ROSALBA NERI, GIALLO GODDESS

Italy has given us some classic horror movies, as well as introducing us to the world of giallo. These films teem with tropes: murder, black gloves, lots of bloodletting and, best of all, a slew of beautiful women.

One of them that reigned supreme for years was Rosalba Neri (a.k.a. Sara Bay), a dark-haired siren that brought a touch of beauty to the bloodshed. Born on 19 June 1939 in Forlì, Emilia-Romagna, she won a beauty pageant as a young girl and later turned down an offer to work in Hollywood, instead remaining in her native Italy to work there.

Miss Neri is best remembered by horror fans as playing Tania Frankenstein in the 1971 Italian production of LA FIGLIA DI FRANKENSTEIN (LADY FRANKENSTEIN), directed by American Mel Welles and co-directed by Italian Aureliano Luppi. While the film itself was tepid, the temperature rose considerably whenever Neri was onscreen. She was also the standout in the Mark Damon-scripted THE DEVIL'S WEDDING NIGHT (1973).

The now 83 year-old Neri starred in numerous giallo and erotic films and she was not afraid to appear nude or perform in Lesbian scenes. Combined with this and her natural beauty, she was a popular subject for pinups and photo-spreads in magazines.

Below is offered a gallery of Rosalba Neri to show you just what I mean.

WARNING!

NUDITY AHEAD!

CONTINENTAL FILM REVIEW RUNS AMUCK!

Europeans have always been viewed as having more libertine views on social mores, especially when it comes to sex. This was exemplified in the European film industry during the "swinging 70's". By the time these films came to the shores of America, untold hundreds of feet of film had been excised from many of these movies so as not to pollute the minds of our more "puritanical" views on the subject.

In this issue of the long-running CONTINENTAL FILM REVIEW (Vol. 20 No. 2, 1972) is an example of those licentious European filmmakers filling their camera frames with flesh. Of note here is coverage of a film entitled, REPLICA DI UN DELITTO, with the English title of HOT BED OF SEX (with an alternate Italian title of ALLA RICERCA DEL PIACERE). It was also released as AMUCK! and after its run in theaters was later only available in a low quality video version until the Blu-ray edition was released a year or so ago. It is also known as a solid entry in the genre of films that came to be known as "giallo".

AMUCK! starred two of the leading women who appeared often in giallo films, Barbara Bouchet and Rosalba Neri (aka Sara Bay). Also starring Farley Granger, the film was a murder mystery in the giallo style, but the highlight is one of the steamiest lesbian love scenes between Bouchet and Neri ever seen in mainstream cinema. Included in today's post is a series of screen caps from the movie (from IMDB) and a selection of posters both foreign and domestic.

Among the coverage of new films by Helmut "Dorian Gray" Berger and Alain "Spirits of the Dead" Delon, is mention of another popular giallo girl, Edwige Feneche, who was at the time appearing in Quando le donne si chiamavano 'Madonne' (WHEN WOMEN WERE CALLED VIRGINS). Senta Berger is pictured on the cover of this issue. She starred in a pair of films similarly titled, WHEN WOMEN HAD TAILS.