Arabella, the Black Angel

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.

By the late seventies, the Giallo genre had practically ground to a halt; by the late eighties, what's left of the genre was just trickling through in dribs and drabs. Arabella, Black Angel takes some influence from the Giallo films of the past; but clearly this is intended to be more of an erotic thriller. The film is not exactly short on the sleaze factor - and director Stelvio Massi practically drenches the film in it; the film begins in a grubby S&M club, and things just take off from there. The plot focuses on the title character. Arabella is a nymphomaniac who regularly goes out looking for men to have sex with. She is busted one night and later raped by the arresting officer; who enjoys it so much that he actually turns up at her house for second helping! Arabella seduces and kills him; but is caught by her husband - a crippled bestselling author. He gives a strange reaction to her infidelity - and actually encourages her to go out and meet other men. But before long, a black gloved killer is picking her lovers off one by one...

The main problem with this film is clearly the plotting; it's not particularly suspenseful and the plot is driven by sex rather than murder, which might not go down too well with Giallo fans. However, these shortfalls are made up for by the sleazy atmosphere; the film is extremely grubby and this blends very well with the plot. The film has become difficult to obtain, especially in its uncut form. The version I saw was released in Japan and unfortunately a lot of the nudity was obscured and the lead character was called Deborah! Thankfully it didn't distract from the film too much, but I'd love a restored uncut print of the film. The lead role is taken by Tinì Cansino; and it has to be said she's not the greatest actress. She is hot, however, so her acting talent isn't too much of a problem. The mystery side of the plot works fairly well; the murders are frequent enough to stay in the audience's minds and the film provides some good red herrings. The killer's identity is revealed a little bit too soon; but it's a good conclusion and makes sense! Overall, this film is likely to be appreciated by anyone that approves of a good dose of sleaze and comes recommended to anyone with a mind to seek it out.

Arabella is a beautiful and sexy housewife with a clear goal: to fulfill all her darkest sexual urges. Her husband, a writer who sits in a wheelchair after a car accident, takes inspiration in Arabella to give life to his new book charachter called Black Angel.

But Arabella, on her quest for pleasure, will soon find herself in a cruel, dangerous world, where the innocence of lust cannot fight envy, corruption, nor a serial killer with a pair of sharp scissors following her high-heel steps through the night.

Promising aesthethics in a giallo influenced erotic thriller.

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.

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.