Umberto Lenzi  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

(Difference between revisions)
Jump to: navigation, search
Revision as of 14:03, 14 February 2009
Jahsonic (Talk | contribs)
(→Filmography)
← Previous diff		 Current revision
Jahsonic (Talk | contribs)

Line 1: Line 1:
{{Template}} {{Template}}
-'''Umberto Lenzi''' (born [[August 6]] [[1931]]), is an [[Italy|Italian]] [[film director]] who was very active in low budget [[Poliziotteschi|crime films]], [[peplum]]s, [[spaghetti western]]s, [[war movie]]s, [[cannibal film]]s and [[giallo film|giallo mysteries]] (in addition to writing many of the screenplays himself). 
-He is the director of two highly controversial [[exploitation film]]s: ''[[Eaten Alive!]]'' (1980) and ''[[Cannibal Ferox]]'' (1981) as well as the film adaptation of the [[Italian comic book]] ''[[Kriminal]]'' (1966).  
-Lenzi was born in [[Massa Marittima]], southern [[Tuscany]]. +'''Umberto Lenzi''' (6 August 1931 – 19 October 2017) was an [[Italian film director]] who was very active in Italian [[international co-production]] [[Sword-and-sandal|peplums]], [[Eurospy]] films, [[spaghetti western]]s, [[Macaroni Combat]] movies, [[Poliziotteschi]] films, [[cannibal films]] and [[giallo]] murder mysteries (in addition to writing many of the screenplays himself).
-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. In spite of his moments of ground-breaking originality, however, Lenzi wasn't above "cloning" popular hit movies such as "[[Conan the Barbarian]]" (with his 1982 "Ironmaster") and "[[Dawn of the Dead]]" (with his 1980 "[[Nightmare City]]").+==Biography==
-''+===Early life===
-His most critically acclaimed film is ''[[Milano odia: la polizia non può sparare]]'' (1974).+Umberto Lenzi was born on 6 August 1931 in the [[Massa Marittima]] province of Italy. Lenzi was a film enthusiast as early as grade school. While studying law, Lenzi also created film fan clubs. Lenzi eventually put off studying law and began pursuing the technical arts of filmmaking.
-==The Italian "La Casa" horror film series==+He enrolled in Rome's [[Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografica]] in 1956 and made the short ''I ragazzi di Trastevere'' as a final exam, a short film influenced by the writings of Pasolini. Lenzi also worked as a journalist for various newspapers and magazines, including ''[[Bianco e Nero]]''.
-Umberto Lenzi directed "Ghosthouse" in 1988, but many of his fans do not know why it was released as "La Casa 3" in Italy. The American films "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 the Darkness" (which is a very hard film to locate).+===1960s===
 +Prior to his officially first credited film as a director, ''[[Queen of the Seas]]'', Lenzi directed a film in Greece in 1958 titled ''Mia Italida stin Ellada'', or ''Vacanze ad Atene'', which was never released.
 + 
 +Lenzi's films of the 1960s revolved around popular genres of their respective time periods. In the early 1960s, Lenzi directed many adventure films including two features about [[Robin Hood]] (''Il Trionfo di Robin Hood'' and ''[[The Invincible Masked Rider]]'') and two films about [[Sandokan]] (''[[Sandokan the Great (film)|Sandokan the Great]]'' (1963) and ''[[Pirates of Malaysia]]'' (1964)).
 + 
 +By 1965, Lenzi began directing European spy films, such as ''[[008: Operation Exterminate]]'', followed by ''[[Superseven chiama Cairo]]'' and ''[[Le spie amano i fiori]]'', and even adapted ''[[fumetti neri]]'' comics such as ''[[Kriminal (film)|Kriminal]]'' to the screen. Lenzi turned to making war films such as ''[[Desert Commandos]]'' and ''[[Legion of the Damned (film)|Legion of the Damned]]'' and westerns such as ''[[Pistol for a Hundred Coffins]]'' and ''[[All Out]]'' (1968).
 + 
 +Lenzi had box office success in Italy with his erotic thrillers starring [[Carroll Baker]] such as ''[[Orgasmo]]'', ''[[So Sweet... So Perverse]]'' and ''[[A Quiet Place to Kill]]'' which were influenced by French "film noir" movies drawing from the works of [[Jacques Deray]] and [[René Clément]].
 + 
 +===1970s===
 +After the commercial success of ''[[giallo]]'' films by [[Dario Argento]], Lenzi followed the new trend with ''[[Seven Bloodstained Orchids]]'', which referenced both [[Cornell Woolrich]] and [[Edgar Wallace]] novels, while another ''giallo'' ''[[Knife of Ice]]'' was a variation of [[Robert Siodmak]]'s ''[[The Spiral Staircase (1946 film)|The Spiral Staircase]]''. Other ''gialli'' created by Lenzi in the early 1970s included ''[[Spasmo]]'' and [[Eyeball (film)|''Eyeball'']].
 + 
 +During the early 1970s, Lenzi also directed the first of the Italian [[cannibal film]]s, with ''[[The Man from Deep River]]'' (1972), a genre that he would explore again in the 1980s with ''[[Eaten Alive!]]'' and ''[[Cannibal Ferox]]''. During the late 1970s, Lenzi devoted himself almost exclusively to crime dramas, with the exception of two war films: ''[[Battle Force]]'' and ''[[From Hell to Victory]]'' (1979).
 + 
 +===1980s===
 +The 1980s began the decline of genre cinema in Italy. Despite this, it marked the release of films that Roberto Curti described as some of Lenzi's "most notorious". These included ''[[Nightmare City]]'' and the previously mentioned ''[[Cannibal Ferox]]''. Following these films, Lenzi created some sexy comedies, including ''[[Cicciabomba]]''.
 + 
 +Lenzi also worked on horror films towards the late 1980s, such as ''[[Ghosthouse (film)|Ghosthouse]]'' (1988) under the name Humphrey Humbert and the slasher film ''[[Nightmare Beach]]'' which was credited to Harry Kirkpatrick as Lenzi refused to sign his name to the film. Other later 1980s work included horror films made for television, such as ''The House of Witchraft'' and ''The House of Lost Souls''.
 + 
 +===Post-1980s===
 +In 1992, Lenzi directed [[David Warbeck]] in an adventure film called ''Hornsby and Rodriguez'' (aka ''[[Mean Tricks]]''). Lenzi ended his career with a few cop films that were similar to the American productions of that period. Lenzi later embarked on a career as a novelist, writing a series of murder mysteries set in the 1930s and '40s Cinecitta, involving real-life characters of the Italian film industry.
 + 
 +Lenzi died on 19 October 2017. The director was hospitalized at a hospital in the Ostia district of Rome. The cause of the death is unknown.
 + 
 +==Legacy==
 +Roberto Curti referred to Lenzi as "one of the undisputed leading figures in Italian genre cinema" and that he was "a sort of institution in Italian genre cinema." Louis Paul suggested that Lenzi released some "quite enjoyable action films in the 1960s and some good thrilers in the '70s, he never consistently excelled at any one genre." and that Lenzi would "probably be remembered most for his cannibal-themed horror films."
==Filmography== ==Filmography==
Line 35: Line 58:
*''[[Legion of the Damned]]'' (1962) aka "Battle of the Commandos" *''[[Legion of the Damned]]'' (1962) aka "Battle of the Commandos"
*''[[Orgasmo (film)|Orgasmo]]'' (1969) (released as "Paranoia" in the USA) *''[[Orgasmo (film)|Orgasmo]]'' (1969) (released as "Paranoia" in the USA)
-*''[[Paranoia]]'' (1969) (released as "A Quiet Place To Kill" in the USA, since "Orgasmo" was already released in the USA as "Panranoia")+*''[[Paranoia]]'' (1969) (released as "A Quiet Place To Kill" in the USA, since "Orgasmo" was already released in the USA as "Paranoia")
*''[[So Sweet, So Perverse]]'' (1969) *''[[So Sweet, So Perverse]]'' (1969)
*''Il Paese del sesso selvaggio'' (1972) aka "The Man From Deep River", aka "Sacrifice" *''Il Paese del sesso selvaggio'' (1972) aka "The Man From Deep River", aka "Sacrifice"
Line 66: Line 89:
*''[[Hunt for the Golden Scorpion]]'' (1991) *''[[Hunt for the Golden Scorpion]]'' (1991)
*''[[Mean Tricks]]'' (1993) *''[[Mean Tricks]]'' (1993)
 +== See also ==
 +* [[Cannibal boom]]
 +* [[Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia]]
 +* [[Poliziotteschi]]
 +* [[Spaghetti Nightmares]]
 +
 +{{GFDL}}

Current revision

Related e

Wikipedia
Wiktionary
Shop

Featured:

Umberto Lenzi (6 August 1931 – 19 October 2017) was 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).

Contents

[edit]

Biography

[edit]

Early life

Umberto Lenzi was born on 6 August 1931 in the Massa Marittima province of Italy. Lenzi was a film enthusiast as early as grade school. While studying law, Lenzi also created film fan clubs. Lenzi eventually put off studying law and began pursuing the technical arts of filmmaking.

He enrolled in Rome's Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografica in 1956 and made the short I ragazzi di Trastevere as a final exam, a short film influenced by the writings of Pasolini. Lenzi also worked as a journalist for various newspapers and magazines, including Bianco e Nero.

[edit]

1960s

Prior to his officially first credited film as a director, Queen of the Seas, Lenzi directed a film in Greece in 1958 titled Mia Italida stin Ellada, or Vacanze ad Atene, which was never released.

Lenzi's films of the 1960s revolved around popular genres of their respective time periods. In the early 1960s, Lenzi directed many adventure films including two features about Robin Hood (Il Trionfo di Robin Hood and The Invincible Masked Rider) and two films about Sandokan (Sandokan the Great (1963) and Pirates of Malaysia (1964)).

By 1965, Lenzi began directing European spy films, such as 008: Operation Exterminate, followed by Superseven chiama Cairo and Le spie amano i fiori, and even adapted fumetti neri comics such as Kriminal to the screen. Lenzi turned to making war films such as Desert Commandos and Legion of the Damned and westerns such as Pistol for a Hundred Coffins and All Out (1968).

Lenzi had box office success in Italy with his erotic thrillers starring Carroll Baker such as Orgasmo, So Sweet... So Perverse and A Quiet Place to Kill which were influenced by French "film noir" movies drawing from the works of Jacques Deray and René Clément.

[edit]

1970s

After the commercial success of giallo films by Dario Argento, Lenzi followed the new trend with Seven Bloodstained Orchids, which referenced both Cornell Woolrich and Edgar Wallace novels, while another giallo Knife of Ice was a variation of Robert Siodmak's The Spiral Staircase. Other gialli created by Lenzi in the early 1970s included Spasmo and Eyeball.

During the early 1970s, Lenzi also directed the first of the Italian cannibal films, with The Man from Deep River (1972), a genre that he would explore again in the 1980s with Eaten Alive! and Cannibal Ferox. During the late 1970s, Lenzi devoted himself almost exclusively to crime dramas, with the exception of two war films: Battle Force and From Hell to Victory (1979).

[edit]

1980s

The 1980s began the decline of genre cinema in Italy. Despite this, it marked the release of films that Roberto Curti described as some of Lenzi's "most notorious". These included Nightmare City and the previously mentioned Cannibal Ferox. Following these films, Lenzi created some sexy comedies, including Cicciabomba.

Lenzi also worked on horror films towards the late 1980s, such as Ghosthouse (1988) under the name Humphrey Humbert and the slasher film Nightmare Beach which was credited to Harry Kirkpatrick as Lenzi refused to sign his name to the film. Other later 1980s work included horror films made for television, such as The House of Witchraft and The House of Lost Souls.

[edit]

Post-1980s

In 1992, Lenzi directed David Warbeck in an adventure film called Hornsby and Rodriguez (aka Mean Tricks). Lenzi ended his career with a few cop films that were similar to the American productions of that period. Lenzi later embarked on a career as a novelist, writing a series of murder mysteries set in the 1930s and '40s Cinecitta, involving real-life characters of the Italian film industry.

Lenzi died on 19 October 2017. The director was hospitalized at a hospital in the Ostia district of Rome. The cause of the death is unknown.

[edit]

Legacy

Roberto Curti referred to Lenzi as "one of the undisputed leading figures in Italian genre cinema" and that he was "a sort of institution in Italian genre cinema." Louis Paul suggested that Lenzi released some "quite enjoyable action films in the 1960s and some good thrilers in the '70s, he never consistently excelled at any one genre." and that Lenzi would "probably be remembered most for his cannibal-themed horror films."

[edit]

Filmography

[edit]

See also


Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Umberto Lenzi" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

Retrieved from "http://artandpopularculture.com/Umberto_Lenzi"
Personal tools
Metas