Lamberto Bava
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Lamberto Bava (born 3 April 1944) is an Italian film director. Born in
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
, Bava began working as an assistant director for his director father
Mario Bava Mario Bava (31 July 1914 – 27 April 1980) was an Italian filmmaker who worked variously as a director, cinematographer, special effects artist and screenwriter, frequently referred to as the "Master of Italian Horror" and the "Master of the M ...
. Lamberto co-directed the 1979 television film ''La Venere d'Ille'' with his father and in 1980 directed his first solo feature film ''
Macabre In works of art, the adjective macabre ( or ; ) means "having the quality of having a grim or ghastly atmosphere". The macabre works to emphasize the details and symbols of death. The term also refers to works particularly gruesome in natu ...
''. Bava continued working in the 1980s and collaborated with Dario Argento on films such as '' Demons''. After 1990, Bava's work was predominantly involved with television, such as his '' Fantaghirò'' series.


Biography

Lamberto Bava was born in
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
,
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
on 3 April 1944. Lamberto's father
Mario Bava Mario Bava (31 July 1914 – 27 April 1980) was an Italian filmmaker who worked variously as a director, cinematographer, special effects artist and screenwriter, frequently referred to as the "Master of Italian Horror" and the "Master of the M ...
was a film director known primarily as a director of
horror films Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoc ...
. Lamberto's film career began in the mid-1960s working as an assistant director on his father's film ''
Planet of the Vampires ''Planet of the Vampires'' ( it, Terrore nello Spazio, lit=Terror in Space) is a 1965 Italian-Spanish science fiction horror film, produced by Fulvio Lucisano, directed by Mario Bava, that stars Barry Sullivan and Norma Bengell. The screenplay ...
''. Lamberto would later collaborate with his father on several of his projects, including '' Danger: Diabolik'' (1966), ''
Twitch of the Death Nerve ''A Bay of Blood'' ( Italian: ''Ecologia del delitto'', lit. "Ecology of Crime", later retitled ''Reazione a catena'' it. "Chain Reaction" (also known as ''Carnage'', ''Twitch of the Death Nerve'' and ''Blood Bath'') is a 1971 Italian giallo sl ...
'' (1971) and ''
Shock Shock may refer to: Common uses Collective noun *Shock, a historic commercial term for a group of 60, see English numerals#Special names * Stook, or shock of grain, stacked sheaves Healthcare * Shock (circulatory), circulatory medical emergen ...
'' (1977) (On ''Shock'', Lamberto Bava was credited as a screenwriter as well as an assistant director.) Besides the work he did with his father, Lamberto also contributed to making films with Italian director
Ruggero Deodato Ruggero Deodato (born 7 May 1939) is an Italian film director, screenwriter, and sometime actor. His career has spanned a wide-range of genres including peplum, comedy, drama, poliziottesco and science fiction, yet he is perhaps best known f ...
, such as ''
Ultimo mondo cannibale ''Ultimo mondo cannibale'' (English: ''Last Cannibal World''; also known as ''Cannibal'', ''Jungle Holocaust'' and ''The Last Survivor'') is a 1977 Italian cannibal exploitation film directed by Ruggero Deodato and written by Tito Carpi, Gianfr ...
'' (1977) and '' Cannibal Holocaust'' (1979). In 1978, Lamberto and Mario directed an episode of the Italian television series ''I giochi del diavolo (Storie fantastiche dell'Ottocento)'' (), a television series with six stories based on 19th century fantastic literature. Their episode was based on '' La Venere d'Ille'' by
Prosper Mérimée Prosper Mérimée (; 28 September 1803 – 23 September 1870) was a French writer in the movement of Romanticism, and one of the pioneers of the novella, a short novel or long short story. He was also a noted archaeologist and historian, and a ...
and broadcast on
RAI 1 Rai 1 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's flagship television channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream and gener ...
on March 27, 1981.


Early 1980s theatrical films

A meeting with director
Pupi Avati Giuseppe Avati, better known as Pupi Avati (born 3 November 1938), is an Italian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known to horror film fans for his two giallo masterpieces, ''The House with Laughing Windows'' (1976) and '' Zeder ...
led to Bava directing his own feature film ''
Macabre In works of art, the adjective macabre ( or ; ) means "having the quality of having a grim or ghastly atmosphere". The macabre works to emphasize the details and symbols of death. The term also refers to works particularly gruesome in natu ...
'' in 1980 which was co-written with Pupi and
Antonio Avati Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular male ...
. The film stars Bernice Stegers as Jane, a woman who has an affair with a man (Stanko Molnar), who dies. After his death, Jane keeps his severed head in her refrigerator and performs erotic acts with it. According to Lamberto Bava, after seeing ''Macabre'', Mario told him "Now I can die in peace". Mario actually died later in 1980. Following the release of ''Macabre'', Lamberto Bava worked in advertising and continued to write stories for potential future film projects. He was approached by director Dario Argento to assist him with his ''
giallo In Italian cinema, ''Giallo'' (; plural ''gialli'', from ''giallo'', Italian for yellow) is a genre of mystery fiction and thrillers that often contains slasher, crime fiction, psychological thriller, psychological horror, sexploitation, and, ...
'' film '' Tenebre'' (1982), wherein Bava is credited as an assistant director. In 1983, Lamberto Bava directed his second feature film as a director, the ''giallo'' film '' A Blade in the Dark''. ''A Blade in the Dark'' was originally developed as a television film shot in four 25-minute segments on a very low budget. The film stars
Andrea Occhipinti Andrea Occhipinti (born 12 September 1957) is an Italian film producer and distributor. He is the founder of Rome-based film company Lucky Red. Since 1987 he has distributed and produced international independent films, introducing Italian audien ...
as the music composer Bruno, a man who becomes involved in a series of murders while staying at a secluded villa. Bava's next two film projects were in different genres than his previous ''giallo'' and horror film output. Bava was given a script for ''
Blastfighter ''Blastfighter'' is a 1984 action film directed by Lamberto Bava starring Michael Sopkiw and George Eastman. Plot Jake "Tiger" Sharp (Michael Sopkiw) is a former policeman who seeks revenge after his wife is murdered. After killing the murderer, ...
'', a film originally written as a remake of the Australian film ''
Mad Max ''Mad Max'' is an Australian post-apocalyptic action film series and media franchise created by George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It began in 1979 with '' Mad Max'', and was followed by three sequels: ''Mad Max 2'' (1981, released in the Unite ...
'' with the intention of giving it to director
Lucio Fulci Lucio Fulci (; 17 June 1927 – 13 March 1996) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. Although he worked in a wide array of genres through a career spanning nearly five decades, including comedies and Spaghetti Westerns, he ga ...
. ''Blastfighter'' starred
Michael Sopkiw Michael Sopkiw is an American former actor who starred in four Italian B movies in two years. He was born in 1954 in Connecticut. Sopkiw took modeling jobs, and he was employed in Italy by filmmaker Sergio Martino to star in '' 2019, After the ...
as Tiger, a detective who had been released from prison for shooting the man who killed his wife. Tiger moves into the woods with his daughter where he is terrorized by a group of thugs. Lamberto's next film, ''Monster Shark'', was a science fiction film about a mutated shark that goes on a killing spree with two marine biologists attempting to track down the creature to stop it.


Late 1980s theatrical and television films

In 1985, Lamberto Bava reteamed with Dario Argento on the film '' Demons''. Argento co-wrote and produced Bava's film about a theater showing invitation-only screenings of a horror film. In the theater's lobby, a young woman is scratched by a display in the lobby and transforms into a hideous creature who then attacks other audience members, spreading her demonic infection. The film was followed by the sequel ''
Demons 2 ''Demons 2'' ( it, Dèmoni 2) is a 1986 Italian horror film directed by Lamberto Bava and produced by Dario Argento. It is a sequel to Bava's 1985 film ''Demons'' and stars David Knight, Nancy Brilli, Coralina Cataldi Tassoni, as well as Argento ...
'' in 1986 which had many of the same cast and crew members from ''Demons''. ''Demons 2'' features a television program which causes an outbreak of zombies in an apartment complex. Bava also made the
television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
''Midnight Killer'' the same year. The film is about a series of murders which are similar to one that was committed 15 years prior, despite the fact that the murderer supposedly died in a fire. Bava makes a cameo in the film as a photographer at the beginning of the film. While working on ''Midnight Killer'', Bava began preparing his next film, '' Delirium'' (1987). ''Delerium'' stars
Serena Grandi Serena Grandi (born 23 March 1958, in Bologna) is an Italian actress, famous as an icon and sex symbol in Italian cinema of the 1980s and 1990s. Known for her junoesque body and voluptuous measurements, she was considered one of the main pin-u ...
as Gioia, a model for ''Pussycat'' magazine. Gioia's co-workers end up murdered through bizarre means including pitchforks and bees and then their corpses posed in front of photos of her, which Gioia receives in the mail from the murderer. Bava returned to television work making several episodes of a series of hour-long films produced by Dario Argento. Bava's episodes included "E ...di Moda la Morte", "Heavy Metal", "Buona Fine È Migliore Principo", "Giubetto Rosso", "Il Bambino Rapito" and "Babbao Natale". In July 1986, the company Reteitalia announced that they would new television films for a series titled ''Brivido giallo'' would be directed by Bava. The films were shot between 1987 and 1988 where there were initially going to be a series of five films, it ended up being four. The first was ''
Graveyard Disturbance ''Graveyard Disturbance'' ( it, Una notte al cimitero) is a 1987 television film directed by Lamberto Bava. Plot Five teen friends after stealing from a store end up in a gothic cemetery. While there they enter a tavern where the bartender challe ...
'' which was shown at the Sitges Film Festival in 1987 and ''
Until Death ''Until Death'' is a 2007 American vigilante action film starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and directed by Simon Fellows. It was released direct-to-DVD on April 24, 2007. Van Damme plays Anthony Stowe, a corrupt police detective addicted to heroin ...
'' which was released on home video in Germany over a year before its television debut in Italy in 1989. The other films in the series were '' The Ogre'' and '' Dinner with a Vampire''. The ''Brivido giallo'' series was not popular with critics or audiences which led to Bava's next television films in a series titled ''Alta tensione'' which were shot between 1988 and 1989 to be only be released in 1999 on the Mediaset network. One television film made at that time for the series was only released in 2007 on the satellite channel Fantasy TV. Bava also did a remake of '' Black Sunday'' for the European television series ''Sabbath'' titled ''La maschera del demonio'' which premiered in June 1990 at Rome's
Fantafestival The Mostra internazionale del film di fantascienza e del fantastico (English: ''International Science Fiction and Fantasy Film Show''), commonly known as Fantafestival, is a film festival devoted to science fiction, fantasy and horror film tha ...
. Bava began the 1990s with the fairy tale inspired series '' ''Fantaghirò'' series'' and its many sequels.


Post-1980s works

In 1992, Bava made the film ''Body Puzzle'', which starred
Joanna Pacula Joanna is a feminine given name deriving from from he, יוֹחָנָה, translit=Yôḥānāh, lit=God is gracious. Variants in English include Joan, Joann, Joanne, and Johanna. Other forms of the name in English are Jan, Jane, Janet, Janice ...
, who learns that her late husband Abe had a lover named Tim Bell. When Tim learns that Abe was an organ donor, Tim begins killing people in order to rebuild him. Bava also worked in television. In 1991, Bava directed ''Fantaghiro'', a television miniseries that was influenced by films such as ''
Legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...
'', ''
Willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...
'' and '' Ladyhawke''. The series was aimed more at family audiences than Bava's previous work and violence is kept to a minimum. The series concluded in 1997 with eight feature-length episodes. Before finishing the series, Bava worked on other television projects, including ''Desideria'', between 1994 and 1995, and a second fantasy series titled ''Sorellina e il Principe del Sogno'' (1996). In the late 1990s, Bava made another television film entitled ''Caraibi''. Bava's more later film work includes ''L'Impero'' and ''
Ghost Son Ghost Son is a 2007 Italian horror- thriller film, written and directed by Lamberto Bava and produced by Pino Gargiulo. Plot Stacey and Mark have recently married and are deeply in love with each other. They live on Mark's farm in South Afr ...
''.


Filmography


Television work

* '' Turno di notte'' (Italian TV series) * '' Fantaghirò'' * ''
Fantaghirò 2 ''Fantaghirò 2'' (also known as ''The Cave of the Golden Rose 2'') is the second television film in the ''Fantaghirò series'', directed by Lamberto Bava and originally aired in 1992 as a two-parter (and so is known in certain releases as ''Fant ...
'' * '' Fantaghirò 3'' * '' The Dragon Ring'' (television film) * '' Fantaghirò 4'' (television film) * ''Princess Alisea'' (television film) * '' Fantaghirò 5'' (television film) * ''The Princess and the Pauper'' * ''Pirates: Blood Brothers '' * ''Human Currency '' (television miniseries) * ''Visions of Murder'' (television film) * ''Tailor-Made Murder'' (television film) * ''Kammerspiel'' (television film)


References


Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bava, Lamberto 1944 births Horror film directors Living people Giallo film directors Film directors from Rome