Arabella: Black Angel

After being caught at a whorehouse, a woman finds her hidden nymphomaniac desires brought to the surface which not only has the benefit of helping her husband write a new book but causes a vicious killer to target her victims putting them in danger of being next on the list.

This is one of the more engaging and fun trashy gialli. What really gives this one a large part of the fun here is the fact that there's such a sleazy and trashy feel to this one which really helps to make it more enjoyable. In dealing with her nymphomaniac manner, it includes not only the dealings with the continuous sex scenes and her sleeping around with everyone but also the opening shots at the whorehouse which manage to include all manner of kinky sexual thrills being enacted upon which really sets this off on a rather nice note which is always nicely realized and incredibly welcome considering the quality provided. By remaining an integral part of the film as a whole and staying quite relevant due to the various kinky sex she engages in for the sake of getting the novel written, there's a copious amount of nudity that she provides here with the lengthy sequences giving plenty of opportunities for that particular brand of sexual thrill which is nicely enhanced by the severity of these scenes. Once the storyline moves into more rational giallo tropes with the victims being killed off in exceptionally grisly methods, things pick up and it begins getting even better with the film allowing for all manner of fun to be had with the ability to switch from the stalking scenes showing the traditional black-gloved killer prowling the area with weapon in hand and dishing out the brutal kills such that the initial death with the blackmailing police inspector which launches everything into motion causes some great stalking scenes to occur here with the motel ambush on the first victim or the later scene involving the killer striking the woman down rather than the usual male victims targeted before. Likewise, the finale out in the woods after she manages to pick up her last john and features not only the big revelation about his secret life but also the nice twist involving the killer's identity which is rather shocking and nicely handled. As well, the way in which these are intercut alongside the concurrent police investigations managed with the crazed lesbian inspector trying to fit everything together only to have her own troubled past ending up causing the investigation to stumble slightly, it maintains a highly engaging mixture of sleazy thrills alongside the strong familiar giallo tropes present which manage to fully embrace the elements quite comfortably and easily which all makes for a great time here. There is a minor issue to be had here, which does manage to hold it down slightly in that the film really doesn't seem to offer up much in terms of coherence or logical plot-devices which concerns the relationship between everyone which is so twisted and confusing it really makes no sense. As a couple, they make no sense and the motives for why they agree to undergo the whole affair is a strange one which goes hand-in-hand with the killer's motive as well since that makes no sense either. Still, the troubled logic is all that really holds it down.

Rated Unrated/NC-17: Male and Continuous Full Female Nudity, Graphic Violence, Graphic Language and strong sex scenes.

Tina Cansino plays Arabella,an extremely sexy and devoted wife by day and a horny prostitute by night!Turns out that she's doing her nightly activities for her invalid husband in order to get realistic details for his upcoming bestseller novel.Unfortunately the black gloved scissor-wielding killer is butchering and castrating anyone that can link Arabella to her decadent behaviour.Lesbian inspector Valentina Visconti tries to stop the series of slayings...Pure sleaze Italian style!"Arabella,the Black Angel" is a crazy and misogynistic giallo with silly twists and turns.There's a lot of graphic sex,copious frontal nudity,rape and gore.The plot is ludicrous and is mainly an excuse to show tons of naked female flesh.A must-see for fans of Italian exploitation-it's a crying shame that fully uncut version is so tough to find.

I was able to put in my collection the full uncut version, that means English spoken with Japanese subtitles. Japanese means that private parts are forbidden, so the erotic parts of the movie are blurred. And there are a lot of them in the movie. For me it's a typical giallo with changing plots. The gore is surprisingly low for a giallo. i think that's one of the reasons that it never had a major label to promote it. if you're in giallo's be sure to collect this OOP and hard to get full uncut version. as many giallo's don't be annoyed about the music and bad acting. Collect your peanuts and a beer, sit down and watch a underrated giallo.

Whole intention of the movie seems to be showing Tinì Cansino's flesh. That's a pity, because this could have been a good Giallo. Lot of loopholes in plot - which by itself is not a big issue, because movies of this genre are not known for immaculate plots - but total focus on sex/sleaze & nudity has diluted the actual suspense part. Tini is not a good actress but she is hot & has given few very bold scenes.

Trying to revive a life that has ended, eroticism viewed more like a virtue, but burdened and victimized by the christian, puritan values that come from outside forces. Hard to judge performances in an italian movie from this era, the dubbing doesn't help, but everyone feels genuine in this, tinì cassino as the titular black angel is fantastic, a completely thankless role that is entirely focused on eroticism, sensuality, a genuine sex drive that falls under every scene. Stelvio massi's direction is fantastic, the 4:3 frame just acts as a great wavelength to where incredible blocking and camera movements are seemingly easy (which they aren't), the constant zooms, the glorious sense of atmosphere, this is a director's movie and the way he shoots bodies, the fog, the nighttime, and the outward virtues is glorious. R. filipucci's screenplay, because it is italian, is nonsense in many ways, but the structure allows this to form into something genuinely mysterious, i can easily say i didn't know what was going to happen, so kudos to that, the screenplay forms pretty perfectly where it allows a sense mystery and character to actually be built. A fantastically mesmerizing, erotic, tantalizing, unnerving, and genuinely disturbing movie that could only come from weird italians.