MamaGravity good back-story, and good acting

BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Scotty Burke It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Darkling_Zeist 'Isabella Duchessa dei Diaboli' is a camp, rambunctious yarn by stolid genre filmmaker Bruno 'Assassination on The Tiber' Corbucci based on a popular Fumetti (lurid comic strip) of the time. After the anguished young Duchess witnesses the brutal slaying of her parents, she is fortuitously spirited away by a loyal vassal, and is brought up as a bellicose, knife-throwing gypsy. (as an aside, I felt that Corbucci's playful framing of this rather melodramatic sequence made for an especially effective scene) While the young duchess enjoys the open-air, free-for-all life of a rollicking Romany, deep inside her pert, pale bosom, she harbors a bitter revenge for the righteous slaying of the truly malefic Baron Eric Von Nutter; the braying, vainglorious despot, who so gleefully sacked her father's lands and put him to the sword right before her tear-strewn eyes. And in the case of 'Isabella Duchessa dei Diaboli', her revenge proves to be a titillating dish, best served with liberal flashes of bravura, bare-breasted swordplay! Corbuccci's direction is constantly nimble; and all the cast equip themselves admirably in the Swash & Buckle department, and our devilish heroine is both pretty, bellicose, and almost implausibly nubile;dispensing her singular breed of justice whilst in various states of undress. This is a hugely entertaining romp, and i'm so glad that I got a chance to see it at last. Tally Ho!

gridoon2018 I have to admit that I expected more from a film whose US title is "Ms. Stiletto"! "Isabella, Duchess Of Devils" is a long, slow, rambling revenge tale, with some decent swordfighting but not nearly enough of it. It also takes itself rather too seriously and, as a result, it's not much fun to watch. Though Isabella herself is an inconsistently presented character (she gets captured and/or rescued by others a few too many times for a powerful heroine), Brigitte Skay is very beautiful in the role (possibly even comparable to another, more famous Brigitte of that era), and at times she exudes a charming joy in her swordfighting. The film ends with an obvious setup for a sequel, which (none too surprisingly) never materialized. ** out of 4.

lazarillo This is an adaptation of a "fumetti", which were basically adult, (usually erotic) comic books popular in Europe in the 1960's and 70's. The most famous "fumetti"-based movies are "Barbarella" and "Diabolik", but others such as "Baba Yagi", "Satanik", and "Kriminal" have at least received a decent international DVD release. This one has been sadly neglected so far.The story is set in medieval times and focuses on a female swashbuckler "Isabella" (Brigitte Skay) who's seeking revenge on the cruel baron who murdered her parents. Skay is not particularly believable as a swashbuckler--it's amazing she can wield her impressive breasts, let alone a sword. But she was clearly cast in this movie mainly to get ridiculously naked at every possible opportunity, and at THAT, at least, she certainly excels. This movie has plenty of ripe sexploitation, some of which is pretty politically incorrect by today's standards (such as when the wicked baron orders his mistress to strip off and try to get a "rise" out of black servant while his entire dinner party looks on). The director Bruno Corbucci was the brother of famous spaghetti Western director Sergio Corbucci (probably the second most renowned spaghetti director after Sergio Leone). Brother Bruno also tried his hand the pasta-oater genre, but his most famous film was probably the crime thriller/comedy "Cop in Blue Jeans" with the great Tomas Milian. Swiss actress Brigitte Skay is definitely no Tomas Milian (although she does have nicer breasts). She is most famous for appearing in a couple Mario Bava movies like "Bay of Blood", but this is one of her few lead roles. This movie has some memorable scenes, even if it doesn't hold together too well and really runs out of gas by the end. If you like--or have even heard of--fumetti and fumetti adaptations, this is a pretty solid one and worth seeing

pumaye This is an excellent translation to the big screen of the very first Italian erotic comic book, dated 1966, by Sandro Angiolini, narrating the adventures of the young and beautiful Isabella and her path of vengeance against the evil Baron who killed her parents a few years before. The movie is a very good mix of the elements that made the success for this kind of adult comics books, part eroticism - often with sadistic overtones - part fighting, part torture, part laughs. The movie is a good rendition of the comic books feeling, with several nude and erotic scenes - it could be considered almost hardcore in 1969 !! - but for today standard is almost tame, but for the sadistic scenes.