Mill of the Stone Women (1960) – Film Review

Director: Giorgio Ferroni
Cast: Pierre Brice, Scilla Gabel, Wolfgang Preiss
Certificate: 15

By Sarah Morgan

Blood, murder, bizarre illness and the carousel from hell all combine in a landmark film that really should be better known.

Released in August 1960, Mill of the Stone Women was Italy’s first horror movie made in colour. It hit cinemas in the same year as two other Italian genre classics – Black Sabbath and Atom Age Vampire. It out-grossed both those films at the box office, but is perhaps now the lesser known of the trio.

Perhaps that will change after its welcome release on Blu-ray, where its sumptuous set design and colour really pop on screen.

“Hideous crimes”

Although the credits claim the plot it based on a short story in the book Flemish Tales by Pieter van Weigen, no such tome or author exists; it was merely a stunt pulled by the producers to give it some literary weight.

Director Giorgio Ferroni wastes no time in setting the scene – the opening credits play out against the backdrop of a river journey undertaken by journalist Hans van Arnhim. He’s on his way to visit art professor and sculptor Gregorious Wahl, who lives on a remote Dutch island.

On his arrival, Wahl reluctantly allows Hans to stay so that he can complete an article about his great-grandfather’s century-old carousel, which is housed in the mill Wahl now calls home. It’s still in working order and contains some rather spooky-looking wax ‘models’ depicting various hideous crimes and criminals, all of which move around thanks to the carousel, which is hooked up to the mill’s former grinding mechanism.

“Appeal”

Also living there is the controlling Dr Bohlem and Elfie, Wahl’s beautiful but clearly odd daughter. She falls in love with Hans, who is warned off by her father, and with good reason – she has a mysterious illness that only Bohlem can treat via blood transfusions from other nubile young women. Following their deaths during the process, Wahl then turns them into his exhibits.

Hans is oblivious to all this, until his girlfriend looks set to become the next donor…

Mill of the Stone Women is almost a ‘greatest hits’ of horror, containing various tropes from other films and tales, including House of Wax, Edgar Allan Poe and the Elizabeth Bathory legend, but it contains enough originality to stand on its own two feet. As a result, it should appeal to fans of the genre.

Look out too for some enlightening video essays and interviews among the impressive set of special features.