Meet Cult Movie Queen Leonora Fani!
She was beautiful, and for 5 years acted in some of the wildest Italian Giallo films – then abruptly retired, never to be seen again!
My “Sex Kitten Countdown” looks at the crazy cult career of Leonora Fani!
Born in Italy as Eleonora Cristofani, she became “Leonora Fani” when she won a “Miss Teenager” pageant in 1971. She began appearing in a number of wild Italian films, especially in the “violent-erotic” subgenera.
As noted in her wikipedia bio:
“She played, as typical roles, young girls with traumas or perversions of various kinds, or teenagers involved in stories where eroticism is tinged with blood.”
Sounds good to me!
Fani got her start in the not-so-subtly titled “Naked Massacre!” This has been shown with other names as well – and note how her name is misspelled on the original Italian poster!
This vicious thriller is loosely based on the notorious Richard Speck murders – it’s a grim tale of a disturbed Vietnam vet returning home via Belfast, who invades a house shared by eight nurses and proceeds to terrorize and murder them.
An obscure film called “Bestalia” was next, then Fani appeared in “Hotel Fear”.
The plot was simple: a young girl and her mother run a hotel during the war. When the mother dies, the girl finds herself at the mercy of her sex-crazed guests. Soon enough, a cloaked figure starts killing off everyone that tries to harm her.
As you can see, Fani was completely nude in all of her films.
Next up was another shocker:
“House By The Edge Of The Lake!”
Next up, another Italian thriller.
A young woman returns to the country château where her mother drowned years ago. There is something haunting about the place, a supernatural ambiance – and of course, it’s quite a shocker!
If you want a “shocker”, then Fani’s next film was certainly that – this scene with her co-star tied to a table was so shocking it was censored before it was released in America…
You see, that’s Actress Mariangela Giordano, who is murdered in the most gruesome way in this notorious thriller – by having her leg sawed off!
Leonora Fani was 25 when she starred in perhaps her most famous film, the 1979 shocker “Giallo In Venezia.”
“Giallo a Venezia” is the notorious 1979 Italian giallo shocker directed by Mario Landi.
It is known primarily for its extremely graphic scenes of sex and gore, including Fani’s sexual humiliation by her husband, as he keeps forcing her into depraved acts while he watches!
This is a rough film, shot on location in Venice – a Detective trying to solve two murders finds out that his victims were into some strange sexual perversions…there are multiple scenes of Fani fully nude, including one extended masturbation scene, which goes on for several minutes…
While this film isn’t for everyone, it truly was Leonora’s film, and she is mesmerizing in it.
After this film, Fani went to Japan for a film, then made a controversial coming-of-age movie called “Eden No Sono” [Garden of Eden].
As you can see, Leonora had a great run of cult films, and was clearly destined to break out. Instead, the reverse happened!
Just a few years later, Leonara returned to Italy for a TV series, “Dei Miei Bollenti Spiriti.”
Then in 1984, at the age of 30, she retired and disappeared from public life!
So what happened? Why did Leonora Fani disappear from acting? I can’t find out, and would love anyone else to weigh in!
Fani had a great career, and she’s the latest “sex kitten” who mysteriously disappeared, like these two:
These two starred in the film “Sweet Trash” – but I can’t even find their names!
See more of this mystery here:
And remember, I also shared the story of Annie Sparrow – gorgeous in her one and only movie role:
Well, gorgeous and chained up! She was in “The Sinful Dwarf” – a notorious slice of Euro-sleaze, and then she disappeared! See her story as well by clicking here:
Another terrific Cult Actress from this period had a great run of provocative thrillers as well:
French Actress Joelle Coeur was in a number of wild Jean Rollin films, and one blu-ray I bought for “The Demoniacs” has her most revealing outtakes ever!
See more here:
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Let me know if you’ve seen any of these classic Italian giallos with Leonora Fani!
Categories: 70's Films, Classic Action Films, Cult Classics, Euro-Sleaze, Exploitation Films, Extreme Cinema, Grindhouse, JRsploitation, Nudity, sex kittens, Sexploitation Films, Talent / Celebrites
JR-Sploitation! 
Just caught “Gore in Venice” streaming online. Is this a “toned down” version? It seems to be missing some of the scenes you referenced here.
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I have what they call the “uncut” version and you may have one of the cuts with certain bits taken out…ultimately the movie is a “hard R” in most ways – I think some of the roughest stuff involves shots of the leg being cut
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Thanks for the info! The version I streamed (on Tubi) is missing the leg scene as well as most of the other “questionable” scenes you mentioned. Now I gotta find the uncut version. Thanks!
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Great article. Is that second photo from Garden of Eden a behind the scenes shot? Looks like camera men setting up the next shot while Fani stands around naked and unashamed. I love CMNF stuff like that. Nice find.
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