(492) STRANGE BLACKMAIL OF A GOOD GIRL (1974) Brigitte Skay
4511DVD
original Italian title LO STRANO RICATTO DI UNA RAGAZZA PER BENE [The Strange Blackmail of a Good Girl]
also known as BLACKMAIL
director: Luigi Batzella (as
Paolo Solvay)
starring:
Brigitte Skay · Benjamin Lev · Rosalba Neri · Luana Brown · Darla Abrem
The
[Italian] title is obviously tongue-in-cheek as Babel is FAR
from being anything close to a 'good girl.' The film opens as topless
Babel (played by Brigitte Skay) - draped in beads, full of weed - is
dancing in a hippie club. One police bust later, Babel is delivered
to her embarrassed father, fretting over his ruined reputation. She
responds by heading to the beach [still topless] with Claudio, Rik and
Eva. While frolicking in the sand, these hippies plan a fake kidnapping
(with a $250,000 ransom) to get back at daddy and his unhip agenda.
But when dad hands the whole mess over to his new, young bride Stella
(Rosalba Neri), things quickly fall apart for both sides.
Lot
of nudity and hippie shenanigans - plus numerous murders and plot twists
- throughout this movie. Plus there's a surprising cat-fight that morphs
into a steamy lesbian sex scene. This thriller from Luigi Batzella is
truly an little oddity, despite the admittedly tired central plot. Director
Batzella started his career as a character actor. He appeared in 30+
films, performing under his Paolo Solvay alias (i.e., playing
a police investigator in THE
BLOODSUCKER LEADS THE DANCE). As a filmmaker, Luigi Batzella
directed a dozen movies. He often used the Solvay pseudonym but sometimes
he signed his features as Paul Hamus, Dean Jones or Ivan Kathansky [that
name was used for his Naziploitation BEAST
IN HEAT and LAST
DAYS OF THE S S.]. Luigi is probably best known for SLAUGHTER
OF THE VAMPIRES, DJANGO'S
CUT PRICE CORPSESand NUDE
FOR SATAN. Mr Batzella died from Parkinson's Disease in November
2008 at age 84.
This
is probably Brigitte Skay's best performance, certainly it's her most
nude-worthy. She was born Brigitte Johanna Riedle in Germany, made a
pair of films for Mario Bava (BAY
OF BLOOD and FOUR
TIMES THAT NIGHT) and starred in numerous cult movies including
the British SciFi actioner ZETA
ONE, ISABELLA
DUCHESS OF THE DEVIL and the aforementioned BEAST
IN HEAT. Ms Skay retired after 15 years and 40+ movies; she
died at age 72, November 2012.
An
Italian film, in English language with nonremovable
Finnish subtitles;
fullscreen format, uncut 77 minutes, encoded for ALL REGIONS NTSC,
playable on any American machine; Extras include selected trailers.
Violence/Nudity/Drugs/Sexual
Brutality/Lesbianism
For Adult Audiences
