10 Things That Make Italian Horror And Exploitation Cinema So Good

6. Strong, Sexy Women The Italian exploitation film - whatever sub genre it may be, is not complete without a beautiful woman getting in on the action. Beautiful women, in particular, feature in the Giallo film. Maltese born Edwige Fenech is probably the most iconic Giallo Beauty - having a number of very important titles under her belt - Five Dolls For An August Moon, The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh, The Case of the Bloody Iris, Strip Nude for Your Killer, and lest we forget - Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key. Edwige is a very beautiful woman with a face and body just perfect for Italian exploitation. She is now a respected television commentator in Italy, and looks every bit as beautiful and glamorous as she did in all of those Gialli decades ago. Florinda Balkan is a beautiful Brazilian actress who was discovered in 1968 by Luchino Visconti. She mainly worked on Italian Gialli and she is so respected in Italy, she has won the equivalent of an Oscar three times. Florinda was a very strong presence in her films. She didn't just sit there looking pretty. She played a vengeful witch in Fulci's Don't Torture a Duckling and a crusading anti-clerical nun in Flavia the Heretic. Her portrayal of a woman collapsing into madness was skilfully done in Footprints on the Moon. Florinda now works at the opposite end of the camera as a director. Other notable starlets in Italian horror are Suzy Kendall (Torso, The Bird With the Crystal Plumage), Femi Benussi (Strip Nude for your Killer, The Bloodsucker Leads the Dance), Erika Blank (The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave, Kill Baby Kill) and Elke Sommer (Baron Blood, Lisa and the Devil).