Lai came into her own during the era of Italian cannibal films, playing lead roles in two genre-defining movies: Man from Deep River (1972) by Umberto Lenzi, and Last Cannibal World (1977) by Ruggero Deodato. Lai appears nude throughout most of the film, which includes an explicit shot of her vulva. Additionally, she also had a part in Eaten Alive! (1980), again by Umberto Lenzi, in which one of her scenes from Last Cannibal World was re-used. Outside the cannibal genre, she had a brief role as a Chinese brothel girl in Blake Edwards's 1978 comedy Revenge of the Pink Panther.