Gianfranco Clerici
Encyclopedia
Gianfranco Clerici is an Italian writer of numerous screenplays for Italian film and television productions.
He has collaborated with several directors of exploitation cinema
, including Lucio Fulci
and Ruggero Deodato
. Many of his scripts went on to become controversial films.
series) and spaghetti westerns. As genre films fell out of favor with audiences, he moved on to writing giallo
films, including Don't Torture a Duckling
and later The New York Ripper
, both directed by Lucio Fulci. He also wrote several crime films, including A Special Cop in Action and Blazing Magnums.
Toward the end of the nineteen seventies, Clerici began to write scripts for more exploitative films, such as Emanuelle Around the World and Nazi Love Camp 27. Also around this time, Clerici began his famous collaboration with director Ruggero Deodato. He wrote the scripts for Last Cannibal World and The House on the Edge of the Park
, the latter of which was filmed in 1978, but remained unreleased until 1980.
Another Deodato collaboration, Cannibal Holocaust
, became his most famous screenplay due to the controversy the film caused upon its release. Ten days after its release, the film was seized and Clerici, Deodato, the film's producers, and a representative of the distribution company were arrested for obscenity. Deodato was later charged with murder after claims had been made that actors were genuinely slain for the production. When these charges were proven false, all defendants were fined and received a four month suspended sentence after being convicted for obscenity.
Clerici continued writing screenplays throughout the nineteen eighties for both theatrical and television productions. His last projects were mainly made for television movies and television series.
He has collaborated with several directors of exploitation cinema
Exploitation film
Exploitation film is a type of film that is promoted by "exploiting" often lurid subject matter. The term "exploitation" is common in film marketing, used for all types of films to mean promotion or advertising. These films then need something to exploit, such as a big star, special effects, sex,...
, including Lucio Fulci
Lucio Fulci
Lucio Fulci was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is perhaps best known for his directorial work on gore films, including Zombie and The Beyond , although he made films in genres as diverse as giallo, western, and comedy...
and Ruggero Deodato
Ruggero Deodato
Ruggero Deodato is an Italian film director and screen writer, best known for directing violent and gory horror films. Deodato is infamous for his 1980 film Cannibal Holocaust.- Biography :...
. Many of his scripts went on to become controversial films.
Writing career
Clerici began his career writing genre films, such as spy thrillers (popularized by the James BondJames Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
series) and spaghetti westerns. As genre films fell out of favor with audiences, he moved on to writing giallo
Giallo
Giallo is an Italian 20th century genre of literature and film, which in Italian indicates crime fiction and mystery. In the English language it refers to a genre similar to the French fantastique genre and includes elements of horror fiction and eroticism...
films, including Don't Torture a Duckling
Don't Torture a Duckling
Don't Torture a Duckling, is a Giallo film directed by Lucio Fulci in 1972.The film is significant within Fulci's filmography as it is one of the first in which he began using violent gore effects, something he would continue to do in his later films, such as Zombi 2, The Beyond and City of the...
and later The New York Ripper
The New York Ripper
The New York Ripper, original title Lo squartatore di New York, is a 1982 Italian horror film directed and co-written by Lucio Fulci.The film score was written by Francesco De Masi...
, both directed by Lucio Fulci. He also wrote several crime films, including A Special Cop in Action and Blazing Magnums.
Toward the end of the nineteen seventies, Clerici began to write scripts for more exploitative films, such as Emanuelle Around the World and Nazi Love Camp 27. Also around this time, Clerici began his famous collaboration with director Ruggero Deodato. He wrote the scripts for Last Cannibal World and The House on the Edge of the Park
The House on the Edge of the Park
The House on the Edge of the Park is a 1980 crime/horror/thriller film from the Italian director Ruggero Deodato. It stars David Hess from Wes Craven's The Last House on the Left , and Giovanni Lombardo Radice....
, the latter of which was filmed in 1978, but remained unreleased until 1980.
Another Deodato collaboration, Cannibal Holocaust
Cannibal Holocaust
Cannibal Holocaust is a 1980 Italian horror film directed by Ruggero Deodato from a screenplay by Gianfranco Clerici. Filmed in the Amazon Rainforest and dealing with indigenous tribes, it was cast mostly with United States actors and filmed in English to achieve wider distribution...
, became his most famous screenplay due to the controversy the film caused upon its release. Ten days after its release, the film was seized and Clerici, Deodato, the film's producers, and a representative of the distribution company were arrested for obscenity. Deodato was later charged with murder after claims had been made that actors were genuinely slain for the production. When these charges were proven false, all defendants were fined and received a four month suspended sentence after being convicted for obscenity.
Clerici continued writing screenplays throughout the nineteen eighties for both theatrical and television productions. His last projects were mainly made for television movies and television series.