La rossa dalla pelle che scotta

If you are a fan of Eurostarlet Erica Blanc, you will probably enjoy this movie in which Blanc plays a role very similar to the sexy succubus she played in "The Devil's Nightmare". Blanc plays an artist's mannequin come to life who starts out as a mute fantasy figure but soon turns into nightmarish femme fatale who tortures the artist with her increasingly blatant infidelities. The movie kind of reminded me of the later (and, of course somewhat better) Roman Polanski film "Bitter Moon" where a beautiful woman starts out as subservient to a shallow cad, but soon gains the upper hand to the point that you actually start to feel sorry for the guy.

The narrative is the typical Italian nonsense of the period where you're never sure if what is happening is real, supernatural, or a complete figment of the protagonist's imagination. Second-string Eurobabe Krista Nell is in the confusing prologue for some reason (only long enough to get naked, but I'm sure no one will complain). Blanc takes off her clothes a lot too, but compared to modern-day "erotic thrillers" (which it sometimes vaguely resembles)this movie is pretty tame. Unlike that garbage, however, this one does hold your interest beyond just the prurient, and even badly-dubbed, Erica Blanc and the male lead, American-expatriate Farley Granger, act circles around the performers of more modern-day erotic fare. This is pretty strange but worth seeing if you get a chance.