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Mill of the Stone Women

Original title: Il mulino delle donne di pietra
  • 1960
  • Approved
  • 1h 36m
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
2.3K
YOUR RATING
Mill of the Stone Women (1960)
In 19th century Holland, a professor of fine arts and an unlicensed surgeon run a secret lab where the professor's ill daughter receives blood-transfusions from kidnapped female victims who posthumously become macabre art.
Play trailer2:03
1 Video
64 Photos
HorrorSci-Fi

In 19th century Holland, a professor of fine arts and an unlicensed surgeon run a secret lab where the professor's ill daughter receives blood-transfusions from kidnapped female victims who ... Read allIn 19th century Holland, a professor of fine arts and an unlicensed surgeon run a secret lab where the professor's ill daughter receives blood-transfusions from kidnapped female victims who posthumously become macabre art.In 19th century Holland, a professor of fine arts and an unlicensed surgeon run a secret lab where the professor's ill daughter receives blood-transfusions from kidnapped female victims who posthumously become macabre art.

  • Director
    • Giorgio Ferroni
  • Writers
    • Pieter van Weigen
    • Remigio Del Grosso
    • Giorgio Ferroni
  • Stars
    • Pierre Brice
    • Scilla Gabel
    • Wolfgang Preiss
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.5/10
    2.3K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Giorgio Ferroni
    • Writers
      • Pieter van Weigen
      • Remigio Del Grosso
      • Giorgio Ferroni
    • Stars
      • Pierre Brice
      • Scilla Gabel
      • Wolfgang Preiss
    • 56User reviews
    • 71Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

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    Trailer 2:03
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    Photos64

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    Top cast13

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    Pierre Brice
    Pierre Brice
    • Hans von Arnim
    Scilla Gabel
    Scilla Gabel
    • Elfie Wahl
    Wolfgang Preiss
    Wolfgang Preiss
    • Il dottor Loren Bohlem
    Dany Carrel
    Dany Carrel
    • Liselotte Kornheim
    • (as Danny Carrell)
    Liana Orfei
    Liana Orfei
    • Annelore
    Marco Guglielmi
    • Ralf
    Herbert A.E. Böhme
    Herbert A.E. Böhme
    • Il professore Gregorius Wahl
    • (as Herbert Boehme)
    Olga Solbelli
    • Selma
    Alberto Archetti
    • Konrad
    Ferdinando Baldi
    • L'assistente del dottore
    Carlo D'Angelo
    Carlo D'Angelo
    • Il maggiordomo del dottore
    Cristina Gaioni
    Cristina Gaioni
    • L'amici di Liselotte
    Harriet Medin
    Harriet Medin
    • Marta
    • Director
      • Giorgio Ferroni
    • Writers
      • Pieter van Weigen
      • Remigio Del Grosso
      • Giorgio Ferroni
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews56

    6.52.3K
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    Featured reviews

    6Bezenby

    Film of Stoned Woman

    Predictable but highly watchable tale of a mad sculptor who is trying to keep his daughter from dying from a horrible disease by giving her a blood transfusion. Donors are in short supply, so the guy has to 'volunteer' women to give their blood, turning the exsanguinated bodies into bizarre wax figures for display to the general public - in a windmill.

    This weird set up barely functions as it is, what with the sculptor's doctor buddy totally in love with the daughter, and the daughter totally in love with the new guy hired to work in the library. He's in love with a childhood friend, although he does realise this after bedding the crazy guy's daughter, and he declares his love for her right in front of the sick girl. Pretty tactless. His mate, by the way, is concerned that his model friend has mysteriously disappeared - guess where she's currently tied up?

    Things get slightly less predictable when the hero Hans does a really bad job of giving sick girl the brush off and she seemingly dies, but when he goes to confess to her dad the doctor gives him LSD! He spends a good portion of the film tripping out his head and seemingly talking to people who aren't there. After that, things get back into the 'rescue the girl from the mad doctor plot' but filmed very well, especially the shots of the melting wax 'models' at the end.

    Was Mario Bava involved? Who knows.
    7ferbs54

    What's It All About, Elfy?

    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.
    7BaronBl00d

    A Stone's Throw from Greatness

    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.
    8The_Void

    Lush Gothic atmosphere with a haunting plot line

    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.
    6davendes

    For Bava & Poe-era Corman fans..............

    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.

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    Related interests

    Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby (1968)
    Horror
    James Earl Jones and David Prowse in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
    Sci-Fi

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      This movie is the first Italian horror film to be made in color.
    • Goofs
      Though the credits state that the film is based on a short story by Pieter van Weigen (from the book Flemish Tales), no such author exists.
    • Quotes

      Opening Credits: From the short story of the same name in "Flemish Tales" by Pieter van Weigen

    • Crazy credits
      Though the credits state that the film is based on a short story by Pieter van Weigen {from the book "Flemish Tales"}, no such author, or book, exists.
    • Alternate versions
      Despite listing the runtime as 93 minutes, the U.S. Paragon Video Productions VHS has the edited 85 minute version of the film.
    • Connections
      Referenced in Xenes se xeni hora: 50 ellinikes tainies mystiriou kai fantasias (2009)

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    FAQ14

    • How long is Mill of the Stone Women?Powered by Alexa
    • Does anyone know the English translation for the song Annelore sings in the pub?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 5, 1962 (France)
    • Countries of origin
      • Italy
      • France
    • Languages
      • Italian
      • French
    • Also known as
      • Icon
    • Filming locations
      • Holland
    • Production companies
      • C.E.C. Films
      • Explorer Film '58
      • Faro Film
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 36m(96 min)
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.66 : 1

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