CINEFILER

Bruno Mattei

Born
July 30, 1931
Died
May 21, 2007
Bruno Mattei (30 July 1931 – 21 May 2007) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and editor who directed exploitation films in many genres, including women in prison, nunsploitation, zombie, mondo, cannibal, and Nazisploitation films. Born in 1931, Bruno Mattei grew up in Rome, Italy, where his father owned a small film editing studio. Mattei made his debut as a director with the drama Armida, il dramma di una sposa(1970) under the alias "Jordon B. Matthews". He eventually had more pseudonyms than any working director in the world. He returned to editing before making another comeback in 1976 with two low-budget Nazi exploitation films, Women's Camp 119 (1977) (aka "Women's Camp 119") and Casa privata per le SS (1977) (aka "SS Girls"). Mattei followed these taboo-breaking films with excursions into porno films and mondo "shockumentaries", all directed under his many pseudonyms, concentrating on "shock value" with films such as Mondo erotico (1973), "Libiodomania" and "Libidomania 2". Always on the lookout for new exploitation avenues, Mattei followed with "nunsploitation", with the softcore sex film La vera storia della monaca di Monza (1980) and the violent sex thriller The Other Hell (1981). Both films involved a partnership with writer/director Claudio Fragasso, who helped him write and direct the back-to-back productions. Using yet another alias, "Vincent Dawn", Mattei directed Hell of the Living Dead (1980) (aka "Hell of the Living Dead"), a low-budged zombie picture inspired by other zombie cannibal movies such as Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Lucio Fulci's Zombi 2 (1979). "Virus" was filmed in Spain and used jungle footage from New Guinea and a patch soundtrack from Goblins "Dawn of the Dead" soundtrack, which was a minor hit in Italy and abroad. After directing two women's prison films starring Laura Gemser, Mattei moved to directing sword-and-sorcery flicks, starting with I sette magnifici gladiatori (1983). Both Mattei and Fragasso collaborated on the sci-fi/horror flick Rats - Notte di terrore (1984), inspired by the futuristic movies of the early 1980s. Mattei considers this his best work, despite his still having to work with a very low budget. He worked relentlessly through the 1980s, directing a pair of "spaghetti westerns", some action flicks and about half of Zombi 3 (1988) after Lucio Fulci was taken off the production, though Mattei was not credited with it. In the early 1990s Mattei directed a series of erotic thrillers and a made-for-TV movie, Cruel Jaws (1995) (TV), which was inspired by Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975). Mattei continued making films, with more than 50 to his credit by the 200s. In early 2007 his health becan to decline rapidly after he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Despite his doctor's warnings, he went through with a surgical operation to have the tumor removed in May of that year. After the surgery he fell into a coma from complications, and died a few days later on May 21, 2007 at age 75.
Known For
Private House of the SS
(1977)
Director
Women's Prison Massacre
(1983)
Director
Night of the Zombies
(1980)
Director
Cruel Jaws
(1995)
Director
Emanuelle and the Porno Nights of the World N. 2
(1978)
Director
Strike Commando 2
(1988)
Director
Zombie Flesh Eaters 2
(1988)
Director
Violence in a Women's Prison
(1982)
Director
Rats: Night of Terror
(1984)
Director
Caligula and Messalina
(1981)
Director
Cannibal World
(2004)
Director
Strike Commando
(1987)
Director
Full Filmography
Directing
Armida, il dramma di una sposa
(1970)
Director
Love Sacrifice
(1976)
Director
Private House of the SS
(1977)
Director
Sexy Night Report
(1977)
Director
Women's Camp 119
(1977)
Director
Emanuelle and the Porno Nights of the World N. 2
(1978)
Director
Libidomania
(1979)
Director
Cicciolina my love
(1979)
Director
Night of the Zombies
(1980)
Director
The True Story of the Nun of Monza
(1980)
Director
Sesso Perverso, Mondo Violento
(1980)
Director
La provinciale a lezione di sesso
(1980)
Director
Caligula and Messalina
(1981)
Director
The Other Hell
(1981)
Director
Violence in a Women's Prison
(1982)
Director
Nero and Poppea - An Orgy of Power
(1982)
Director
Women's Prison Massacre
(1983)
Director
Uno storico pasticcio
(1983)
Director
The Seven Magnificent Gladiators
(1983)
Director
Rats: Night of Terror
(1984)
Director
Strike Commando
(1987)
Director
Double Target
(1987)
Director
Scalps
(1987)
Director
White Apache
(1987)
Director
Robowar
(1988)
Director
Strike Commando 2
(1988)
Director
Sortis de route
(1988)
Director
Zombie Flesh Eaters 2
(1988)
Director
Shocking Dark
(1989)
Director
Born to Fight
(1989)
Director
Three for One
(1990)
Director
Desire
(1990)
Director
Night Killer
(1990)
Director
Cop Game
(1991)
Director
Dangerous Attraction
(1993)
Director
Telephone Murder
(1994)
Director
Madness
(1994)
Director
Cruel Jaws
(1995)
Director
Legittima Vendetta
(1995)
Director
Body and Soul
(1997)
Director
Killing Striptease
(2002)
Director
The Other Woman
(2002)
Director
Venetian Caprice
(2002)
Director
In the Land of the Cannibals
(2004)
Director
Snuff Trap
(2004)
Director
Cannibal World
(2004)
Director
Secrets of Women
(2005)
Director
The Dark Side of a Woman
(2005)
Director
The Tomb
(2006)
Director
The Jail: The Women's Hell
(2006)
Director
Island of the Living Dead
(2007)
Director
Zombies: The Beginning
(2007)
Director
Cannibali - Leggenda o realtà
(2009)
Director
Viaggio ai confini dell'eros
(2017)
Director
Acting
Editing
Non è vero... ma ci credo!
(1952)
Assistant Editor
Tua per la vita
(1955)
Assistant Editor
Figaro, il barbiere di Siviglia
(1955)
Assistant Editor
Giovanna
(1955)
Assistant Editor
The Violent Patriot
(1956)
Assistant Editor
The Mighty Crusaders
(1957)
Assistant Editor
La sposa
(1958)
Assistant Editor
The Nights of Lucretia Borgia
(1959)
Assistant Editor
Mondo caldo di notte
(1962)
Editor
Revenge of the Black Knight
(1963)
Editor
Triumph of the Ten Gladiators
(1964)
Assistant Editor
Agent 3S3, Massacre in the Sun
(1966)
Editor
Goldface, the Fantastic Superman
(1967)
Editor
Target Frankie
(1967)
Editor
Inconsolable Widows Are Looking For Distractions
(1968)
Editor
The Magnificent Tony Carrera
(1969)
Editor
Yellow: The Cousins
(1969)
Editor
99 Women
(1969)
Editor
Lesbo
(1969)
Editor
Count Dracula
(1970)
Editor
The Deserter
(1970)
Editor
The French Sex Murders
(1972)
Editor
La collegiale
(1975)
Editor
Black Velvet
(1976)
Editor
Black Cobra
(1976)
Editor
Sexy Night Report
(1977)
Supervising Editor
Emanuelle and the Porno Nights of the World N. 2
(1978)
Editor
Violence in a Women's Prison
(1982)
Editor
Nero and Poppea - An Orgy of Power
(1982)
Editor
The Seven Magnificent Gladiators
(1983)
Editor
Hanna D: The Girl from Vondel Park
(1984)
Editor
Strike Commando
(1987)
Editor
Double Target
(1987)
Editor
Zombie Flesh Eaters 2
(1988)
Editor
Born to Fight
(1989)
Editor
Three for One
(1990)
Editor
Night Killer
(1990)
Editor
Madness
(1994)
Editor
Cruel Jaws
(1995)
Editor
Venetian Caprice
(2002)
Editor
Killing Striptease
(2002)
Editor
In the Land of the Cannibals
(2004)
Editor
Snuff Trap
(2004)
Editor
Writing
Production
Crew
Sound
Data provided by TMDB