What a filmmaker. If any filmmaker belongs in the sleazy underbelly of film, then it’s Bruno Mattei. The IMdB lists him as the “Italian Ed Wood.” Long after the Italian film industry slowed and soured in the 80s, Mattei continued to work steadily, cranking out his brand of low-budget shlock. In fact, he directed more films from 2000-2007 (the year he sloughed off his mortal coil), than he did in the 90s. Some of the ones, I’ve seen and enjoyed are:
Violence in a Women’s Prison: Laura Gemser plays reporter Emanuelle, who goes undercover in a women’s prison to uncover the brutality being dished out by the warden and the guards. She meets friendly doctor Gabriele Tinti, whom she confides in, and later is found out by the prison head honchos to be a reporter. Of course, this is just an excuse to show what WIP flicks are about: mainly sleaze. My favorite scene is where Gemser is cleaning the floor and two guards tell her to dump out the latrine. Gemser gives such a perfect look and as she is holding the bucket of shit, you know exactly what she is going to do.
Emanuelle in Prison: Nearly identical cast to the above film with the same sets, seemingly. Much, much better film. Gemser plays the title role who is sent to jail. She’s in the middle of a gang war in the prison, and the guards and warden favor the opposite side to hers. Smack in the middle of the film, enter Gabriele Tinti, who plays the leader of a group of death-row criminals, who enter the prison and take it over. My favorite scenes: the performance art opening is priceless (I laughed heartily for this one) and Gemser’s two fights with her rival inmate (one in the shower and one in the yard). This flick is much more over the top in violence, sex, and outrageousness. Cheezy, cheezy fun.
Land of Death: Somebody on the IMdb aptly summarized this late Mattei flick as a Predator rip-off. He wasn’t joking. Not only did Mattei rip-off the Predator story line, he actually recreated scenes from Predator for this movie. Except there’s no Predator. Cannibals are substituted. The dialogue, the acting, everything about this film is just awful, but I had so much fun watching this. Oh, and there is footage inserted from Rambo, I think.
Predator huh? Interesting, I recognized the scenes stolen from Cannibal Holocaust but nothing lit any Predator lights and there’s NO way I’m watching that again.
**EDIT** Wait.. no He had two films come out at the same time, Cannibal World and Land of Death. I’ve not seen Land of Death.
Predator huh? Interesting, I recognized the scenes stolen from Cannibal Holocaust but nothing lit any Predator lights and there’s NO way I’m watching that again.
**EDIT** Wait.. no He had two films come out at the same time, Cannibal World and Land of Death. I’ve not seen Land of Death.
I’ve got a copy of Cannibal World under the title Cannibal Holocaust 2! Shitty, huh? No fun whatsoever? I’ve just only gotten really into Mattei. I’ve always avoided his work, because of the negative vibe he gets. However, I’ve enjoyed some of the films that I’ve seen. I’ve also just gotten into Jess Franco and Joe D’amato and am enjoying what I’m seeing.
ehhh.. I dunno. I guess I just kept feeling like, “I’ve already seen this movie” it definitely would have been more fun with someone else that knew Can Hol really well and maybe a few brewskiz.
ehhh.. I dunno. I guess I just kept feeling like, “I’ve already seen this movie” it definitely would have been more fun with someone else that knew Can Hol really well and maybe a few brewskiz.
I’m going to give it a spin. I’ve got a couple of his other ones and I’m going to look out for the ones Stefan recommended.
Oh man. My first post and I get to spend it on Bruno Mattei. While I hate the Romero rip-off “Hell of the Living Dead” and don’t remember “The Other Hell,” I would recommend his “Rambo: First Blood” rip-off “Strike Commando” (1987), the pinnacle of his shit career. Not only are two of Italy’s least talented sons involved, director Mattei and writer Claudio Fragasso (yes, the man that wrote AND directed “Troll 2"), it starts studly Reb Brown, whose method of acting consisted of numbly muttering his lines or SCREAMING LIKE A WOMAN AT THE TOP OF HIS LUNGS FOR NO REASON AT ALL.
I have this on VHS and, oh man, it’s a great comedy. Too bad it’s supposed to be an action/adventure ripoff. I think there about 200 deaths, the dialogue is almost transcendent in its stupidity, and of course, good ole Reb. Here’s a “touching” scene where our hero attempts to comfort a dying child by describing what Disneyland is like, too bad the VHS rip is a little dark:
D’Amato and Franco are both an aquired taste. Their films aren’t great and most of them are down right crap but they do have a certain charm especially if you like exploitation films.
Yea I agree with you there Stefan, although I’ve only seen Franco’s “Succubus,” which was enjoyably weird, and his slasher “Bloody Moon,” which I thought was really dull.
Out of the 300 or so porns that D’Amato has made, there are very few significant horror films. I know “Anthropopagus” has its fans but I’ve never made it through awake, but its kind-of sequel/ “Halloween” rip “Absurd” was ok. “Beyond the Darkenss” was gross, but has an awesome Goblin soundtrack.
He did show some talent for a second though. I think his only attempt at giallo, “Death Smiles at Murder,” was bizarre but probably his best film, and looks really amazing. I know he was the cinematographer on “What Have They Done to Solange?” and that has to be one of the most stylish non-Argento gialli I’ve seen. It’s amazing how good both of those films look when you consider how he didn’t even try with crap like “Erotic Nights of the Living Dead” or the Emanuelle flicks.
I personally like “Endgame,” his post-apocalyptic/"Escape from NY” rip. It has one of my favorite Italian actors Al Cliver as the lead, and Laura Gemser in one of her few non-titty roles.
Ok that’s enough nerdage. I have Whataburger to eat.
I cannot wait to see Strike Commando! If you think Reb Brown was a method actor, check this out:
White Apache: this one got a recent English-friendly dvd (from Spain, I think) release. It’s a late-80s western starring Sebastian Harrison (son of actor Richard Harrison). Interesting about this film is that it doesn’t have the look of an Italian western (however it does have modern depictions of violence), it’s more like a 50s or 60s American western, with all of the stereotypes of Native Americans. Sebastian Harrison, who looks like he would be more comfortable in Dogtown and Z-Boys, plays a caucasian who is raised by a tribe of Indians after his mother and her group of settlers are killed by bandits. Harrison is raised like one of the tribe and as he reaches adulthood, Crazy Bull (what a name!) brings him into self-awareness and tells him that he’s a white man. In Harrison’s finest moment, he swims around the pond and yells at the top of his lungs “I am a white man!” about five or six times. I was rolling. The film, btw, ain’t that great overall, though, some chuckles here and there.
BU also put out Mattei’s Rats, Night of Terror. I thought this was pretty creative for a low-budget picture. It was made at the peak of the post-apocalyptic craze, and it involves a band of travelers who seek shelter in an abandoned town (which looks like the set for a western) where they are eaten by the title characters. Yeah, it’s Mattei-schlock, but I thought it was entertaining.
I’ve seen a few Francos and a few D’amato’s but don’t want to derail this thread anymore, so…
I’m interrupting all of the Mattei talk to proclaim that (like Mr.Onions) I love me some Saxon… I’ll really have to check out some of Jess Franco’s stuff. I’ve been meaning to for years, but never have..
Has anyone seen Joel Schumacher’s 8mm? Guess what? So did Mattei and he must have liked it so much he decided to remake it as Snuff Trap (2003). Shot on Digital video and on location on various red-light districts in many European countries. Mattei ups the sleaze level, but I think this will be the last Mattei film of the new millenium that I’ll be seeing for a while. Not that much fun.
However, I highly recommend The Tomb (2004). This film has more comparisions to Sommers’ The Mummy, but it feels more like an 80s teen horror flick and is one his better pieces of “Xerox Cinema.” This one is a lot of fun. Very cheesy.
I’ve got some late 80s Mattei up next, including Strike Commando.
I watched Shocking Dark (aka Terminator 2 aka Alienators; 1989). This is quintessential Mattei. It’s a rip-off of Alien/Aliens/Terminator on about 1/100th of the budget. It’s shot in a dark factory, for real. The story, ahem, involves post-apocalyptic/futuristic Venice, where the water supply is completely toxic. A large corporation has built aquaducts under the city and recently there has been some disruptions and few survivors to speak of. An elite group of soldiers are assembled to investigate. Christopher Ahrens plays the Bishop/Paul Reiser/Terminator character. The dialogue, written by the always reliable Claudio Fragasso, is craptacular and the actors’ delivery is cheestastic. This is the Mattei that I know and love. Totally entertaining.
the only mattei film i have seen is ss experiment as it was on the grindhouse xperience volume 1, and that was a brutal flick, with not much redeeming qualities. Its one of this flick you feel dirty after having seen it.
