Black Belly of the Tarantula/Review

From The Grindhouse Cinema Database

< Black Belly of the Tarantula
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Paolo Cavara, known mostly for his Mondo Cane series directed The Black Belly of the Tarantula. It is easily one of the finest gialli ever produced. A complex and interesting mix of misogynistic gruesomeness while being accessible to the majority of film viewers. Though it never reaches the greatness obtained by Dario Argento’s gialli it is a little seen gem with nudity, gore and three Bond Girls!

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Barbara Bouchet, a beautiful blonde Czech actress who plays Miss Moneypenny in Casino Royale also appeared twice in Playboy magazine. Her most famous role for grindhouse movie fans has to be in Lucio Fulci’s 1972 giallo Don't Torture A Duckling. Ms. Bouchet’s sexuality oozes from the screen.

From the opening sequence of Barbara Bouchet getting a naked rub down, the fetishization of murder is paramount in this film. The killer wears creepy looking 70’s style latex gloves as he/she uses long acupuncture needles to immobilize his victims, all beautiful women before taking a large blade to them.

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The second Bond girl is Claudine Auger a French beauty who played Dominique “Domino” Derval in Thunderball. In 1958 she was also runner-up in the Miss World contest. Auger as well appeared in Playboy magazine.

The third Bond girl is Barbara Bach, an American who played Anya Amasova from The Spy Who Loved Me. She is married to former Beatle Ringo Starr! More interesting to grindhouse fans is she also appeared in Short Night of the Glass Dolls also in 1971.

The Black Belly of the Tarantula is a product of the early 1970’s. Enjoy all the funky colors at work here. I think you’ll be amazed at this little gem as well.

Reviewed by Greg Smith

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