The main character
is Deborah (a striking, and frequently naked, Tiní Cansino). She is not a whore,
or a redhead, but the raven-haired wife of Frank (Francesco Casale), a best-selling
author who’s been confined to a wheelchair after a wedding day car accident
(Deborah really should’ve waited until they got to their hotel to blow him). Frank
is also kind of an asshole, prone to throwing tantrums whenever Deborah or his
mother Marta (Evelyn Stewart, a.k.a. Ida Galli) ask how the new book is coming along.
Deborah, however,
has bigger problems than being married to a temperamental paraplegic, like the
fact that she has not one but two guys trying to blackmail her, one for
sex, the other for money. If only they realized that Deborah and Frank have an
understanding: at night she dons her red wig and goes looking for some strange as
Arabella, then tells Frank about her extramarital adventures the next morning,
which he then incorporates into his novel. Had the blackmailers known this,
they might still be alive, because another one of Deborah’s problems is people who
fuck/fuck with her tend to get their genitals mutilated by a scissors-wielding maniac. Can Inspector Gina (Valentina Visconti), a straight man’s lesbian
fantasy, find the scissor killer is before Deborah mounts her next cock? More
importantly, will Gina, who wears the same black plaid blazer for most of her
scenes, ever find her way to a TJ Maxx? (Or a Castel Romano Outlet, as she’s in Italy. The point is, bitch needs to add to her wardrobe.)
Arabella: Black Angel isn’t much of a giallo. It’s certainly one of director Stelvio (Emergency Squad, Convoy Busters) Massi’s lesser films, something he was obviously aware of given he’s hiding behind the generic—but appropriately porny—pseudonym Max Steel. However, if you’re looking for sleaze, Arabella’s got plenty, with copious nudity (mostly of the female variety), simulated humping and gruesome murders, including the graphic emasculation of one of Arabella’s hookups and two scenes where a killer uses scissors like a vaginal speculum. It’s no New York Ripper, but it’s far superior to Delitto carnale. At least Arabella doesn’t forget it’s a giallo, though you’ll likely spend more time puzzling over the movie’s lost-in-translation dialog (“This evening I’m going to nab you with your hands in the chili, young lady”) than you will its central mystery.
