Customer Reviews

Mill of the Stone Women

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Mill Of The Stone Women" is one of those strange movies that has been hailed by critics and yet hardly seen by anybody. This is a real shame because it deserves to be seen and appreciated by anybody with an interest in horror cinema. The plot treads well-worn ground with the story of a man driven to murder young women as the only way keep his beautiful (but afflicted with a rare and deadly medical condition) daughter alive. The resulting dead bodies are disguised as statues, a plot-device that has been done many times, but here the setting that the action unfolds within takes a further step into the bizarre. Instead of a wax museum, the crazed father owns a windmill which powers a moving "carousel" of statues of famous murderesses and tragic historical heroines. When the attraction is open and the windmill sails are turning, the statues career unstably around a little stage as a melancholy tune cranks out of a music box (also powered by the sails). The effect is startling, even today, and quite surreal.

The action of the film follows a handsome young researcher who takes a job at the windmill, and unwittingly attracts the amorous attention of the daughter (the stunning Scilla Gabel). Sadly, the young man already has a fiancee...so guess who's soon destined for a place on the carousel? Of course the action id predictable, but the presentation of it is wonderful. Colours are deep and rich, and the lighting makes wonderful work of the many elaborate sets, populated as they often are with many sculptures and statues in various states of completion. The acting is mostly effective, although it depends on which soundtrack you are watching (Mondo Macabre have given three options here), especially in the case of the mad mill-owner, whose voice makes him almost a different character in each dub! Unfortunately for those of us wanting it in English, it is the French dub that looks the most effective (it looks like the actors were speaking their original lines in French, and the UK and US dubs end up very poorly lip-synched). Still, it's great to see the film at all, and in this condition, you really can't complain. It appears to be fully uncut, even better than previous "full" editions I have seen. The process of curing the sick daughter and what happens to the bodies of the victims is shown at great length, and some of the sequences are quite surprising given the time the film was made (1960). Equally effective is the rousing climax, which you'll have to see for yourself, but look out for some amazing final shots of the carousel statues as the film comes to a close.

This has been a very hard to find film for a long time, but thanks to Mondo Macabro it has at last been revived in a gorgeous new transfer that really brings the movie to life. Plus you even get extra scenes and a massive photo gallery. Throw away those old video copies and previous DVD releases, they don't stand a chance against this one.

I had seen this some 20+ years ago (at least) and had never forgotten it-- except I didn't know it's NAME. I'd seen it on TV eons ago and loved the "wax museum"-like chamber of horrors carousel. I'd always associated it with wax-museum movies in my memory and explored them all never able to find this movie. Ultimately I realized it was probably an obscure foreign film (I'm in the US) that would be pretty hard to locate. But then I came across some reviews of other Mondo Macabro titles (the publisher) and read the synopsis of Mill of the Stone Women. Not realizing it was this old classic I had been seeking, I ordered it and was pleased to find out it was the movie I had long been looking for.

And, I realized some things about it I had not known or forgotten-- one, it was in COLOR-- I saw it on a B&W TV originally, and it was even better than I remembered-- I had forgotten most everything but the "carousel."

The quality of this release by Mondo Macabro is excellent considering the movie's age, with perhaps some slight color fading or shift but not enough to detract. They also included three audio tracks, a UK english dub, a US english dub and the original French (it's an Italian-French co-op). English subtitles as well, though I haven't compared them with the various tracks to see how good they are...

This disc is a real gem, I'm sure glad I finally found this movie. Never would have guessed the name though-- the original French was Le Moulin des Supplices, and "supplices" doesn't really seem to translate to "stone women," the term "torture" comes up most often in the online translating dictionaries.

The scenes are mostly shot inside a Dutch windmill building (octagonal?) so there are huge wooden cranking gears and no square corners and perhaps a bit claustrophobic etc... Nice ambiance, dated spooky flick that holds up well over time-- though you can pretty much disregard the comments on the cover about "notorious" topless shots of one of the stars, as it's a bit of a stretch-- a corner of a nipple shows a little in one scene that you'll miss if you blink. Apparently what was notorious about it was it was used as a still image on a poster for the Japanese market and caused some controversy. Apparently over the years this movie has had several bad alternate soundtracks made, this one appears to be the original and I see no reason to have messed with it, I thought it was pretty good. Extras-- there are a couple of interesting alternate scenes-- not set up so you can watch it in total with them in as they are single-language-- a short French language-only scene that was cut and a US version of the "hallucination" sequence which was made cheesier with some out-of-focus transfers apparently to make it easier for the US audience to figure out it was supposed to be hallucinatory...

Great flick--, if you like dated spooky and mysterious ambiance, this one should rank rather high on your list, IMHO...

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 portieres--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.

"Mill of the stone women" is a masterpiece. Everything is perfect in this landmark of italian horror movies. Pierre Brice better known (specially in Europe) as Winnetou gives a good performance. The scenes of hallucination where he think he had killed Elfi (Scilla Gabel), the sick daughter of Professor Wahl are amazing. There are also the german actor Wolfgang Preiss (also known as Dr. Mabuse in the sixties) and the surprising Robert Boehme as Professor Wahl. At first he seems so kindly, but behind this mask he's gruesome and obsessed to cure his daughter, whatever the price will be !
A word about the feminine parts: Scilla Gabel (double of Sophia Loren) is a wonderfull actress and she's perfect as Elfi. Dany Carrel, a french actress, plays the woman in love of Pierre Brice. Don't forget Liana Orfei, one of the victims of Professor Wahl.
The music score of the carillon with his wax mannequins will obsess you. There's no gothic castle here but a mysterious windmill. The final scene is a real climax. This movie is much more than a simply horror flick ! There's something of a dark tragedy.
The DVD looks simply great. The bonus are very interesting (deleted scenes, theatrical trailer, a huge stills and poster gallery). I've choosen the french audio track which sounds very good, better than the English one.
Giorgio Ferroni created a masterpiece. Don't miss it !

The movie trailer tag-line for this film was "Why do warm-blooded beauties suddenly turn to stone?" Well, you can generally bet there is an evil scientist behind these to dos! This creepy Gothic tale is directed by Italian director Giorgio Ferroni, is also known by a passel of other names - Drops of Blood, Horrible Mill Women, Horror of the Stone Women, Le Moulin des Supplices, and has that spooky feel of the Mario Bava era. Hans von Arnam (Pierre Brice) arrives in the small town outside of Amsterdam, to research and write a story about a reclusive sculptor, one Prof. Gregorius Wahl (Robert Boehme). Wahl lives on an island in an old mill, the locals, in typical hushed tones, call the Mill of the Stone Women. Hans meets the professor's gorgeous daughter, Elfi Wahl (Scilla Gabel) and quickly falls in love with her (big surprise, yeah!). As Hans grows to know Wahl and his daughter, he learns the surreptitious Dr. Loren Bolem (Wolfgang Preiss) and Wahl are conduction some sort of experiments. As they putter in the lab, local women continue to disappear. The setting is very evocative of the black and white work done by Bava, and since I had seen this film only in B&W release, I was shocked to find it was actually in colour!

As Hans becomes aware of the secret behind the Professors "lifelike" statues, tensions mount. Like Vincent Price's The Tingler, it features an "acid trip", which is quite dated and comes off more humorous than scary.

It's a tad slow in places, and by today's horror standards very trite, but the fog-shrouded landscapes and sinister mill make this one enjoyable trip for connoisseurs of old horror films.

Mill of the Stone Women is a lush and lavish period piece in the vein of the classic Hammer horror days or the Roger Corman / Vincent Price / Edgar Allen Poe vehicles. Director Ferroni poetically melds heavy gothic overtones with turn-of-the-century science, medicine and experimental surgery, making for an awfully surreal cinematic experience.

Mill plays out a bit like House of Wax as a madman is keeping his ill daughter alive with the blood of freshly murdered women. The women are then transformed into statues resembling famous killers and their victims. The new creations are exhibited for the public in an ancient historical windmill. The exterior shots of this landmark backed by a dark blue sky help to create a most ominous atmosphere for the debaucheries within, especially when compared to the almost carnival-like museum in House of Wax. Even creepier are the sequences depicting the statues as they are in motion, zipping about the stage like a Tilt-O-Whirl gone awry. These scenes are particularly more effective than the purely static sculptures in House of Wax. Still with all of its borrowings Mill of the Stone Women stands soundly on its own as a wonderful horror film that effectively balances art with exploitation.

This brand-spanking new DVD version comes from Mondo Macabro (www.mondomacabrodvd.com) and is packed with some fantastic extra features including: Deleted and alternate scenes, 3 different audio tracks, theatrical trailer, poster/still gallery and production notes by Pete Tombs (author of Mondo Macabro and co-author of Immoral Tales). - C. Curry

I had read glowing reviews of this film for years and finally Mondo Macabro issued it on DVD. It is an excellent transfer of what appears to be the uncut widescreen version of the film. The colors and black levels are quite accurate and the sound quality is good for a film of this vintage. I found the print to be pretty clean with very little damage or scratches and the menus are logical and easy to navigate. There are several extras such as several different posters and lobby cards as well as two alternate scenes and a French alternate title sequence. The movie itself is interesting and will hold your attention throughout and manages to keep the plot moving forward without bogging down too much (a flaw of some Euro-horror films). The sets and music are great and the lighting is low-key and creepy. The acting is also quite good, with likeable characters (the lead reminds me of Gregory Peck). My only complaint is that the film froze on a couple of scenes but I switched to a newer DVD player and it played fine so I suspect the problem was with my player. If you are a fan of Mario Bava, Riccardo Freda or Hammer Films, then you'll want to check this one out. One of the best.

This was always an incredibly beautiful horror film and is now even more so with this gorgeous release from MondoMacabro. The image is just amazing with strong, rich colours and deep blacks.

The film itself plays like a favourite piece of classical music - it just washes over you, gripping you with a vice-like hypnotic hold.

Luckily, I haven't experienced any of the problems other reviewers seem to have had. If you're a fan of Euro horror from the 60's you simply have to get this disc.

I've had an inferior copy of "Mill of the Stone Women" on disc for some time now and never thought I'd see a good print. Mondo Macabro has delivered one and I'm quite happy with it. Beautiful print and good sound (with only minor static here and there) make this rare and unusual French-Italian horror film a collector's item. Set in Holland around the turn-of-the-century, it tells of a mad art professor (Wolfgang Preiss) who runs a windmill that serves as a "museum" of sorts with a carousel of infamous female murderers done in stone with wax faces that revolves around to eerie music. He also keeps his strangely beautiful daughter (dying of a bizarre disease) alive with blood transfusions from girls his equally mad unscrupulous assistant (a disposed physician stripped of his license) obtains for him. Once drained of blood, the professor then injects the bodies with a serum that mummifies them into statues for the carousel. A young writer (Pierre Brice) working on the history of the carousel meets the daughter, Elfie (Scilla Gabel) and unwittingly opens a Pandora's box of terror when she falls in love with him. His fiancee (Dany Carrel) is placed in danger when it's discovered that she has the rare blood type needed to restore the daughter to permanent health. "Mill" is full of wonderful imagery and creepy Gothic atmosphere primarily involving the well staged interiors of the windmill and it's macabre carousel. The film score is perfectly chilling. This is one of those nightmarish Euro horror films that relies on it's atmosphere instead of gore. Lovers of European Gothic horror should not be disappointed. It's in Technicolor and the colors are used to great effect to create shuddery mood and horror sequences like Brice's drug induced hallucination after he thinks he's killed Elfie. The DVD contains alternate sequences, cast bios and a French title sequence but I would like to have seen a booklet included with more information. However, just to have a rarely seen film like this in such fine condtion is reason enough to be satisfied. Highly recommended all round for old style Gothic Euro horror lovers. A keeper.

A classic example of gothic Italian horror from the '60s. This was originally released in 1960, which would prove to be a seminal year for Italian horror. Mario Bava's directorial debut, Black Sunday, was also released this year. Mill Of The Stone Women was directed by Giorgio Ferroni, who would go on to direct one other horror film in 1972, Night Of The Devils. He was more well known for his "peplum" (Italian heroic fantasy movies) and westerns. The story concerns a young researcher named Hans who travels to a remote village (in 1890's era Holland) in search of a strange tourist attraction - The Carousel of Stone Women. The "carousel" is a large mechanical device featuring life-sized moving statues of famous and notorious female historical figures; and the whole attraction is housed within a windmill, owned and operated by an eccentric art professor named Gregorius Wahl. Wahl welcomes the young researcher, giving him a tour of the mill and allowing him access to diagrams of the machine, which his father had built. Wahl gives Hans five days to study the machine, after which time he must leave the mill. It turns out Wahl has a daughter, Elfy, who ends up becoming attached to Hans. Hans realizes Elfy may be mentally disturbed or perhaps something else altogether. I won't go into anymore of the plot for those who haven't seen it, but it's a movie worth seeking out, especially for those who like the atmospheric gothic films of Mario Bava, Riccardo Freda, and Antonio Margheriti. It was shot in Technicolor, and it makes good use of the process with some great visual set pieces.