| Bruno Mattei | |
|---|---|
| Born | Bruno Mattei July 30, 1931 Rome, Italy |
| Died | May 21, 2007[1] Ostia City, Italy (aged 76) |
| Other name(s) | Vincent Dawn, Pierre Le Blanc, David Hunt, Martin Miller |
| Years active | 1962-2006 |
Bruno Mattei (30 July 1931 – 21 May 2007) was an Italian film director and editor who gained a cult following for his bizarre and sleazy exploitation films. He used many pseudonyms, predominantly Vincent Dawn (choosing that surname as a nod to George Romero's Dawn of the Dead).
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Mattei got his start in Italian cinema by editing more than 100 films between the 1960s and the early 70s. In 1974, he earned his first directorial credit, directing 20 minutes of additional hardcore footage for the french release of Jess Franco's 1969 film 99 Women. In early 1975, he wrote the script for the Joe D'Amato film Demon Rage and edited D'Amato's Black Eva. He became a full-time director in 1977 when he made several erotic Nazi death camp films, which he followed up with some porno documentaries such as Sexy Night Report starring Laura Gemser and The Nun of Monza. Next he directed two of his most infamous horror shockers, The Other Hell and Virus: Hell of the Living Dead (which has since become his most infamous film).
After directing two Caligula-inspired rip-offs and two Emanuelle Women-in-Prison films starring Laura Gemser, he made the delirious Rats: Night of Terror (a low budget science fiction film), and the ultra-gory Zombie 3 (which he co-directed with Lucio Fulci in the Philippines). He didn't turn out much work in the 1990's (although during this period he directed the infamous made-for-TV film Cruel Jaws, a rip-off of Steven Spielberg's Jaws). Later in 2001, Mattei returned to filmmaking, this time unleashing his brilliance on the direct to video market. He directed several erotic thrillers before returning once more to the Philippines, where he shot two more cannibal films, a women-in-prison film and two final zombie movies.
In all, he made around 50 films (many of them very low budget) and over the years they have attracted a huge cult following. Although he could never claim to be a great director, his films are loved for their cheesy dialogue, low budgets and over-the-top gore effects. He was sometimes referred to as the "Ed Wood of Italian filmmaking". On an interview segment contained on Anchor Bay's DVD release for Hell of the Living Dead and Rats: Night of Terror, Mattei claimed that he would like to reshoot all of his films, as he finds them ugly.
Mattei was hospitalized in early May 2007 due to complications from a brain tumor operation, and lapsed into a coma shortly after. He died on May 21, 2007 at age 76.
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