with Mario there was difficulty in com- municating because I could only speak in German and English. Lucia Magni was the interpreter on set; she now owns a restaurant with her husband Lucio. I did the whole scene by my- self. It took all afternoon to shoot. I remember they covered my body in ox fat and made me drink lots of vodka before I went swimming in the sea. I was swimming naked—absolutely bloody freezing!—and there was Mario Bava, in a big sheepskin jacket watch- ing me swim. Mario did not like to see me completely naked. In all of my films, I’m always a little bit nude—it never worried me. Mario wanted to al- ways shoot me from behind [or from the side], so you would not see every- thing . . . When they are cutting my throat, I did the scene myself. I think the end result is very horrible, but I look beautiful in the film. Isabella duchessa dei diavoli is my favorite film, but [my second favorite] is Reazione a
13 Volta.
BRIGITTE SKAY in a sequence of still photos documenting Brunhilda’s death scene.
catena. When I watch it, I can see that Mario Bava really knew how to film me. He made me look beautiful. I re- member they covered my neck in wax—it took a long time for them to cut my throat! The filming took a long time—they kept on putting more wax on, and cutting my throat again and again. I think, originally, I was meant to be nude for the scene and I think they shot one [take] of me naked, from behind, as I am running away. The man who made the special effects [Carlo Rambaldi] . . . I didn’t know he was so famous, but now I know he made E.T., which is one of my favorite films, so that makes me very happy!”
Music
Ecologia del delitto was the first of three Bava films scored by Roman composer Stelvio Cipriani. Born Au- gust 20, 1937, in Rome, Cipriani wrote
