she suffers from a sinister malady that means she has to remain within the mill. Is there something yet more morbid to this intriguing set up...?

The mill at the centre of the piece makes for an excellent location for this story to take place in. Old castles are a more common location for Gothic horror, so the fact that this one takes place in a mill again differentiates it from the norm, and is yet another example of the imagination behind the story. The colour scheme is largely quite drab, and to be honest, I'd have preferred either more striking colours or a black and white picture...as the in-between doesn't look good in my opinion. That's pretty much the only thing I don't like about this film in regards to the style, however. The plot moves slowly, but this means that the film has time to both build up it's plot and wallow in the atmosphere. One of the trademarks of Italian horror is a muddled plot and things that don't completely make sense; and this film adheres to that. There are several threads within the plot, and a number of them are left unexplained by the conclusion...which is a shame. Still, the final conclusion is fitting and at least it doesn't suffer from bad dubbing! Recommended.

This is one of the films that is very atmospheric, stylish, and inventive in the European 60's fashion. The story is somewhat of a cross between Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "Rappacini's Daughter" and the film House of Wax. An art professor is keeping a secret about his invalid, beautiful, seductive daughter Elfi away from Hans von Arnam, a man sent to write a piece on the centennial of the professor's mill and its famous statues of women that move around on a carousel-like machine. The statues are of famous women through history as well as having local historical murderesses and victims displayed. Living with the professor and Elfi is a strange doctor. Amidst this strange four-sided triangle, women are disappearing. The story is'nt too hard to figure out and much is given away early on. What it does do quite nicely is create a slowly-paced mood that leads to an interesting if not wholly imaginative denouement. The style infused throughout the picture is a credit to Italian director Giorgio Ferroni. The use of colors, the settings, the haunting carousel music, the "waxworks" themselves all help create the oppressive almost hallucinogenic mood. The acting is pretty good overall with Wolfgang Preiss as the complex doctor and especially Robert Boehme as Professor Gregorious Wahl standing out. Scilla Gabel as Elfi is just gorgeous as is Liana Orfei as one of the girls that gets missing. The production looks very German in manner and style - another compliment to the director. There are several scenes which stand out: the first time we see the carousel moving, nay, almost cranking itself away past those that have come to gawk at it, the drug-induced dream sequence Hans goes through, and the ending - a real barn-burner! Mill of the Stone Women isn't a fast-paced horror film but if you like movies like Black Sunday or Bava's work in general - Ferroni seems to have some similar directorial flair.

Though I'm not quite as enamored with the film as others here, there is still much to enjoy in this sorely neglected tale of a young man researching a creepy old windmill's lurid "carousel" and his love for the owner's mysterious daughter.

Made at the same time as Bava's "Black Sunday", Ferroni's "Mill" relies on and succeeds at it's goal for the same reasons- Atmosphere in abundance and true artistic flair. Every inch of the windmill is ominous and each room (and there are many) has its own distinct feel, lighting, and color palette. With this strong foundation in place, the movie builds in the details, including a wild hallucination scene, the actual workings of the carousel, a daughter who appeared very dead but is soon quite fine, and many others.

Despite being a visual feast, well acted, and having a solid (if not overly original) plot line, the movie still suffers from a sizable problem- Pacing. As a die-hard fan of '60's horror, I have no beef with a deliberate build-up, but in this case it goes a bit overboard. There are a fair share of scenes that are filled with stretches of unnecessary dialog and lots of wandering around the mill with no real reason to be found at the end. Tighter editing would have helped immensely.

Flaws and all, "Mill Of The Stone Women" is a classy film that needs to be seen. Had I watched it just once, I have little doubt my rating would have been higher. Give it a one-time viewing and absorb it for maximum effect.

Without question an inappropriate, inane, or pulpy comic book style title has waylaid many a significant and otherwise worthy terror film. "Curse of the Cat People," remains affixed to a story of child psychology, "Kill Baby Kill," remains affixed to a wondrous 19th century European ghost story, and here, perhaps worst of all, "Mill of the Stone Women," is the awkward moniker stuck to this artistically accomplished film.

With a clunky title like "Mill of the Stone Women," it is scarcely any wonder that the film has remained largely unknown,unremarked upon, and unavailable for nearly 50 years ! What a pity, for here is a story produced with such an aesthetically accomplished loving care that each frame breathes a compositional beauty of the highest standard.

The felicitous combination of Arrigo Equini's art direction and Pier Ludovico Pavoni's photography in this picture, recalls the best of Jack Asher, Floyd Crosby, Mario Bava, Bernard Robinson, and Daniel Haller and has, in not a few of the tableaux rendered here, even surpassed these masters. Even Mario Praz would probably approve!

From the opening shot of the windmill on the lake under a leaden sky, to its shadowy, beautifully appointed interior parlors, complete with the anti-heroine, Scilla Gabel, peaking mournfully through the portières--while the soundtrack gives forth with a disquieting numinous wail--the film rarely fails to sound the genuine Gothic note.

Add to that one of the most disturbing, (far more so than "House of Wax") use of a waxworks yet seen on the screen. For here we have, not merely figures of unsettling visage, but figures that mechanically encircle a stage--Joan of Arc, Cleopatra, Mary Queen of Scots, sallying threateningly towards the camera in a nightmarish parade--all to the accompaniment of a tune that might have been composed by Truman Capote! There are many exquisite scenes to savor: Miss Scabra's blood red boudoir, a scene of her beneath the lid of a dusty glass coffin holding yellow roses against her very dead, old ivory like complexion, a laboratory sequence that pulls out all the stops, a charming stop at a beer garden type pub, complete with accordions and pretzel stands, a climactic fire with the dummies melting in grotesque close-ups, not to mention a beautifully costumed, very accomplished, and handsome cast of players.

Miss Gabel seems very much in the Gina Lollobrigida mold, but manages facial expressions of such uncanny yearning that is easy to imagine Mr. Brice falling under her spell. In this sense, she joins company with Barbara Steele, as one of the very few women able to combine beauty and eeriness in equal measure.

Pierre Brice approaches his assignment with convincing earnestness and looks very much like a cross between Stephen Boyd and Horst Buchold.

A special compliment should be paid to the Technicolor here, which never shrieks, but delivers cold blues and unearthly reds in a fashion that favorably recalls Pressburger's "Tales of Hoffmann." And take a good look at the hutch in the ante-room of Mr. Brice's bedroom; it is the same one featured in Jacqueline Pierreux's parlor in Bava's "Black Sabbath"--the one she keeps her liquor in. Perhaps Mr. Brice had a yard sale! In any case, to fans of the genre, this film is highly recommended.