María Vidal(I)

María Vidal is a Spanish actress who established herself in genre cinema during the 1970s. She began her career in the early part of the decade with appearances in Spanish television productions, including roles in the series "Crónicas de un pueblo" (1972-1973). Her transition to film work coincided with Spain's emerging horror and thriller cinema movement, where she would make her most notable contributions. Vidal gained recognition through her collaboration with director León Klimovsky, appearing in the provocative science fiction horror film "I Hate My Body" (1974), a body-swap story that explored themes of gender identity and discrimination. She continued her association with Klimovsky the following year in "A Dragonfly for Each Corpse" (1975), an Italian-Spanish giallo production starring Paul Naschy, where she portrayed Lucia, one of the victims in this serial killer thriller marked by the killer's signature dragonfly symbol. That same year, she appeared in "Muerte de un quinqui" (1975), further cementing her presence in mid-1970s Spanish genre cinema. Her filmography from this period also includes other horror productions such as "The Vampires Night Orgy" (1973), "The Loreley's Grasp" (1973), "Demon Witch Child" (1975), and "Night of the Seagulls" (1975), demonstrating her specialization in the supernatural and thriller genres that characterized Spanish exploitation cinema of the era. While her film career appears to have been concentrated within a relatively brief period during the mid-1970s, Vidal's work represents an important contribution to the distinctive wave of Spanish horror and giallo films that gained cult followings internationally. Her performances in these genre productions, particularly her collaborations with established directors like Klimovsky, helped define the aesthetic and storytelling approach of Spanish exploitation cinema during its most creative period, leaving a lasting mark on this specialized area of European film history.