Umberto Lenzi

Umberto Lenzi

Umberto Lenzi at the Festival de Cine de Sitges in October 2008.
Born (1931-08-06) 6 August 1931
Massa Marittima, Italy
Occupation Film director and screenwriter

Umberto Lenzi (born 6 August 1931), is an Italian film director who was very active in Italian international co-production peplums, Eurospy films, spaghetti westerns, Macaroni Combat movies, Poliziotteschi films, cannibal films and giallo murder mysteries (in addition to writing many of the screenplays himself).

Life and career

Born in Massa Marittima, Grosseto, southern Tuscany in 1931, Lenzi became passionate about cinema when studying law; after working as a journalist for various local newspapers and magazines, he abandoned his university studies and moved to Rome, where he enrolled at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, graduating in 1956.[1]

After a few years spent as a film critic and writer, in 1960 he made his film debut as an assistant director on the Renzo Merusi drama The Dam on the Yellow River. In 1961, he made his solo directorial debut with the pirate film Queen of the Seas.[1]

Between 1962 and 1966, Lenzi specialized in adventure films, in particular directing films involving Robin Hood and Emilio Salgari's Sandokan character, as well as an adaptation of the comic book series Kriminal. After a few forays in the Eurospy, Spaghetti Western and Macaroni combat genres, in 1968 Lenzi began with his Orgasmo a successful series of Giallo films, the first four starring Carroll Baker in the main role.[1] In 1972, Lenzi directed the groundbreaking exploitation film The Man from Deep River, which is considered by many to be the start of the Italian cannibal genre.[1][2]

Beginning with Gang War in Milan (1973), for the next few years Lenzi concentrated on a string of violent crime films, known in Italy as "poliziotteschi", often collaborating with Tomas Milian, and helped create Milian's character "Er Monnezza" in Free Hand for a Tough Cop (1976). Milian played a criminal hunchback in Lenzi's Rome Armed to the Teeth (1976), and then played a dual role (playing both Er Monnezza and his hunchback sibling) in Brothers Till We Die (1977). The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist (1977) was another sequel to Rome Armed to the Teeth, but without Milian in the cast.[1][3]

In 1976, Lenzi produced two films that he did not direct, The Killer Must Kill Again (dir. by Luigi Cozzi) and Death Rage (dir. by Antonio Margheriti). In 1980, he returned to the cannibal genre with Eaten Alive!; the same year, he directed Nightmare City, a film described as the "highlight of Lenzi's horror filmography". In 1981, he directed his 3rd and last cannibal film, the incredibly violent Cannibal Ferox.[1]

In the early 1980s, Lenzi's career spanned various genres, including comedies. He returned to the horror genre in 1987 with Ghosthouse, Hell's Gate, Black Demons and Hitcher in the Dark. In 1989, he directed a couple of horror films made for Italian television. Following a couple of low-budget cop films in the early 90's, he retired from directing.[1]

Filmography

See also

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Paul, Louis (2005). Italian Horror Film Directors. McFarland. ISBN 9780786487493. pp. 143-158.
  2. ↑ Mark Martinez. "http://www.kult-movies.com". Kult Movie Maximux. Retrieved 2006-10-24. External link in |title= (help)
  3. ↑ Pallotta, Alberto (2005). Quel fenomeno der Monnezza. Un Mondo A Parte. pp. 11–3.
  4. ↑ "BFI | Film & TV Database | Il coltello di ghiaccio (1970)". British Film Institute. Retrieved June 7, 2012.

External links

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