Massacre Mania
| Massacre Mania | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Paolo Bianchini |
| Screenplay by |
|
| Story by |
|
| Produced by | Gabriele Crisanti |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Erico Menczer[1] |
| Edited by | Otello Colangeli[1] |
| Music by | Carlo Savina[1] |
Production company | Cinecris[1] |
Release date |
|
Running time | 90 minutes[1] |
| Country | Italy[1] |
Massacre Mania (Italian: Hipnos follia di massacro) is an Italian 1967 science fiction film written and directed by Paolo Bianchini.
Plot
[edit] | This article needs a plot summary. (July 2015) |
Cast
[edit]- Robert Woods as Henry Spengler
- Rada Rassimov as Nicole Bouvier
- Ken Wood as Inspector Griffith
- Fernando Sancho as Professor Kenitz
- Lino Coletta as Maurice
- Piero Gerlini as The Policeman
- Nino Vingelli
Production
[edit]Massacre Mania was the third and final film directed by Paolo Bianchini for producer Gabriele Crisanti, following The Devil's Man and Superargo and the Faceless Giants.[2] The film was shot in eight weeks in and around Rome between February and March 1967.[2]
Among the cast was Robert Woods.[2] Woods described the script as improvized, stating that "these were nearly always collaborative efforts (where almost everyone involved had input)."[2] Woods spoke positively about working on the film, specifically on how it was a departure from the Westerns and that he "loved the comic book implications" of Massacre Mania.[3]
Style
[edit]In his book about Italian films inspired by comic books and their conventions, Roberto Curti described the film as "often labelled as a spy flick, Massacre Mania is actually a lot closer to the superhero films of the era, of which it represents a darker version, and very Italian too."[4] Curti felt the film was a "strange mixture of science fiction, thriller and comic-book style adventure"[2]
Release and reception
[edit]Massacre Mania was submitted to the Italian board of censors in October 1967, one month after Superargo and the Faceless Giants, but was eventually released earlier than that film.[4] The Italian title for the film is Hipnos follia di massacro and is sometimes misspelled as Hypnos in reference books.[4] Producer Gabriele Crisanti described the film's release as "a flop", acknowledging that he "made the mistake of giving it to a distributor-Vecchioni, the owner of United International Films-who went bankrupt before the film was released."[4]
Director Paolo Bianchini did not have a high opinion of the film, stating that he had been "invited to conventions and film schools concerning [Massacre Mania]. But every time I watch it again, it's such a terrible thing. Perhaps people notice that there's a certain high craft about these pics, as they were literally made out of nothing."[4][5]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]Footnotes
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h Curti 2016, p. 75.
- ^ a b c d e Curti 2016, p. 76.
- ^ Curti 2016, p. 77.
- ^ a b c d e Curti 2016, p. 78.
- ^ Giusti 2010, p. 138.
Sources
[edit]- Curti, Roberto (2016). Diabolika: Supercriminals, Superheroes and the Comic Book Universe in Italian Cinema. Midnight Marquee Press. ISBN 978-1-936168-60-6.
- Giusti, Marco (2010). 007 all'italiana: dizionario del cinema spionistico italiano con tutte le locandine più belle (in Italian). Isbn Edizioni. ISBN 978-8876381874.