ThiefHott Too much of everything

Contentar Best movie of this year hands down!

Brennan Camacho Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

lifesoboring The problem here was that it did not become exciting until towards the end and at the very end.

dbborroughs Writer goes to visit a sculptor to write a piece about him and a carousel where he lives. the sculptor's home is called the Mill of Stone women because of all of the grotesque figures that are inside. The writer becomes acquainted with the sculptors daughter, who is sick with an incurable illness, he also becomes enmeshed in the disappearances of many local girls. Moody, eerie horror film that I've seen too many times over the years. I've ended up with I don't know how many copies of the film, and every time I do I make some effort to see it because I have it, and every time I'm surprised that its better then I remember it. Beautifully shot in a muted color scheme this is a film with a real sense of place and time, not to mention one of dread. There is something funeral-like in the way it all looks. To be certain the plot is clichéd and there is more than a good chance you'll know where its going, but it really doesn't matter since everything that makes up the film comes together to tell a good story that will keep you watching even though you know whats going to happen. One of the better Euro-horror films of the period its a film that anyone like Gothic stories should see. Forget the lurid title, and just see the film. Between 6 and 7 out of 10.

Witchfinder General 666 "Black Sunday", "House Of Usher", "Eyes Without A Face", "City Of The Dead",... 1960 sure was one of the greatest years ever for Horror cinema, especially for Gothic Horror. In the same year in which Mario Bava brought us the arguably greatest Gothic Horror film ever (and, in my opinion, one of the greatest films ever made) with his masterpiece "La Maschera Del Demonio" (aka. "Black Sunday") and Roger Corman began the arguably greatest Horror cycle in film history with the brilliant "House Of Usher", director Giorgio Ferroni enriched the world of Horror with this atmospheric and hauntingly beautiful gem called "Il Mulino Delle Donne Di Pietra" aka. "Mill Of The Stone Women", a film with an incredible sense of Gothic beauty and eerie atmosphere that no true Horror fan could possibly afford to miss. A French/Italian Co-production, the film is based on an unknown story by Pieter van Weigen. The creepy, morbid and incredibly fascinating storyline is very similar to that of Georges Franju's masterpiece "Les Yeux Sans Visage" aka. "Eyes Without A Face", which was made in the same year, but the execution is different in style. Morbid stories about mad scientists who target innocent young women in order to restore life, youth or beauty of one specific young woman were a very popular Horror theme in the late 50s and early 60s, and tales of the kind are still among the most fascinating topics the Horror genre has ever brought forth. What also makes this film an absolute must is the eerie atmosphere, the ingenious photography, superb settings and mesmerizing use of color.Journalist Hans (Pierre Brice) comes to the small town of Veeze in order to write a story about the 'Mill Of The Stone Women', a macabre museum in which female statues in morbid situations such as executions are displayed on a mill-wheel. The museum is kept by Professor Wahl (Herbert A.E. Böhme), who keeps his beautiful daughter Elfi (Scilla Gabel) locked in the Windmill. The house is furthermore inhabited by the sinister doctor Bohlem (Wolfgang Preiss)... I don't want to give away too much of the story, but I can assure it gets morbid, haunting and fascinating. The film's visual style and morbid atmosphere often earns it comparisons to Mario Bava's masterpieces. The locations and settings are beautiful and immensely eerie alike and the brilliant camera-work and excellently eerie score contribute a lot to the creepy and unsettling atmosphere. The performances are also very good and the characters are intriguing. I am not a very big fan of Pierre Brice in general (where I live he is mainly known for the incredibly cheesy German Karl May flicks), but he delivers an excellent performance here. The highest praise, however has to go to Herbert A. E. Böhme for his brilliant portrayal of the sinister professor and, especially, to the ravishing Scilla Gabel. Gabel is a stunning beauty and great actress and she delivers a wonderful performance as the mysterious and seductive Elfi Wahl. Wolfgang Preiss is very sinister as the doctor and Dany Carell fits well in her role of the innocent girl. "Mill Of The Stone Women" is an elegant and haunting masterpiece that no lover of Gothic greatness can possibly afford to miss!

BaronBl00d 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.