Giallo Movie Posters: Edwige Fenech

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes:

I’m fond of referring to Edwige Fenech as the Nefertiti of the Trash Cinema.

Are you all familiar with Edwige? During the ’70s she was one of the premier actresses in European genre movies. Chic and unshamable, no one was better at maintaining a placid, odalisque-like air of eroticism while dodging knives and getting splattered with gore. More often than not Edwige is the calm at the center of her movies’ storms, the anchor within the maelstrom. Yet there’s no fussiness or fear in her performances. She knows she’s there to get mussed — and the more extravagant the mussing, the better.

The peculiar mien that giallo lovers appreciate in Edwige bled into the posters designed to advertise her movies. They tend to feature the actress in attitudes that blur the line separating ecstasy from delirious, heart-pounding terror. (And, yeah, some are pure cheesecake.) Obviously, poster designers recognized Edwige for what she was: something between an objet d’art and a blood-spattered diva.

I’m not sure which of the below posters are my favorites. I love the Italian designs; they’re the frankest and the most ferocious. Yet my eye loves to linger on the Spanish poster for “Your Vice is Locked in a Room and Only I Have the Key.” It’s by legendary designer Jano, and it has a stillness and a coolness that really nail the appeal of la Fenech.