Mill of the Stone Women

Summary

“It’s a request and a warning.”

With Mill of the Stone Women, Arrow Video focuses their attention on a well regarded Italian Gothic picture from the early Sixties. Their Blu-ray presentation features a fantastic new 2K transfer scanned from the original 35mm negative, four cuts of the film, a brand new featurette by film historian Kat Ellinger, and an audio commentary by Tim Lucas. I have a penchant for Italian Gothic films, so when my copy arrived, I checked the film out.

In 19th century Holland, writer Hans Von Arnim (Pierre Brice) arrives at a large mill known as the “Mill of the Stone Women” because of the many sculptures residing within the building. Hans has been sent to write a piece on the sculptor of those pieces – Professor Gregorius Wahl (Herbert A.E. Bohme) – for the upcoming centenary of the town. Hans meets Gregorius who agrees to let Hans write about him, but only over the term of a few days instead of a week. Hans can arrive each morning by the small ferry, and must leave by the last ferry in the early evening. Hans also meets the in-house doctor -Dr. Lohren Bohlem (Wolfgang Preiss) – who resides on site. The sculptor has a unique display of sculptures that can be shown off to visiting spectators. All the sculptures show women who have met an unseemly demise. There is a system of sprockets linked to the windmill that opens a series of curtains and parades out the sculptures on a rotating track. Professor Wahl also teaches a course on sculpture to the nearby town folk, including Hans’s potential love interest Liselotte (Dany Carrel,) her friend Ralf (Marco Guglielmo,) and model Annelore (Liana Orfei.) While writing his piece, Hans catches a glimpse of a silent and attractive woman in the mill. He tells Ralf and Liselotte about her and they surmise it must be the daughter of Professor Wahl, although no one has seen the daughter outside of the mill. Hans continues to work on his piece, and comes into contact with Elfie (Scilla Gabel,) the reclusive daughter he had seen before. She tells him to return to her at eleven that night and gives him a key to the mill. When he returns, they spend the night together despite Hans’s apprehensions. The next day, Hans feels badly about the mistake he has made of betraying the trust of Professor Wahl and Liselotte. When Liselotte and Ralf come to the mill to see the sculptures on display, Hans professes his love to Liselotte and they kiss. Elfie sees this kiss and becomes extremely jealous. Later that day, Hans is summoned by Professor Wahl and warned that his daughter Elfie has a unique medical condition which keeps her from leaving the mill. She has been under the care of Dr. Lohren Bohlem because of her condition, and any type of severe agitation could have the severe effect of stopping her heart. Professor Wahl mentions this as both a request and a warning to Hans to avoid anything that could cause his daughter distress. Given his love for Liselotte, this request causes severe difficulties for Hans. 

I am a fan of the Italian Gothic horror films from the Sixties, and I found myself immediately taken by the visual flair of Mill of the Stone Women. Director Giorgio Ferroni worked with cinematographer Pier Ludovico Pavoni and production designer Arrigo Equini to create some really beautiful imagery. The framing of the picture is consistently filled with strange looking sculptures and well placed lighting in various hues. The colors are not ever as dramatic as some of Mario Bava’s pictures, but the lighting techniques are consistently striking. The use of vibrant red colors during key sequences really pops out of the screen. Arrow’s new presentation of the film is stunning and sure to please fans of the picture. While the transfer is 2K, to my eyes it was as visually interesting as many of the 4K transfers I have watched recently.

The plot of the picture is enjoyable and takes darker turns once Hans is warned about the condition of Elfie. Aspects of the picture reminded me of films like Doctor X and Mystery of the Wax Museum with the film’s reliance on ideas of mad scientific experiments and human beings used as props in macabre displays. I enjoyed seeing how the film played with tropes from both Gothic pictures and mad scientist films. The amalgam is certainly not convincing or realistic, but that doesn’t feel like it matters as the plot unfolds in satisfying ways.

The acting in the film works, with an especially memorable performance by Scilla Gabel as Elfie. I enjoyed Pierre Brice in his role, even though he is not the most memorable protagonist. Wolfgang Preiss and Herbert A.E. Bohme steal the show in the latter half of the film.

Overall – Mill of the Stone Women is going to be best remembered for its wonderful visuals and madcap storytelling. Fans of Italian Gothic pictures will definitely want to check this picture out.

Video

Arrow Video has provided a fantastic transfer in 1080p of Mill of the Stone Women in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1 with an MPEG-4 AVC encode from a new 2K scan of the original 35mm negative. 

“Mill of the Stone Women / Il mulino delle donne di pietra is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1 with Italian, English and French mono sound and was restored by Arrow Films. From the booklet:

The original 35mm negative was scanned and restored in 2K resolution at L’Immagine Ritrovata, Bologna. Additional 35mm intermediary elements were scanned and restored in 2K for the opening titles in the English export version. 

The film was confirmed and graded at R3Store Studios, London. The separate French and US versions were subsequently conformed at Arrow Films, using a combination of the original 35mm negative and additional scanned material supplied by Subkultur Entertainment via LSP Medien. 

The mono mixes were remastered from the original sound negatives at L’Immagine Ritrovata. The audio synch will appear slightly loose against the picture, due to the fact that the dialogue was recorded entirely in post production, as per the production standards of the period. 

All original materials supplied for this restoration were made available by Intramovies.“

This is a beautifully done restoration. The cinematography by Pier Ludovico Pavoni and production design by Arrigo Equini has never looked better on the Blu-ray format. It is a real standout video transfer.

Audio

Like the video transfer, I was impressed by the audio tracks. Arrow Video has provided LPCM 2.0 Mono tracks in both English, Italian, and French depending upon which version you choose to watch. I chose to watch the film in its Italian version and thought the track sounded very nice. The sound quality on the track is essentially reference quality and is the best that can be expected.

Supplements:

Disc One

• The Italian Version (1:35:36) and English Export Version (1:35:37) of the film are offered on this disc.
• Audio Commentary by Tim Lucas
• Mill of the Stone Women and The Gothic Body – Kat Ellinger is a well trusted authority on Italian Cinema, especially Gothic and Giallo films. Here she provides a really interesting visual essay that tracks the ways in which the Gothic gaze towards the beauty of dead women in art and literature in turn influenced Gothic cinema.
• Turned to Stone – this featurette offers archival interviews with actress Liana Orfei and film historian Fabio Melelli. 
• A Little Chat with Dr. Mabuse – an archival interview with actor Wolfgang Preiss. 
• Alternate Opening Titles:
• UK “Drops of Blood” Titles and German Titles
• Trailers
• Image Galleries

Disc Two

• French Version (1:29:51)
• US Version (1:34:29)

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.5/5

Audio – 4/5

Supplements – 4.5/5

Overall – 4/5

Mill of the Stone Women is an Italian Gothic film that benefits from some remarkable cinematography and production design. While the film starts off exploring plot points that feel familiar, the last third of the film becomes much more interesting as the plot brings in science fiction elements that harken back to films like Doctor X. Arrow Video’s new release of the film features a remarkable new restoration of the film with a 1080p transfer from a 2K scan. The special features are extensive and excellent, including four different versions of the film and a well-written visual essay by Kat Ellinger. Fans of the film will definitely want to grab this release, and fans of Italian Gothic horror will want to check out the film.