Umberto Lenzi (born August 6, 1931), is an Italian film director who was very active in low budget crime films, peplums, spaghetti westerns, war movies, cannibal films and giallo murder mysteries (in addition to writing many of the screenplays himself).
[edit] Life and career
Lenzi was born in Massa Marittima, Grosseto, southern Tuscany. He is the writer/director of two highly controversial exploitation films: Eaten Alive! (1980) and Cannibal Ferox (1981) as well as the director of the film adaptation of the Italian comic book Kriminal (1966). He was one of the first Italian directors to get involved in the Giallo film craze (along with Mario Bava and Dario Argento), and his Man From Deep River is credited as being the film that started the Italian "cannibal film" genre later popularized by Ruggero Deodato, Jess Franco and others. Lenzi has claimed in interviews however that he was never too enamored of the cannibal films he made, being much prouder of his war films, his police crime films and his westerns. Lenzi has said in interviews that Man From Deep River was his best cannibal film (he said he only did the other two to make a quick buck), and his favorite giallos were Orgasmo and Seven Blood-Stained Orchids. He said Black Demons was another of his all-time favorites, a "potential masterpiece" marred only by the poor acting of the female lead he was forced to work with.
[edit] Two films called Paranoia
Umberto Lenzi's Orgasmo (1969) was retitled Paranoia when it was released in the USA, and it was so successful under that title, the Italian producers asked Lenzi to make another giallo called Paranoia to be distributed in Italy. The second film was later retitled A Quiet Place to Kill in the USA.
[edit] The Italian La Casa horror film series
Umberto Lenzi directed Ghosthouse in 1988 (La Casa 3 - Ghosthouse), but many of his fans do not know why it was released as La Casa 3 in Italy. The American films The Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2 were released in Italy as La Casa and La Casa 2 respectively. Lenzi's film Ghosthouse was designed as a sort of sequel to these two high-grossing fan favorites, and thus was released in theatres there as La Casa 3. The same year, Fabrizio Laurenti directed Witchery (starring Linda Blair) which was released in Italy as La Casa 4 and was followed several years later by Claudio Fragasso's La Casa 5: Beyond Darkness (not to be confused with Joe D'Amato's "Beyond The Darkness").
[edit] Filmography
- Queen of the Seas (1961) aka The Adventure of the Mary Reade
- Catherine of Russia (1962)
- The Triumph of Robin Hood (1962)
- Duel of Fire (1962) aka Duello nella Sila
- Terror of the Black Mask (1962) aka The Invincible Masked Rider/ L'invincibile cavaliere mascherato
- Sandokan the Great (1963) aka Sandokan, The Tiger of Mompracem, starring Steve Reeves
- Samson and the Slave Queen (1963) aka Zorro Vs Maciste
- Temple of the White Elephants (1964) aka Sandok, the Maciste of the Jungle
- The Pirates of The Seven Seas (1964) aka The Pirates of Malaysia, starring Steve Reeves once again portraying Sandokan the Great
- Messalina Against the Son of Hercules (1964) aka The Last Gladiator
- Super Seven Calling Cairo (1965)
- 008 Operation Exterminate (1965)
- Temple of a Thousand Lights (1965) aka Jungle Adventurer, aka The Mountain of Light, starring Richard Harrison
- The Spy Loves Flowers (1966)
- A Million Dollars For Seven Killers (1966)
- Kriminal (1966) based on the famous Italian comic strip
- Desert Commandos (1967) aka Attentato ai tre grandi
- Copperface (1967)
- A Pistol for a Hundred Coffins (1968)
- Legion of the Damned (1969) aka Battle of the Commandos, written by Dario Argento, starring Jack Palance
- Orgasmo (1969) (released in USA as Paranoia)
- So Sweet, So Perverse (1969)
- An Ideal Place To Kill (1969) aka Dirty Pictures, aka Oasis of Fear
- Paranoia (1970) (released in USA as A Quiet Place To Kill, since Orgasmo had already been released there as Pananoia)
- The Man From Deep River (1972) aka Il Paese del Sesso Selvaggio, aka The Country of Savage Sex, aka Sacrifice, aka Deep River Savages
- Seven Bloodstained Orchids (1972) aka Puzzle of the Silver Half Moons
- The Knife of Ice (1972) aka Silent Horror
- Gang War in Milan (1973)
- Spasmo (1974)
- Almost Human (1974) aka Milano odia: la polizia non può sparare, aka The Kidnapping of Mary Lou
- Eyeball (1975) aka Wide-Eyed in the Dark, aka Red Cats in a Glass Maze
- Syndicate Sadists (1975) aka The Avenger Challenges the City
- Rome Armed to the Teeth (1976) aka Brutal Justice, aka Roma a Mano Armata
- Violent Naples (1976) aka Napoli Violenta
- Free Hand for a Tough Cop (1976) aka Il Trucido E Lo Sbirro
- Brothers Till We Die (1977)
- The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist (1977) written by Ernesto Gastaldi
- The Greatest Battle (1978) aka Il Grande Attacco
- From Hell to Victory (1979)
- From Corleone to Brooklyn (1979)
- The Sicilian Boss (1979)
- Nightmare City (1980) aka City of the Walking Dead, aka Nightmare in the Contaminated City/ Incubo Sulla Cittá Contaminata
- Eaten Alive! (1980) aka Mangiati vivi, aka The Emerald Jungle, aka Doomed To Die
- Cannibal Ferox (1981) aka Make Them Die Slowly
- Daughter of the Jungle (1982) aka Incontro nell'ultimo paradiso/ Encounter in the Last Paradise
- Ironmaster (1982) aka The War of Iron/ La Guerra di Ferro
- Tempi di guerra (1987) aka Times of War
- Nightmare Beach (1988) aka Welcome to Spring Break
- Black Cobra (Lenzi was a co-director) (1987-1990)
- La Casa 3 (1988) aka Ghosthouse
- Hell's Gate (1989)
- Hitcher in the Dark (1989) aka Fear in the Dark
- The House of Witchcraft (1989) Made for Italian TV, aka Ghosthouse 4
- The House of Lost Souls (1989) Made for Italian TV
- Black Demons (1991) erroneously distributed in some countries as Demons 3
- The Hunt for the Golden Scorpion (1991)
- Mean Tricks (1993)
- Sarayevo inferno di fuoco (1996)
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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Films directed by Umberto Lenzi
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| Persondata |
| Name |
Lenzi, Umberto |
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| Short description |
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| Date of birth |
August 6, 1931 |
| Place of birth |
Massa Marittima, Italy |
| Date of death |
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| Place of death |
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