Bruno Mattei

Born in 1931, Bruno Mattei grew up in Rome, Italy, where his father owned a small film editing studio. Mattei made hisdebutas a director with the dramaArmida, 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 anothercomebackin 1976 with two low-budget Nazi exploitation films,Women's Camp 119(1977) (aka "Women's Camp 119") andCasa 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 asMondo erotico(1973), "Libiodomania" and "Libidomania 2". Always on the lookout for new exploitation avenues, Mattei followed with "nunsploitation", with the softcore sex filmLa vera storia della monaca di Monza(1980) and the violent sex thrillerThe Other Hell(1981). Both films involved a partnership with writer/directorClaudio Fragasso, who helped him write and direct the back-to-back productions. Using yet another alias, "Vincent Dawn", Mattei directedHell of the Living Dead(1980) (aka "Hell of the Living Dead"), a low-budged zombie picture inspired by other zombie cannibal movies such asDawn of the Dead(1978) andLucio Fulci'sZombi 2(1979). "Virus" was filmed in Spain and used jungle footage from New Guinea and a patch soundtrack fromGoblins "Dawn of the Dead" soundtrack, which was a minor hit in Italy and abroad. After directing two women'sprisonfilms starringLaura Gemser, Mattei moved to directing sword-and-sorcery flicks, starting withI sette magnifici gladiatori(1983). Both Mattei and Fragasso collaborated on the sci-fi/horror flickRats - 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 ofZombi 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 bySteven Spielberg'sJaws(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.