Bruno Mattei
Italian film director, screenwriter and editor
title: "Bruno Mattei" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1931-births", "2007-deaths", "film-directors-from-rome", "italian-horror-film-directors", "italian-science-fiction-film-directors"] description: "Italian film director, screenwriter and editor" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_Mattei" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Italian film director, screenwriter and editor ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Bruno Mattei |
| birthname | Bruno Mattei |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Rome, Italy |
| death_date | |
| death_place | Rome, Italy |
| othername | |
| occupation | |
| yearsactive | 1956–2007 |
| :: |
| name = Bruno Mattei | image = | imagesize = | caption = | birthname = Bruno Mattei | birth_date = | birth_place = Rome, Italy | death_date = | death_place = Rome, Italy | othername = | occupation = | yearsactive = 1956–2007 | spouse = | homepage = 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. Mattei's films often followed popular genre trends of the era. Mattei continued work as a director primarily in the Philippines until his death in 2007, just before he was to enter production on his fifth Zombie film.
Biography
Bruno Mattei was born on 30 July 1931 in Rome, Italy. Mattei grew up around films as his father owned a film editing studio. He studied at the Centro Sperimentale Centrale, the national film school, and graduated in 1951. Mattei initially worked as a screenwriter and claimed to have worked on over 100 films as an editor, a claim that film historian Louis Paul stated was "difficult to verify". Some of the earliest films Mattei worked on included Lulu and Tua per la vita. Early film work started in 1956 on Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, after which Mattei worked on several peplum and Eurospy films.
His first film as a director was Armida, il Dramma di Una Sposa (1970), after which he directed Cuginetta...Amore Mio!, an sexploitation film starring Rita De Simone. Then followed his Nazi-themed exploitation films such as SS Girls (1977) and KZ9 Lager di Sterminio, some mondo documentary films starring Laura Gemser, Le Notti Porno nel Mondo and Emanuelle le Porno Notti del Mondo N. 2, and nunsploitation films such as The True Story of the Nun of Monza and The Other Hell.
Mattei continued working in various other exploitation-themed genres in the 1980s such as zombie films, sex films, peplums, and Vietnam War-themed productions. In 1982, Mattei filmed two "women in prison" films, Women's Prison Massacre and Violence in a Women's Prison. The liner notes for the Women's Prison Massacre DVD release state, "Mattei, using the moniker Gilbert Roussel, shot Women's Prison Massacre back-to-back with his Violence in a Women's Prison. It has basically the same cast, but both films are completely different."
In 1980, Mattei began collaborating with screenwriter Claudio Fragasso, beginning with The True Story of the Nun of Monza (1980) and ending with a comedy called Three For One (1990). The two worked closely together for that ten-year period (collaborating on 15 films), with Fragasso occasionally assuming the role of second unit director.
Mattei was initially attached to direct an adaptation of Hercules from a screenplay by Ricardo Ghione. Principal photography was scheduled to begin May 1982 in Rome, Italy while The Hollywood Reporter naming Fragasso as screenwriter, and Ennio Morricone as music composer and conductor. Neither Mattei, Fragasso, or Morricone appear in onscreen credits. The Hollywood Reporter later stated that principal photography on Hercules began in August 1982 in Italy under the direction of Luigi Cozzi. Mattei later directed Lou Ferrigno in The Seven Magnificent Gladiators.)
Mattei replaced Lucio Fulci as the director of Zombi 3 in the Philippines after Fulci left the project unfinished, then co-produced Zombie 4: After Death immediately afterwards with Fragasso in the director's chair, using the same sets and some of the same cast members. Mattei's other late-1980s films included Robowar and Shocking Dark - Terminator II (which incorporated elements of other popular science fiction films of the time such as The Terminator and Alien). As the 1980s ended, most of Mattei's work was released direct to video or to Italian television, such as his Appuntamento a Trieste, a 1987 6-hour-long Italian TV mini-series. Many of Mattei's films from the 1990s became harder to find as export releases or home video releases.
From 1993 onward, Mattei worked as a director almost exclusively for Italian producer Giovanni Paolucci, a working arrangement that jump-started Mattei's career after he and Fragasso had gone their own ways in 1990. Paolucci produced most of Mattei's later films, beginning with Dangerous Attraction and ending with Mattei's final film, Zombies: The Beginning. Mattei continued directing films right up until his death. Mattei died in Rome, Italy, in a hospital after complications from brain tumour surgery on May 21, 2007, at age 75.
He is survived by a son, Dario Mattei.
Style
Jason Buchanan described Bruno Mattei's films as "low budget, gore-drenched efforts" and that "B-movie lovers can argue his importance in the realm of film until the world ends, few will deny that his films rarely fail to entertain on terms of sleaze and gratuitous violence alone -- if that's your kind of thing".
Louis Paul, in his analysis of Italian horror film directors, stated that Mattei's career consisted of him being a "director of copy-cat movies. Whenever a film or a genre became popular, he directed his own (unsanctioned) remake or unofficial sequel." Daniel Budnik, an author of a book on 1980s action films, described Mattei as "no stranger to simply ripping stuff off", noting his use of Goblin's music for Hell of the Living Dead, stock footage from documentaries on South African tribes, and shark attack footage for his Cruel Jaws, ultimately describing him as "the best of all possible rip-off artists [...] Bruno just really did his own thing and went his own way" which involved "ripping everyone off, but you can't have everything".
Mattei used several aliases throughout his career, including Jordan B. Matthews, Jimmy Matheus, Gilbert Roussel, Axel Berger, Michael Cardoso, David Hunt, Werner Knox, Pierre Le Blanc, Stefan Oblowsky, and most famously Vincent Dawn.
Selected filmography
:Note: The films listed as N/A are not necessarily chronological. ::data[format=table]
| Title | Year | Credited as | Notes | Ref(s) | Director | Writer | Editor | Other | Sexy | Caesar Against the Pirates | Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hercules | Triumph of the Ten Gladiators | Spartacus and the Ten Gladiators | Agent 3S3: Passport to Hell | Misión en Ginebra | Goldface, the Fantastic Superman | The Magnificent Tony Carrera | ** | 99 Women | Yellow: le cugine | Count Dracula | Armida, il Dramma di Una Sposa | Emanuelle's Revenge | Cuginetta, amore mio! | SS Girls | Women's Camp 119 | Sexy Night Report | Emanuelle e le Porno Notti nel Mondo N.2 | Cicciolina amore mio | Sexual Aberration: Sesso Perverso | Sesso perverso, mondo violento | La provinciale a lezione di sesso | The True Story of the Nun of Monza | Hell of the Living Dead | The Other Hell | Caligula and Messalina | Nero and Poppea - An Orgy of Power | Violence in a Women's Prison | Women's Prison Massacre | The Seven Magnificent Gladiators | Rats: Night of Terror | Hanna D. - The Girl from Vondel Park | White Apache | Scalps | Strike Commando | Double Target | Zombi 3 | Appointment in Trieste | Strike Commando 2 | Robowar | Cop Game | After Death | Born to Fight | Shocking Dark - Terminator II | Desire | Three For One | Dangerous Attraction | Madness | Omicidio al telefono | Legitimate Vendetta | Cruel Jaws | Ljuba: Body and Soul | A Respectable Judge | Belle da morire: Killing Striptease | The Other Woman | Venetian Caprice | Snuff Trap | Mondo Cannibale: Cannibal World | In the Land of the Cannibals | The Tomb | Killing Striptease II | A Shudder on the Skin | Secrets of a Woman | Secrets of a Woman II | Orient Escape | The Jail: The Women's Hell | Island of the Living Dead | Zombies: The Beginning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Assistant film editor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assistant film editor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1960 | Assistant film editor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1962 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sound mixer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sound editor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1964 | Assistant film editor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1965 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1967 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1968 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1969 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1970 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1975 | uncredited co-director | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1977 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1977 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1978 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1980 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1980 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1980 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1980 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1981 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1981 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1982 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1982 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1983 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1983 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1984 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1984 | co-director | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1986 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1987 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1987 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1987 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1988 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Made for television | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| As co-producer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| co-directed with Claudio Fragasso | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1989 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1994 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1995 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| :: |
References
Bibliography
References
- Liner Notes. Women's Prison Massacre dvd release. Distributed by Shock-O-Rama Cinema. 12/16/04.
- "Hercules". [[American Film Institute]].
- "Sexy". Bifi.fr.
- (1966). "Agente 3.S.3, Passaporto per L'inferno". British Film Institute.
- "Feuer frei auf Frankie". [[Filmportal.de]].
- "Samtpfötchen dreht sein letztes Ding". [[Filmportal.de]].
- "Die Nichten der Frau Oberst". [[Filmportal.de]].
- "Der heiße Tod". [[Filmportal.de]].
- "Nachts, wenn Dracula erwacht". [[Filmportal.de]].
- [[Giusti, Marco]] (1999). dizionario dei film italiani STRACULT [sic]. Cles: Sterling & Kupfer. pg. 253. {{ISBN. 88-200-2919-7.
- "Emanuelle's Revenge".
- "Cuginetta... Amore Mio! (1976)".
- Lupi, Gordiano; Gazzarrini, Ivo (2013). Bruno Mattei: L'ultimo artigiano (in Italian). {{ISBN. 9788876064609. page 216.
- Lupi, Gordiano; Gazzarrini, Ivo (2013). Bruno Mattei: L'ultimo artigiano (in Italian). {{ISBN. 9788876064609. page 217.
- (19 January 2020). "La provinciale a lezione di sesso (1980) | FilmTV.it".
- "La vera storia della Monaca di Monza = The true story of the nun of Monza". [[WorldCat]].
- Jenkins, Steve. (1982). "Inferno dei morti-viventi (Zombie Creeping Flesh)". [[British Film Institute]].
- Alexander, Chris. (2014). "The Rats are Coming...Geretta Geretta is Here!". [[Charles Band]].
- Russell Campbell. Marked Women: Prostitutes and Prostitution in the Cinema. Univ of Wisconsin Press, 2006. {{ISBN. 9780299212537.
- (1989). "International Motion Picture Almanac for 1989". Quigley Publishing Company, Inc..
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